This dissertation examines a case of an international development initiative funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in the United States and implemented in North Macedonia. The specific initiative was a youth development program including a substantial career counseling component called the Macedonia Youth…

In recent years, there has been an increased interest in studying military-connected children (Aronson & Perkins, 2012; Chawla & Solinas-Suanders, 2011; DePedro et al., 2011). Despite being the subject of much research, there exists a significant gap in the research literature concerning the voices of military-connected children. The 2019…

4-H provides unique opportunities for youth to experience new things and prepare for their future. The purpose of this study was to examine how 4-H has influenced participant career trajectories. Data were collected using the Delphi method to produce a list of 70 unique items. There were 46 of 70 items that received 90-100% consensus in the final…

This study focuses on a Facebook group utilized by secondary English teachers during the initial crisis period of COVID 19, defined as March 2020-June 2020. During this period, teacher participants used this Facebook group as a community of practice to re-envision pedagogy, using social media as a third space in which to have discussions with…

Although social status has been shown to be a fundamental motive for individuals, theories of development have largely overlooked the role of status in shaping economic and social outcomes. In tracing the historical roots of social hierarchy through the cases of race, colonialism, and caste, this article outlines the specific mechanisms through…

In the Spring of 2019, the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University launched the National Center for Rural Education Research Networks (NCRERN) with funding from the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences. NCRERN was founded to expand the use of evidence-based decision-making in rural education. NCRERN…

This study investigates how instructional designers perceive their professional futures and what factors shape their priorities at different career stages. Through the best possible self exercise, we analyzed the professional outlook of 197 instructional design graduate students from a Midwest university, identifying eight main themes:…

As educational needs change, gamified immersive virtual reality (I-VR) can enhance learning by making it more interactive. Immersive virtual reality is used more in science than in the humanities. This study uses the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to explore factors that affect students' intentions to use gamified I-VR, particularly in…

The idea of social capital as the value obtainable from an individual's social relationships has been used to study many organizational and social settings, but rarely virtual environments. We used data from an online higher education institution to examine how an individual's social capital derived from her position in the social structure…

Hub-centered improvement networks are emerging as an organizational form that has the potential to empower local educators, families, communities, and students to respond positively to ever-rising ambitions for educational access, quality, and equity in the United States. A problem, however, lies in a disconnect between (a) hub leaders as the…

This paper argues that colleges anchor their communities by developing knowledge and skills within their region; establishing links and exchanges outside the region; contributing to civic, political, cultural, and social activities and networks in their region; developing facilities and amenities used by the community; and, contributing to their…

This study presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for digital literacy research from 2015 to 2024, utilizing citation analysis on 223 articles from the Dimensions database. The research examines publication trends, author collaborations, and thematic focuses in the field. Findings reveal a significant…

Online parenting programs to support parents of children with behavioral problems and emotional problems have become widely available in recent years. Research has consistently shown their positive effects on child development, parents' adaptive parenting practices, and parents' mental health. However, knowledge is lacking on which type of content…

The active involvement and inclusion of young scholars within established higher education systems are crucial for cultivating dynamism, fostering innovation, and ensuring the long-term sustainability of educational institutions. However, while some academic communities effectively harness the potential of young scholars, optimizing the benefits…

Background: Analysing classroom dialogue is a widely used approach for understanding students' learning, often requiring team-based collaborative research. This presents a challenge for single researchers due to the labour-intensive nature of the process. Emerging advancements in large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, enhance qualitative…