Undergraduate engineering education must train students to not only solve design challenges that transcend disciplinary boundaries, but also communicate, transfer knowledge, and collaborate across technical and non-technical boundaries. One approach to achieving this goal is teaching bio-inspired design (BID) in an engineering curriculum. In…

Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) educators are uniquely positioned to support the food recovery organizations (FROs) which address hunger-related needs resulting from food insecurity. Based on an online survey to measure how VCE educators have engaged with FROs and their experiences, respondents who previously supported FROs did so across…

Teaching controversial issues poses challenges for teacher candidates, stemming from apprehensions about potential backlash and gaps in content and pedagogical knowledge. The prevailing emphasis on tested subjects such as mathematics and reading/writing in elementary school education often sidelines social studies and science, limiting…

The value of academic advising has been increasingly emphasized in higher education. In this study, attention is given to the most significant types of advice that a sample of cybersecurity faculty and advisors from the Commonwealth of Virginia recommend giving to cybersecurity students. The results show that faculty and advisors recommended that…

Prior research suggests that Academic Program Review (APR) is most effective when it is a systematic process that supports program improvement. One potential way to increase faculty involvement in comprehensive APR processes is by engaging faculty members as internal peer reviewers (IPRs). This qualitative study investigated faculty members'…

Design-based learning is often promoted as a way for students to practice the skills essential for their future success; however, little research in this area has been conducted in the field of dance. One aim of this research is to contribute to the literature by examining the process through which undergraduate students from multiple disciplines…

Using an expanded version of Alexander's (2008) theory of dialogic teaching developed by RojasDrummond, Torreblanca, Pedraza, Vélez, and Guzmán (2013), this case study explored how instructors and students in a hybrid graduate course engaged in the process of dialogic teaching and learning (DTL). In particular, we examined the ways in which…

The Center for Cybersecurity Education and Research at Old Dominion University has expanded its use of high impact practices in the university's undergraduate cybersecurity degree program. Strategies developed to promote student learning included learning communities, undergraduate research, a robust internship program, service learning, and…

Background: Preparing today's undergraduate students from science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and related health professions to solve wide-sweeping healthcare challenges is critical. Moreover, it is imperative that educators help students develop the capabilities needed to meet those challenges, including problem solving,…

James Madison University faculty team-teach an interdisciplinary mathematical modeling course for mathematics and biology students. We have used two different project-based approaches to emphasize the mathematical concepts taught in class, while also exposing students to new areas of mathematics not formally covered in class. The first method…

Linux Laptop Orchestra (L2Ork), founded in 2009 in the Virginia Tech Music Department's Digital and Interactive Sound & Intermedia Studio, "explores the power of gesture, communal interaction, and the multidimensionality of arts, as well as technology's potential to seamlessly integrate arts and sciences with particular focus on K-12…

Continued agricultural productivity hinges on understanding how to manage soil resources. A 2-week undergraduate introductory-level module: "A Growing Concern: Sustaining Soil Resources Through Local Decision Making" was collaboratively developed through the InTeGrate Project. InTeGrate modules and courses engage students in grand…

Interdisciplinary research is a valuable approach to addressing complex real-world problems. However, undergraduate research mentoring is discussed as an activity that happens in disciplinary silos where the mentor and student scholar share a disciplinary background. By transcending traditional academic divisions, we argue that mentors can train a…

A Wiki research project was created in the Functional Foods for Health (FST/HNFE 2544) as an instructional tool and assignment for improving undergraduate students' proficiency in evaluating appropriate information sources for rapidly evolving science and research. The project design targeted improving students' information literacy skills…

This paper documents the perceptions and experiences of faculty members in the midst of statewide reform efforts in Virginia and North Carolina to integrate developmental reading and writing courses. Using interview and focus group data from 161 faculty and administrators in both states (combined) as well as three detailed case studies of faculty…