Societal shifts increasingly demand that people work across social and geographic borders, often virtually, to solve complex problems in the areas of education, environment, healthcare, poverty, technology innovation and ethics, and more. This collaboration requires critical and emancipatory dialogue and problem-solving. This qualitative multiple…

Continuous improvement is the process of making incremental changes to systems or processes to improve outcomes. The purpose of this dissertation was to conduct a study to learn how continuous improvement might serve as a vehicle for further conceptualizing profound learning theory at the individual learner level. The research began with a…

Within the broad, interdisciplinary field of adult education, affective aspects of experience and the roles they play in learning have, thus far, not been properly theorized or researched. This dissertation first explores how John Heron's whole person theory (WPT) conceptualizes feeling as an expansive affective capacity at the root of all human…

The purpose of this study was to use a Constructivist Grounded Theory methodology to understand the learning experiences of trainers who completed a professional development trainer certification. Specifically, this study explored how trainers described their learning experiences, the catalysts trainers identified as instrumental to their…

This study investigates the neurocognitive underpinnings of early language learning in adults and examines the modulating effects of individual differences in prior bilingual experience and cognitive capabilities. This study used a pre/post short-term longitudinal design with a 10-day Dutch language training via Rosetta Stone. Event-Related…

Being uncomfortable by choice as a means of personal growth has been touted for hundreds of years among scholars, philosophers, religious leaders, modern pop culture icons, and more. Yet, research pertaining to the benefits of being uncomfortable by choice is sparse. This qualitative, grounded theory study addressed the first step of…

This quantitative study was designed to investigate whether a relationship existed between reading achievement and instructional modality during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the fall of 2020, school districts developed return-to-school plans that outlined if they would provide in-person, hybrid, or remote instruction to students following the state…

The problem addressed in this study was the lack of consistency among United States (U.S.) Army instructors' support for students with low self-efficacy in a U.S. Army online blended learning course, which has a negative impact on deep learning. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to gain a better understanding of the…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how high school teachers describe problem-based learning as an instructional model for student learning in various academic disciplines in the United States. The research was grounded in constructivist learning theory and Problem-based learning (PBL). The study addressed two research…

This dissertation investigates how collective process-oriented documentation tools, combined with Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques, can enhance knowledge construction in hands-on, open-ended learning environments, such as makerspaces. Through a three-year design-based research, the study developed and tested a collective documentation…

This applied dissertation was designed to determine if cooperative learning strategies increased student engagement in a virtual elementary classroom. The purposes of this study were (a) to determine whether the implementation of cooperative learning strategies increased student engagement and (b) to explore student perceptions of engagement. In…

The current study delved into the problematic achievement gap between African-American graduates students and other groups, specifically in the online learning environment. African-American graduate students' lower achievement is problematic due to its lost opportunity costs and social subjugation of an entire group of Americans. The study's…

Societies are increasingly aware of the need to connect and communicate globally. Thus, navigating diverse cultural contexts becomes critical, which necessitates intercultural competence--the skill of effective communication and understanding across cultures. As the digital age reshapes our interactions, online learning platforms have emerged as…

This mixed-methods research study examined the perceived efficacy of multiweek, immersive, experiential, in-person executive education for developing EI in senior executives for improved leadership effectiveness. Extensive research supports the ability of adults to develop EI competencies through workplace training, executive coaching, and MBA…

The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was to explore how The Sims could be used to assist L1 English speakers in learning L2 Russian verbs of motion through completing in-game tasks in pairs while speaking Russian. English and Russian verbs of motion encode manner and path differently, and L2 Russian motion verbs use a variety of…