The Learning Team at The Florida Aquarium in Tampa received funding in 2014 to create and conduct a long-term outdoor learning experience for Hillsborough County, Florida, fifth-grade students. The program was designed with four parts to optimize students' experiences in their local watershed, including both classroom and field activities. This…

As adult learners increasingly seek bachelor's degrees for career advancement and personal fulfillment, understanding their unique challenges and experiences becomes crucial for higher education institutions. This study focuses on the academic journeys of nine adult learners aged 29 to 53 who attended community colleges in Florida before seeking a…

Undergraduate agricultural leadership education opportunities are prevalent and growing. However, additional attention should be placed on the quality of educational leadership experiences. The purpose of this study was to explore how the context of a learning experience impacts student application of team leadership skills. The findings and…

The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of teachers at a school in Central Florida that serves students exposed to multiple adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Qualitative data were gathered from semi-structured interviews. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further…

This project seeks to fill gaps in the knowledge about the long-term benefits of undergraduate participation in community-engaged service learning (CESL). A mixed-methods research protocol delivered to graduates of an R1 public university three years after the completion of a CESL senior capstone course observed significant divergences in…

As governments and other organizations worldwide increase their investment in research, the demand for skilled research administrators grows. Researchers need knowledgeable administrators to provide guidance and ensure their projects are administratively managed according to required policies and guidelines. Institutions must ensure their audit…

Children in foster care face a myriad of challenges in educational development. Conducting a phenomenological study, the researcher interviewed eight foster parents licensed in the state of Florida regarding the educational experiences of children in foster care. From the holistic perspective the data set provided, the researcher described the…

During the COVID-19 global pandemic, early intervention (EI) practitioners experienced an unexpected shift to providing tele-intervention services to support children and families using virtual platforms. Because this shift occurred across the field, it is important to understand the perspectives of those who experienced it under exceptional…

The field of gifted education in the United States faces an existential crisis due to well-founded charges that many school programs fail to identify students who reflect the diversity of the overall student population. In this study, we used a mixed methods light approach to explore gifted education coordinators' perceptions of equity and…

This article focuses on self-identified Spanish-speaking early childhood educators' experiences with and views of bilingualism as they learned about translanguaging--a dynamic, liberatory, and culturally and linguistically sustaining theory and practice of language. Artifacts and conversations with teachers showed that, counter to many of their…

The problem addressed by this study was the academic achievement gap of low-income students. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of educators of low-income students participating in the Florida School Choice program and the perceived challenges they face in bridging the academic achievement…

Research on self-efficacy and how it is developed in K-12 educational spaces has primarily focused on traditional classroom spaces and activities. Little research has focused on self-efficacy development in the context of outdoor experiential learning. Through this study, I use focus groups, in-depth interviewing, and on-line journal prompts to…

We collected narratives from five undergraduates who identified as either in the process of or had formerly transitioned from one gender to another while enrolled in a postsecondary institution. We used a narrative life story protocol to explore the greater context of participants as individuals. Participant stories focused on: the importance of…

This qualitative research study addressed a notable gap in existing literature by examining the perceptions and relationship between experiential learning and college and career readiness within the homeschooling context. Purposeful sampling was used to recruit 13 homeschooled students from northwestern Florida. To gather data, indepth,…

The mix of technologies used in postsecondary instruction has become increasingly more varied, and information with students about instructional experiences can be confusing. Building upon on a series of WCET works over the past year on digital learning definitions, this paper presents several complex cases, based on real-world examples, where the…