Modern-day educators often share a sense they lack voice and agency with school administration. A classic example is curriculum development, where third-party designers develop uncontextualized curricula, and teachers then must implement the design even if inefficient and ineffective. What happens if this identical situation occurs at the program…

Although not officially named in the shared governance of an institution, instructional designers play an important role as they collaborate with administrators and faculty to create high quality, regulatory-compliant courses for enrolled students. Instructional designers working in centralized, academic reporting units may be well-positioned to…

Today's youth are growing up in a world where artificial intelligence (AI) technologies shape how we live, work, play, socialize, and navigate our world. This rapid technological change is already significantly shifting individuals' lives and the opportunities they can obtain. Thus, researchers, educators, and government leaders must consider how…

The problem addressed in this study was that students with mental health disabilities experience poor academic outcomes despite opportunities for academic accommodations. The purpose of the study was to explore how students with mental health disabilities perceived their experiences of being accommodated at an art and design university.…

This study utilized performance improvement theories, models, tools, and techniques to investigate why a new Instructional Design and Technology (IDT) Bachelor of Science program at a comprehensive university was experiencing low enrollment. The program was recently launched based on thorough research in the job market that indicated a high demand…

This qualitative research study examined the design of collaborative learning experiences in an online graduate course in educational leadership. Based on principles of design-based research, this single case study analyzed the design process among the faculty member and learning design team who created the course. Data were also gathered from the…

Research has recognized that a student's culture plays a role in how they experience an online learning environment, and many higher education institutions are challenged by retaining and graduating historically underserved students identified as a "success gap". For historically underserved students -- defined in this study as students…

As more and more students seek out online educational opportunities, emerging technology and platforms must provide the most effective experience for learners to expand their knowledge and skill sets. The research study aimed to investigate social presence, collaboration, and design opportunities in head-mounted, virtual reality as compared to the…

Smart cities surveil through ubiquitous and intrusive data collection via networked sensors. Smart city efforts are also frequently imagined as primarily top-down and male visions of the future in service of economic benefit. The smart campus presents a new dimension of smart city urbanism as an identified gap in literature. In the following…

Digital competencies have become an essential skill set for most professions. The University of Delaware (UD) needs to recognize and give credit for the digital skills students bring to their graduate studies, and for digital skills learned while in graduate programs. The current structure of humanities graduate programs at UD does not offer this.…

How does leadership emerge and develop among university STEM faculty working to adopt evidence-based teaching practices? This qualitative case study examines academic departments as sites for instructional change, viewing leadership as an emergent property of the relationships within a social system. The researcher adopted a dual lens of McElroy…

This dissertation aims to center the experiences of first-year writing educators in one program with a shared curriculum. Guided by social theories of learning and scholarship and practices in writing studies and writing program administration, I conducted qualitative surveys and interviews with teaching-focused faculty and graduate teaching…

Virtual reality (VR) as an emerging technology has extreme potential to revolutionize online higher education for adult students through immersive and engaging learning experiences. Lower cost and advancing research in VR technology and immersive simulation software offers unique opportunities for adult students to engage in a virtual learning…

As higher education faces challenges in low enrollment, soaring prices, and individuals who question the need for a degree, these institutions must transform into flexible-minded and innovative centers of excellence. The purpose of this study is to explore how empathetic and collaborative practices inherent in design thinking methodologies can…

The study examined the effects of a new game mechanic on collaborative learning and mathematical discourse when playing a digital geometry puzzle game. For this study, two new versions of the game "Noobs vs. Leets" were developed. Both versions of the game teach the concepts of complementary and supplementary angles and the angle sum…