As the world contends with a global pandemic, climate catastrophes, white supremacy, coloniality, and concurrent genocides my attention splinters. In an act of futurity, or future making, I ask myself: "What is needed to move from this place toward softer, more liberatory futures?" This body of work finds its answer in exploring two…

College student employment has become an important aspect of life for many students pursuing higher education. Student employment programs provide students with the opportunity to earn income while learning skills that contribute to their personal and professional development. The impact of student employment on student development and the overall…

This study aimed to test how mathematics workshops about current mathematics trends led to differences in parents' involvement, perceived difficulties, home support and expectations for mathematics, and their ability to communicate their understanding of current mathematics knowledge. The study occurred at five elementary schools in a rural…

The purpose of this action research study was to identify needs and improve higher education administrators' digital technology knowledge and skills. Participants and data collected in Cycle 1 consisted of structured interviews and observations of subjects who, through academic credentialing or career attainment, were considered experts in the use…

The life of a traditional aged college student is filled with many fast-moving decisions and new life experiences. When conflict arises in a student's life, it can upend a student's progression if they are not properly trained to deal with conflict. Current conflict management teaching curricula being given to students are insufficient due to…

In higher education settings, minority BIPOC students have a harder time attaining wellness compared to their majority student counterparts. This may impact their level of functioning, leading to an overall unpleasant college experience. The covert and overt racism, injustice, and social unrest that exist in today's society hinders students from…

University students are increasingly coming together to take action for racial justice and equity. Anti-racist student organizing includes how students collectively work to address racism and oppression at their institutions or beyond through sociopolitical engagement and action (e.g., protests, political education). Minority-serving institutions…

This project investigates the effectiveness of the Digital Discipleship Model at Zoe Ministries in enhancing online engagement among its predominantly Black congregation. Prompted by the digital divide seen during COVID-19, particularly among older members, the initiative centered on a six-week digital literacy workshop via Zoom and Zoe's Virtual…

This ethnographic dissertation research project focuses on a digital storytelling workshop called Food/Stories which took place in collaboration with Black Yield Institute in Spring of 2023. The Food/Stories workshop is the case study that I used to explore the effectiveness of Collaborative Visual Storytelling, a methodological approach that…

The escalating challenges faced by educators highlight the urgent need to understand factors influencing their wellbeing. Teachers in the United States education system are stressed, burnt out, and leaving the field in unprecedented numbers (Sparks, 2022; Camera, 2022; Zamarro et al., 2021; Dabrowski, 2021; Hill-Jackson et al., 2022). It is…

Roughly one in four adults in the United States have some type of disability. In the general workforce, individuals with disabilities that are of working age are employed at less than half the rate when compared to individuals without disabilities. Despite this, the unemployment rate for individuals with disabilities is more than double that of…

Research suggests that school climate is a critical component in a student's sense of safety within a school and is the foundation for student-staff relationships. Despite this recognition, school staff demonstrate an insufficient intention to intervene on witnessed acts of gender- and sexuality-based inequity and grapple with discerning what…

The Virtual Maker Workshop Series was designed to explore how participants' conceptions of learning might change through the course of a professional development experience in a makerspace. Grounded in research on teacher professional development and the use of makerspaces in education, the 15-hour workshop series engaged five multidisciplinary…

This dissertation-in-practice was designed to identify parental understanding of Internet addiction and technology usage among parents within a middle school in Velden, Austria. Research shows how important a parent's role is in preventing adolescent Internet addiction and the need to guide parents in helping their children find a positive balance…

Healthcare teams are comprised of several individuals from various backgrounds who must respect each other and understand each other's roles and responsibilities while effectively communicating to work toward the shared goal of quality patient care. Interprofessional education (IPE) prepares health professions students for collaboration and…