The United States has invested millions of dollars in STEM program initiatives; however, African Americans in STEM career fields are underrepresented. The purpose of this qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study aimed to explore the lived experiences of African-American first-year college students from rural communities in a STEM program and…

Context: Transition to practice is a pivotal period in an athletic trainer's (AT) career that includes higher-than-average job-related stress due to many changes. Objective: To assess how early-career ATs from professional master's athletic training programs (PMATP) developed professional responsibility during their transition to practice. Design:…

Organizations around the world are challenged with managing complex decisions; however, many students do not have practical experience with the way in which these organizations go about this process. In this article, we outline an experiential case, based on a contemporary, real-world health policy challenge, which illustrates the ethical and…

Purpose: The purpose of this causal-comparative research study was to examine the impact of an Integrated Business Curriculum Program (IBCP) and its effects on career decision-making self-efficacy (CDMSE). It also provides a framework and common vocabulary for which type of business curriculum provides the best career readiness CDMSE advantage.…

The authors focus on applying mindfulness-related concepts to business education by relying on transformational learning techniques for reducing impulse buying in a six-week Smart Consumer university class. A transformational learning program was designed including activities in the classroom as well as outside activities. They incorporated…

This paper presents a case study analysing a rural health career ladder program's (HCL) influence on students' career aspirations toward health care fields. Rural students enrolled in a career ladder program were interviewed to assess the effectiveness of early experience on career choice. Although limited to one institution, the findings shed…

Many rural communities are looking for inexpensive and innovative ways to engage youth in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). University Extension 4-H programs offer a unique platform to increase rural youth exposure to STEM and build important life skills. This study employed a mixed-methods approach to examine ways in which…

This is a research brief of the full report (published separately). The Career and Technical Education (CTE) Student Survey, administered in Spring 2017, was designed to gather students' feedback about their experiences taking the advanced CTE courses offered in their specific career pathway. Students who participated in the Austin Independent…

This full report (a brief summary report also was published separately) describes results from the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Student Survey, administered in Spring 2017 in AISD. The survey was designed to gather students' feedback about their experiences taking the advanced CTE courses offered in their specific career pathway. Students…

The College and Career Readiness Expansion project was a five-year, federally funded effort to implement early college strategies in comprehensive high schools. This report presents the results from a quasi-experimental impact study of the project and a mixed methods examination of its implementation. Results showed that the program increased the…

The use of simulations in general and of system dynamics simulation based interactive learning environments (SDILEs) in particular is well recognized as an effective way of improving users' decision making and learning in complex, dynamic tasks. However, the effectiveness of SDILEs in classrooms has rarely been evaluated. This article describes…

In this pilot research we examine the impact of two leadership development training programs on the ability of students to acquire knowledge, share knowledge, and apply knowledge for organizational decision making. One program emphasized concepts and case-based application based on a technical learning paradigm. The other program used a game-based…

The purpose of the quantitative quasi-experimental equivalent time series study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a work based shared leadership training program in a less than 200 bed hospital in rural, south-central United States. Nursing shortages and the current emphasis on quality are factors that make recruitment and retention of nurses…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the components of independent living training and services to determine their effectiveness in preparing foster youth in Tennessee for adulthood, and whether the youth's perceived effectiveness of these services affected their educational motivation. Support factors (i.e., family, financial,…

This article covers the application of virtual reality (VR) to training and lifelong learning. A number of considerations concerning the design of VR applications are included. The introduction is dedicated to the more general aspects of applying VR to training. From multiple perspectives, we will provide an overview of existing applications with…