The principal purpose of this program evaluation was to determine how the 2010-2019 alumni of the William & Mary (W&M) D.C. Summer Institutes (DCSI) perceived their participation helped them achieve career readiness. Existing literature on experiential learning methods and practices has suggested great value in such opportunities, but less…

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…

The language that is used to refer to COVID-19 is changing to reflect how the disease evolves. One of the changes is the use of the word "endemic" to replace "pandemic," a modification that implies far reaching effects on goals for language acquisition and cultural integration, particularly in the context of study abroad. Study…

Highly qualified and well-prepared transition professionals are arguably the most important piece to improve postsecondary outcomes for youth with diverse needs. A dearth of dynamic field placements for preservice teachers to connect coursework to practice has been identified as a gap in teacher training. This need could be potentially filled by…

The practice of including students with disabilities in art education has existed longer than efforts to increase access to general academic instruction. However, most teacher education programs do not offer sufficient coursework or field experiences in training pre-service art teachers to teach students with disabilities. To examine how…

Background: Hands-on activities and makerspaces have rapidly gained popularity in recent years. One of the reasons for this is that they have the potential to stimulate interest and identity development in STEM or STEAM. Taiwan has organized many technology and science competitions for students to raise their interest and creativity in the past…

The purpose of this study is to develop and validate an authentic contextual learning framework with six constructs to model the relationships among essential factors of authentic contextual learning. In particular, this framework explores the relationships across six constructs, i.e. learning by applying, healthy learning, collaborative learning,…

The purpose of this study was to explore preservice special education teachers' experiences within an instructional material development project for students with disabilities during a semester-long technology integration course. Data were collected from 61 preservice special education teachers through an open-ended questionnaire, instructional…

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated a transition to flexible remote and hybrid work arrangements. This shift presents a challenge to colleges and universities as they prepare the next generation of STEM professionals in the knowledge economy. This case study of student experiential learning during the time of critical change from the Spring of…

Purpose: This study aims to describe and illuminate the ways in which Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU)--an urban, undergraduate institution with a strong focus on teaching, learning and related research and scholarship, and a substantial international student population--adapted to pandemic conditions in 2020 in an effort to meet community…

The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical reflection on the use of experiential learning in the form of the reflective journal and its ability to contribute to student learning. Three questionnaires were administered over the semester to track the responses of the students undertaking an undergraduate capstone unit in the Human Resource…

Training teachers of learners with visual impairment (VI) emphasise instrumental skills such as curriculum adaptation and assistive technology, at times ignoring anxieties and attitudes within teachers surrounding disability. South Africa's education system faces a huge backlog in VI teacher training, which is being addressed by intensive short…

The decline of biodiversity and natural habitats, and the lack of progress in society's behaviour towards conservation, has prompted research into effective educational programs. Studies have shown that positive emotions towards nature, particularly in relation to the innate human predisposition towards the natural environment, can encourage…

Competition among parties is a central feature of democratic politics, but extreme partisanship can undermine democratic practices and institutions. We report the results of a formative curricular intervention involving reflective discussions designed to avoid hyper-partisanship in a training program for anyone--including university students--with…

This article describes how two Southeastern social work programs delivered integrated behavioral healthcare training to MSW students and social work practitioners during the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 posed challenges across five domains, including: (a) adaptations to course curricula; (b) adaptations to field education curricula; (c) experiences…