The global COVID-19 pandemic changed every area of the higher education experience, from enrollment to commencement. One of the greatest threats has been to relationships and community. Without classes, dorms, dining halls, clubs, and study groups, college students lack the points of social connection integral to student satisfaction and success.…

A service-learning pilot project involving occupational therapy (OT) students and individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) is described. The purpose of this pilot project, developed using Transformative Learning Theory, was to determine if service-learning could be a viable approach to provide in-depth learning in areas…

The Doris Duke Fellowships for the Promotion of Child Well-Being focused on identifying and nurturing promising doctoral students from multiple disciplines to address intractable challenges in the child well-being field. With the support of a national advisory board comprised of child well-being research experts, the program engaged 120 fellows,…

The Doris Duke Fellowships for the Promotion of Child Well-Being were launched in 2010 to promote interdisciplinary learning and advance research that improves public policy and practice. The Doris Duke Fellowships Equity Study examined the perspectives of multiple key constituencies--academic and policy mentors, staff members, national advisory…

Many community-based English language learning programs rely on volunteers to lead classes. While some of these volunteers have some teacher training, the majority are not professional educators. The question of how non-professionals understand what constitutes facilitation of language learning in an adult education context remains underexplored.…

Background: The purpose of this study was to explore possible benefits of a peer-tutored physical education programme (PTPE) in comparison with school physical education (SPE) in high school students with intellectual disability. Method: Nineteen students with intellectual disabilities (15 boys, mean age 17.4 ± 1.7 years) were monitored during…

The Doris Duke Fellowships Equity Study assessed how staff members, national advisory board members, academic and policy mentors, and Doris Duke Fellows experienced diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) during their participation in the Doris Duke Fellowships for the Promotion of Child Well-Being. The study also identified future strategies for…

The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) is the nation's first nutrition education program and remains at the forefront of educational efforts to reduce nutrition insecurity of low-income families and youth today. Funded by the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), EFNEP supports program participants' efforts…

Youths not only participate in Extension services but also can be equipped as facilitators to extend information about a critical topic to new audiences. Our interdisciplinary team of Extension professionals created a program to equip youths as peer educators, increase youths' awareness and understanding of a new topic (local foods), promote…

This paper reports on an international collaborative project working with deaf learners of English literacy (19-28 years old) in five locations in India: Indore; Vadadora; Comibatore; Pattambi; and Thrissur. Indian Sign Language (ISL) was the language of instruction. The project drew on a social practices view of literacy. Deaf peer tutors were…

In this review, we have examined the main components of peer tutoring in mathematics in primary education (1st to 6th grade) settings. Fifty studies were included in this article. The review was intended to examine trends in this research field regarding roles of the participants, their age (same-age vs cross-age), the methodological approach…

This paper examines the feasibility of developing a new Master Volunteer training program to help communities adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change. Traditional models of volunteer training programs, such as the Cooperative Extension Master Volunteer peer-to-peer learning model, are based in part on Diffusion Theory. The existing…

Communication centers often focus on supporting students' communicative competencies in public speaking but some centers have expanded this focus to include support for English language learners (ELLs). Armed with research on the value of conversation in language acquisition, the University Speaking Center has incorporated peer consulting of ELLs,…

In late 2011, we created a Peer-Assisted Learning (PAL) program focused on improving student performance in high-risk STEM courses. Our PALs are modeled after the Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) program, which has been shown to provide long- and short-term benefits to both students (Chan & Bauer, 2015; Gosser, Kampeier, & Pratibha, 2010;…

Background: Teen Prevention Education Program (PEP) is a school-wide, peer-led comprehensive sexuality education program currently implemented in more than 50 schools across 2 states. Many teen pregnancy prevention researchers and practitioners view peer-led programs as a promising approach for reducing teen pregnancy and associated sexual risk…