The world of Higher Education has been evolving for some time. From only offering classes in a traditional face-to-face format, to correspondence classes, higher education now has the ability to teach fully online courses and programs. However, no matter how classes are taught, the primary goal in Higher Education has always been to educate…

Higher education today is no longer what it once was. Once upon a time, students only had the option to attend classes in person. The first shift from this format happened when students began taking classes through correspondence, where materials were physically mailed out. Later, as technology increased, a new format led to students being able to…

The Ed.D. program in Heritage Leadership for Sustainability, Social Justice, and Participatory Culture at the University of Missouri--St. Louis helps students cultivate the mindsets and skill sets required to sustain, pluralize, and enliven heritage in the public sphere. Although the program primarily meets synchronously online, the January 2020…

A year of COVID-19 quarantine required educators to switch from in-person to virtual learning platforms, causing a dramatic reimagining of their daily praxis. Their experiences are likely to influence new norms for K-12 education. While virtual learning can be effective, student engagement, student retention, and student attention can be…

The purpose of this reflective essay is to encourage the discussion of community-engaged scholarship (CES) that does not progress as planned. Insufficient attention is given to lessons gleaned from missteps and outright failures experienced by scholars in the field, which results in a paucity of documented cases and recommendations for…

Integrated circuit (IC) fabrication principles is an elective course in a senior undergraduate and early graduate student's curriculum. Over the years, the semiconductor industry relies heavily on students with developed expertise in the area of fabrication techniques, learned in an IC fabrication theory and laboratory course. The theory course…

The 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) initiative is the only federal funding source dedicated exclusively to supporting local afterschool, before-school, and summer learning programs. Over the years, the program has evolved to become a local afterschool model -- serving students attending high-poverty, low-performing schools in…

To keep pace with accelerating technology and workplace expectations, high school and technology center students need access to high-level programs and courses that open the doors to further education and careers. The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) and nine states have launched a far-reaching program to provide rigorous and relevant…

Higher education institutions are under significant pressure to provide affordable, sustainable approaches that will prepare their students with the skills they will need after graduation to achieve success in the 21st Century workplace. Digital Media Simulations are among the new technologies that have emerged with the promise to help…

In this article, the author describes the Space Camp at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where deaf and hard of hearing students can pilot spaceships, conduct experiments, and dodge meteorites. Each year in the spring, students from schools all over the United States attend a one-week, hands-on learning experience in…

In Appalachian Alabama, AlabamaREAL helps individuals, schools, and rural communities grow through hands-on entrepreneurship education. School-based businesses teach students to recognize business opportunities; encourage participatory learning; and meet the needs of small, rural communities. The Appalachian Regional Commission provides schools…

Describes a service learning project in which students addressed the public health problem of rural sanitation in Alabama, which is related to socio-economic status, by researching, designing, and constructing a pit latrine. Focuses on four levels of inquiry and resolution (the social problem, developing and implementing an intervention strategy,…

A cooperative of small, rural Alabama schools is teaching aquaculture in vocational agriculture classes to make science more relevant. Program goals include enhancing student skills through daily work in living laboratories; training teachers who understand life sciences' connection to everyday rural life and are skilled in using living…

The goal of the Conecuh County (Alabama) project was to successfully implement into its curriculum an Experience-Based Career Education (EBCE) program based on the model developed by Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, which integrates academic requirements and work experience opportunities into a comprehensive curriculum. To determine…

The PACERS Small Schools Cooperative is an association of 29 small public schools in 25 communities in rural Alabama whose goal is to keep schools open by making visible their viability. To that end, the schools of the cooperative develop appropriate curricular and extracurricular opportunities for schools and students that involve the people in…