Research indicates that youth aging out of foster care are less self-sufficient than their peers and are at increased risk of negative life outcomes such as unemployment, substance abuse, homelessness, incarceration, and suicide (Berzin et al., 2011; Greeno et al., 2018; Gonzales, 2015; Courtney et al., 2010; Sum et al., 2002; Marrow et al., 2012;…

The aim of the present study is to improve the quality of students' environmental literacy and sustainability education in chemistry teaching by combining the socio-scientific issue of life-cycle thinking with inquiry-based learning approaches. This case study presents results from an inquiry-based life-cycle thinking project: an interdisciplinary…

The goals of this assessment of electronic government information products were to: identify medium and format standards that are the most appropriate for permanent public access; assess the cost-effectiveness and usefulness of various alternative medium/format standards; and identify public and private medium/format standards that could be used…

Although the existence of and access to clean water are essential for sustaining life on Earth, multiple studies have demonstrated students' nascent understanding of basic water principles. Students have misconceptions related to the water cycle (Ben-zvi-Assarf and Orion 2005), groundwater (Dickerson and Dawkins 2004; Covitt et al. 2009), and the…

Ending projects -- in whatever form that takes -- is a known area of difficulty for research that involves designing and implementing technologies with community partners. The ending process is particularly salient to underserved and marginalized communities and populations. This dissertation explores the project ecosystem and power dynamics in…

Ground-based astronomy sky surveys are massive, decades-long investments in scientific data collection. Stakeholders expect these datasets to retain scientific value well beyond the lifetime of the sky survey. However, the necessary investments in knowledge infrastructures for managing sky survey data are not yet in place to ensure the long-term…

There is a growing concern in this country that the middle class is disappearing and not in the way one would hope. Instead of families moving into a higher socio-economic class and being able to provide richer life experiences for themselves and their children, vast numbers are shifting to a lower socio-economic status level. The gap between the…

This dissertation investigated teachers' perception and use of culturally relevant teaching by exploring how teachers define and incorporate it into their classrooms. Many researchers in education have explored the benefits of using culturally relevant teaching within the classroom to enhance student learning. Researchers have found that the…

While many community college (CC) students come to higher education with specific career or life goals, these aspirations may be forced to change if students are not able to get past the gatekeeper of remedial mathematics coursework. Racially minoritized students are disproportionately tracked into non-credit-bearing remedial (NCBR) mathematics…

While progress towards advancing women to private college and university presidencies now stands at 27.3% (Gagliardi, Espinosa, Turk, & Taylor, 2017), more needs to be done to encourage women to pursue these top leadership positions. This study's purpose was to more fully describe the relationship between the inner lives/spiritual practices of…

Teachers with less than 5 years of teaching experience in low socioeconomic status schools are more likely to leave education than those who have taught in a higher socioeconomic school, often leaving schools in low socioeconomic areas struggling to fill vacancies and to keep a full teaching staff. Many students are high-risk if they attend a…

This book presents materials, activities, background information, and student handouts for conducting educational programs that allow students to explore packaging and handling practices as these relate to waste generation and management options. An educational approach used in the development of these materials is based on the idea that solid…

Due to educational policy, data use in schools is a widespread method of school improvement, yet results remain inconsistent. Across the literature, the school leader is a key determinant of the effectiveness of data use. This study sought to shed light on the role of the school leader in data use through a mixed methods case study. The study…

Despite high Electronic Health Record (EHR) system adoption rates by hospital and office-based practices, many users remain highly dissatisfied with the current state of EHRs. Sub-optimal EHR usability as a result of insufficient incorporation of User-Centered Design (UCD) approach during System Development Life Cycle process (SDLC) is considered…

This qualitative case study explored how undergraduate students from rural areas experience higher education environments and develop a sense of belonging at a large Midwestern public university. This study defined rural considering students' hometown population size and density as well as each individual participant's constructed reality of a…