The three articles included in this dissertation are connected through theory and practice. Study one identifies the factors influencing Extension agents' participation in supplemental professional development opportunities using Ajzen's (1985) theory of planned behavior. Study two was a systematic investigation of Extension personnel's…

For foster care involved children and youth, the primary goal is placement permanency into safe, supportive, and stable home environments. Although schools play an integral role in permanency planning and success during this transition, little is known about educator perspectives regarding education related transition planning and student needs.…

For foster care involved children and youth, the primary goal is placement permanency into safe, supportive, and stable home environments. Although schools play an integral role in permanency planning and success during this transition, little is known about educator perspectives regarding education related transition planning and student needs.…

Universities of the Third Age (U3As) play an important role in the system of non-formal lifelong education. Through offered programmes, participants meet various personal and social needs, thereby enhancing their quality of life. This study examined the applicability of a multidimensional inventory developed by the authors to assess the needs of…

In 2023, Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative developed and conducted a statewide survey from their position as evaluators of the Illinois Preschool Development Birth through Five Planning Grant (PDG B-5). The survey queried families (with small children) and community members (with and without small children) about three key…

The rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed the educational field by providing efficient assistance for personalised learning. Despite the promising opportunities AI has presented, the impact of AI tools on students' learning outcomes in language learning settings has yet to be further explored, as well as their potential to…

Objective: To examine the impact of the pandemic on a sample of college students, and test associations with food security and mental distress. Participants: A convenience sample of 132 students from a diverse U.S. institution. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that utilized online surveys. Data was analyzed using X[superscript 2], binary…

The emergence of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) has significantly transformed learning patterns and innovative approaches. Human-machine (generative artificial intelligence) co-creation will become the norm, necessitating that learners possess the requisite AI literacy (AIL) to adapt to this shift. The mechanisms by which individual AIL…

While the significance of motivation in the adoption of mobile learning has been well-documented in numerous studies, empirical evidence regarding the roles of cognitive, social, and affective needs remains limited. This presents a notable gap in the field of education concerning the influence of motivational factors on mobile learning acceptance.…

The increase in remote working has changed the way both employees and organizations view work in an already tumultuous landscape of the IT sector. In this study, we surveyed Finnish employees (n = 266) from an international IT sector company in 2022 after the remote working mandates were lifted. We firstly examined how remote work intensity (RWI)…

In this provocative and timely book, Luis Eladio Torres challenges a common assumption: that education is the "first priority" for families, including those who are raising their children in low-income, high-need communities. Instead, he argues that these families must confront daunting challenges in five other areas--food, shelter,…

The purpose of this mixed methods phenomenological study was to explore undergraduate students' experiences of academic probation by examining changes or stabilities in the quality of their motivation and students' basic psychological needs, i.e., autonomy, competency, and relatedness, using Self-Determination Theory (SDT) as the theoretical…

Co-design and other associated design approaches often deploy creative and making approaches in facilitating collaborative practices. In a therapeutic setting, engagement in creative and making activities have been associated with improvements in people's well-being, yet when deploying these as part of co-design practices, these outcomes are often…

Although many children will experience a significant loss during their school-aged years, professional development and training around grief is extremely limited among teachers and school staff. In fact, according to Alvis et al. (2022), the field is lacking significantly in longitudinal studies that specifically focus on childhood grief. These…

Modern educational technology systems allow learners to access large amounts of learning materials such as educational videos, learning notes, and teaching books. Automated summarization techniques simplify the access and exploration of complex data collections by producing synthetic versions of the original content. This paper addresses the…