Leadership roles and responsibilities in a volunteer fire department are no different from those of a full-time, paid, career department. Yet volunteer fire officers and fire chiefs have the added challenge of leading unpaid volunteers in an organization that typically has few resources to invest in formal leadership development. In the absence of…

The United States fire service is at a critical crossroads. Can it continue relying on outdated educational methodology to teach the 21st century fire instructor, or does it enact change to create an innovative, modern approach to instructor education? Fire Departments are rapidly losing decades of knowledge through retirement of their senior…

America's fire departments are busier than ever, responding to both emergency and non-emergency calls that have dramatically increased over the last several decades (National Fire Protection Association [NFPA], 2021b). This dissertation in practice analyzed the on-duty training model of a mid-sized fire department in the northwestern United…

Instructional design in a fire academy is essential for high academic achievement while students learn the basics of firefighting and hazardous materials. It is critical to explore concerns about balancing the students' cognitive load because of a significant decline in academic achievement. Students pursuing a firefighting career at a community…

Since the tragic events of September 11, 2001, significant research has been conducted regarding the risks which firefighters take while working in their profession and the consequences of ill-health which they can experience. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the reasons why firefighters do not wear appropriate respiratory…

Firefighting is a demanding profession in South Korea requiring physiological strength, psychological soundness, skill, knowledge, and teamwork from firefighters. To raise and keep the qualified firefighter, fire service academies in the country have been providing them with from traditional skill mastering classes to recently introduced live-fire…

The purpose of this case study was to examine what recruit firefighters reported what academically engaged them at a fire academy (FA) classroom. Using a mixed-methods design, quantitative data was collected by electronically distributing a survey to 44 recruit firefighters. Thirty eight recruit firefighters responded. Qualitative data were…

Firefighter wellness has become a concern across the country, in large part because a combination of poor fitness levels, excess weight, and a high-intensity work environment contributes to chronic illness as well as line-of-duty deaths. Workplace wellness programs are effective in career fire service organizations, but nationwide implementation…

This study applies Indigenous Oral Research Methods to amplify the voice and story of math educators working within Indigenous communities. Publicly posted podcast interviews with five participants of the Fire Circles Professional Development were used to disseminate their experiences and views of professional development programs that they had…

This study explored the adoption of learning management system (LMS) technology by fire service instructors. The research identified what attributes of LMS technology lead to the adoption of the technology. This study used hypotheses and research questions related to diffusion of innovation theory (DoI) and the technology acceptance model (TAM) to…

The success of any organization is dependent, in part, on the quality of its leaders. The fire department is no exception. In fact, one could argue that effective leadership in the fire department has become more critical than ever in today's world. This critical need for an effective fire department dates back to the unprecedented terrorist…

Problem: Research about paramedic education, specifically, the field internship and capstone experience is limited. Particularly scarce are studies regarding the student's perspective. Previous research (Joyce, et al., 2011) indicated paramedics view their field internship as the most valuable portion of their education. This phase of paramedic…

Creating uncertainty and stress, the COVID-19 pandemic and increased attention on racial relations, drastically changed how higher education and student affairs operated. For African American women, combatting racism and sexism has always been a daily occurrence in their professional and personal life but the pandemic heightened the challenges…

This qualitative, interpretive study examined the following three research questions: (a) How do lay leaders at Jesuit institutions of higher education understand Ignatian social justice? (b) What elements of Ignatian formation were most salient for lay leaders' personal and/or professional transformation? and (c) How do lay leaders at Jesuit…

Disasters can cause school closures for an extended duration, causing equity and engagement gaps for students. Children and adolescents also suffer social, emotional and health problems associated with remote schooling and lack of physical and interpersonal activities. School leaders and teachers are well-practiced in traditional emergency…