Research Issues in Contemporary Education
type: channel
description: Research Issues in Contemporary Education (RICE) is a double-blind, peer-reviewed online journal that publishes educational research studies, literature reviews, theoretical manuscripts, and practitioner-oriented articles regarding issues in education. Research Issues in Contemporary Education is an official publication of the Louisiana Education Research Association. RICE is an online journal (ISSN 2690-9251) indexed by the U.S. Department of Education ERIC Database and EBSCO. RICE is available in the public domain, and use of its content is protected by a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. This license provides authors with an assurance that LERA values their rights to their scholarly works and has adopted this license to restrict use of RICE content without appropriate permission and attribution. Views expressed in all published articles are the views of the author(s), and publication in RICE does not constitute endorsement.
publisher: Louisiana Educational Research Association
language: en
publication name: Research Issues in Contemporary Education
issn: 2690-9251
copyright: Research Issues in Contemporary Education (RICE) is a nationally indexed, double-blind, peer-reviewed online journal that publishes educational research studies, literature reviews, theoretical manuscripts, and practitioner-oriented articles regarding issues in education. Views expressed in all published articles are the views of the author(s), and publication in RICE does not constitute endorsement. Submission of an article implies that it has not been published and is not currently under review for publication elsewhere. RICE is an online journal available in the public domain, and use of its content is protected by a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. This license provides authors with an assurance that LERA values their rights to their scholarly works and has adopted this license to restrict use of RICE content without appropriate permission and attribution.
items: Excellence, Pride, and Tradition: The Value of Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the 21st Century and the Continuous Need to Advocate for Them
items: Honoring the past and building the future: The continued relevancy of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
items: Cultivating Lifelong Transition Supports: Understanding challenges and opportunities faced by HBCUs in preparing students with diverse learning needs for the future of work
items: “Here They Come, Y’all:” Black Studies, Dr. Daniel Black, and Reflections from The Black School of Thought
items: The HBCU Imperative, How Blacks Can Unite
items: An HBCU Alternative Teaching Certification Program: Increasing the Educator Workforce Numbers While Recognizing Student and Program Insights
items: Non-Traditional Black Women Teacher Candidates’ Experiences at a Traditional HBCU Teacher Education Program
items: Critical Pedagogy and Diplomacy: Examining HBCUs’ Role in Developing Global Leaders
items: Institutions, Intuitions, and Inhibitions: Nuancing the Role of HBCUs on Black Women’s Socialization Constructs
items: Unseen to Understood: Discovering belonging at an HBCU
items: HBCUs: The College, The Community, and the Dynamics of Their Relationship to One Another
items: Examining Faculty and Staff Salary Inequities Between Historically-Black Colleges and Universities and Non-HBCU Institutions of Higher Education
items: Role Conflict among High School Teacher-Coaches: A Review of the Literature
items: Using Peer Review to Redesign the Introductory Public Speaking Course for Online Asynchronous Learning
items: Engaging Low-Income Latina/o Preschoolers in Science Inquiry through a Health-Based Curriculum
items: Teaching in the post-COVID classroom
items: Lessons Learned from a Quality Enhancement Plan
items: Introduction to Special Issue
items: Refining Higher Education's Core Competence and Its Shaping Influence on the Future of Learning and Work
items: STEM Success Scholars: First-year interventions to promote STEM identification in low-income, high-achieving college students in a STEM learning community
items: Navigating the Future of Education: Embracing AI for Success
items: The Case for Cognicy
items: When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It, and the Future Ain’t What It Used to Be: Lessons in Living with ChatGPT
items: The More Things Change: The Ethical Impacts of AI in Higher Education
items: Pedagogy vs. Reality: An Investigation of Supports and Barriers when Implementing NGSS Storylines
items: Science and Mathematics Teachers’ Views of the Characteristics of Effective Professional Development: A Q Methodological Study
items: Exploring the Dynamics of Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education
items: Improving Aspiring Teachers’ Confidence in Their Ability to Conduct Parent-Teacher Conferences Through the Use of Artificial Environments.
items: Generative AI and the Development of Assignments that Promote Critical Thinking and Ethical Application in Counselor Education
items: Developing a Culturally Responsive Social Studies Classroom with Trade Books

Excellence, Pride, and Tradition: The Value of Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the 21st Century and the Continuous Need to Advocate for Them
type: item
description: Attending a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) is like no other experience. From being founded out of necessity to sustainment across centuries through consistently adapting to the ever-changing culture of America, HBCUs matter! While they were founded to educate Black students, contemporary HBCUs are a place for everyone to be accepted, become educated, and transform into the best version of themselves. The current special issue aims to shine a light on HBCUs and contribute to the existing literature on higher education, HBCUs, and the various needs of students, faculty, and staff in the American higher education system.
subject: Peer-Reviewed Articles
  topic: section
creator: Jerry L Parker, Managing Editor
rights: Copyright (c) 2025
date: 2025-02-27
publication date: 2025-02-27

Honoring the past and building the future: The continued relevancy of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
type: item
description: Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) remain essential within the higher education landscape, serving as means for academic excellence and cultural empowerment. Despite unremitting challenges such as limited funding and enrollment fluctuations, HBCUs continue to provide transformative educational experiences that nurture both intellectual growth and identity development. Their commitment to cultivating inclusive spaces empowers students to navigate academic challenges while encouraging an identity awareness. By connecting culturally responsive teaching methods, mentors, and community relationships, HBCUs empower students to stand out academically and contribute significantly to the culture. HBCUs also play a critical role in addressing systemic barriers that often impede the success of first-generation and historically resilient students. This article seeks to examine the foundational elements that have sustained HBCUs and consider why these institutions remain relevant in equipping graduates with the skills to consistently succeed and strive towards academic excellence and cultural empowerment.
subject: Peer-Reviewed Articles
  topic: section
creator: Monica Flippin Wynn
rights: Copyright (c) 2025
date: 2025-02-27
publication date: 2025-02-27

Cultivating Lifelong Transition Supports: Understanding challenges and opportunities faced by HBCUs in preparing students with diverse learning needs for the future of work
type: item
description: Persistency in cultivating lifelong transition supports is vital to students, especially those who identify as racially and ethnically minoritized (REM). More support may be needed to articulate the needs of students with a range of learning disabilities or needs to the Office of Disability Services (ODS) and professors, given the importance of transitional support services for post-secondary outcomes. This is particularly true for REM students with diverse learning needs, as researchers confirmed through recent studies that these students receive poor or limited transition planning, require more decision-making skills, and are less likely to participate in transition planning actively. Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) can contribute tremendously to supporting REM students' transitions to college by cultivating further skill development and culturally responsive practices to enhance their self-concepts, self-esteem, and self-advocacy skills to promote continued sustainability as they pursue higher education endeavors. Despite the dearth of research on transition supports and accommodations for students with disabilities, there is limited research investigating the perceptions of REM students navigating the transition support in high school and disability accommodation-seeking process in college, especially within the context of HBCUs. This position paper investigates challenges and opportunities confronting HBCUs in cultivating lifelong transition supports as they prepare students with diverse learning needs for future work.
subject: Peer-Reviewed Articles
  topic: section
creator: Christian Specks Christian Specks
rights: Copyright (c) 2025
date: 2025-02-27
publication date: 2025-02-27

“Here They Come, Y’all:” Black Studies, Dr. Daniel Black, and Reflections from The Black School of Thought
type: item
description: The illustrious Atlanta University was founded in 1865, and Clark College, founded in 1869 combined in 1988 to form Clark Atlanta University. Atlanta University, the oldest institution of higher education in the city of Atlanta, Ga, is the oldest graduate institution to support a predominately Black student population in the United States. CAU has a legacy of dynamic educators, who include individuals such as Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois, Dr. Rufus Clement, Dr. Pearlie Craft Dove, and Dr. Shelby Lewis. Among this legacy of erudite scholar is Dr. Daniel Omotosho Black. Dr. Black, a Clark College alum and one of the first scholars to receive a Ph.D. in Africana Studies, has committed 30 years to teaching at Clark Atlanta University. During his tenure, he has educated and mentored countless students academically, culturally, and spiritually. He has reared many in the Black Studies tradition of scholar activism and created an intellectual legacy. In May of 2024, Black delivered the now viral commencement speech of the era, "Here They Come, Y'all." The speech invoked a spirit of self-determination and evoked CAU's motto: "Find a way or make one." Black's invitation to participate in the Black Studies tradition is evident not only in his speech, but also in his creation of a doctoral cohort coined "The Black School of Thought." Indicative of Black's commitment to CAU's motto of finding a way, "The Black School of Thought" is an interdisciplinary, humanistic cohort composed of English, History, and Identity studies scholars who operate through a Black Studies theoretical lens and ground their work in Afrocentric thought and praxis. Scholars in "The Black School of Thought" adhere to the Black Studies tenets African centeredness, community engagement, ritual and rights of passage, and intellectual confidence and high standards of excellence–all fundamental tenets of the Black Studies tradition, which Black himself inherited and passed on through rigorous training and study of the Bla…
subject: Peer-Reviewed Articles
  topic: section
creator: Kyle Fox
creator: La'Neice Littleton
creator: Joyce White
rights: Copyright (c) 2025
date: 2025-02-27
publication date: 2025-02-27

The HBCU Imperative, How Blacks Can Unite
type: item
description: Historically Black Colleges and Universities collectively represent a wellspring of Black, history, Black culture and Black excellence. The contemporary socio-political and economic climate calls for an unprecedented renaissance of knowledge and support for these invaluable American institutions. The purpose of this article is to effectively contextualize and convey the vital importance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. This writing is designed to enlighten and inspire the reader towards a greater appreciation of the value of these institutions while encouraging taking actions to assist in their maintenance and expansion. Some of the key points of this text include the valuable lessons learned from HBCU history, the need for HBCU support becoming a more widely recognized global imperative, and various strategies to advance this agenda of Black academic, institutional agency. Some of the methods employed in this research study include ethnographic reflections on the history and evolution of HBCU’s, sociological analysis of the ways Black colleges and Black culture intersect and ways our support for these institutions can serve a multitude of purposes including, institutional independence, economic empowerment and preparing the leaders and world changers of tomorrow. This research is presented with the intention of eliciting massive support through historical enlightenment and zealous promotion of the rich history and boundless potential of our Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
subject: Peer-Reviewed Articles
  topic: section
creator: Aaron Smith
rights: Copyright (c) 2025
date: 2025-02-27
publication date: 2025-02-27

An HBCU Alternative Teaching Certification Program: Increasing the Educator Workforce Numbers While Recognizing Student and Program Insights
type: item
subject: Peer-Reviewed Articles
  topic: section
creator: LARKIN PAGE
rights: Copyright (c) 2025
date: 2025-02-27
publication date: 2025-02-27

Non-Traditional Black Women Teacher Candidates’ Experiences at a Traditional HBCU Teacher Education Program
type: item
description: The experiences of Black women who are nontraditional students and enrolled in a traditional teacher education program remain to be under examined in the studies of teacher education. Using phenomenology as a methodology, this study explores the experiences of four Black women who are non-traditional teacher candidates at a Historically Black College and University teacher education program. Framed in Schlossberg transition theory and Black Feminist Theory, the purpose of this study is to understand how the teacher candidates personal, social, academic, as well as previous and current work experiences shaped their conceptions of teaching and being a teacher. The findings illustrate how the teacher candidates drew upon their networks, faith, family, and friends to validate their feelings, knowledge, and experiences, sustain their motivation, navigate academic and financial challenges, and adapt to learning alongside traditional teacher candidates. The data of this study suggest implications for redesigning the structure of the teacher education program with the goal of recruiting and providing immediate and continual support to non-traditional Black students.
subject: Peer-Reviewed Articles
  topic: section
creator: Leta Hooper
rights: Copyright (c) 2025
date: 2025-02-27
publication date: 2025-02-27

Critical Pedagogy and Diplomacy: Examining HBCUs’ Role in Developing Global Leaders
type: item
description: Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have long been at the forefront of promoting educational equity and social justice. This study explores the role of critical pedagogy at HBCUs in shaping global leaders who graduated between 1900 and 1980. Using a qualitative case study approach, the research examines how an education grounded in social justice principles influenced the careers of seven global leaders. Through archival research and document analysis, the study investigates how these leaders challenged systemic oppression and contributed to global change. The findings highlight key implications for higher education and global leadership, underscoring the potential of HBCUs to foster more inclusive approaches to diplomacy.
subject: Peer-Reviewed Articles
  topic: section
creator: Brittany Alexander
rights: Copyright (c) 2025
date: 2025-02-27
publication date: 2025-02-27

Institutions, Intuitions, and Inhibitions: Nuancing the Role of HBCUs on Black Women’s Socialization Constructs
type: item
description: HBCUs continue to be a hub and model for Black student success. For Black women, specifically, such institutional types have pronounced effects on personal identity and professional development. Using interview data from the United Negro College Fund’s Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute, we center the experiences and perspectives of 25 Black women HBCU alumnae. We examine various roles that HBCUs play in socializing Black women from pre-enrollment to graduation through their careers. Our analysis points to three findings: (1) Nurturing a Typology of Women, (2) Instilling and Facilitating Ethics of Care and Love, and (3) Affirming Black Womanhood(s).
subject: Peer-Reviewed Articles
  topic: section
creator: Kamia Slaughter
creator: Natasha McClendon
creator: Danie Marshall
rights: Copyright (c) 2025
date: 2025-02-27
publication date: 2025-02-27

Unseen to Understood: Discovering belonging at an HBCU
type: item
description: This paper examines the author's personal journey through the American education system as a Black student, contrasting experiences in predominantly white institutions (PWIs) with those at a historically Black college/university (HBCU). The narrative explores challenges faced in PWI environments, including feelings of isolation, microaggressions, and dismissive treatment from some white educators. These experiences are contextualized within broader research on Black students' experiences in PWIs. The author then describes a transformative experience upon enrolling at Southern University, an HBCU, for graduate studies. This shift highlighted the importance of representation, belonging, and cultural affirmation in academic settings. The paper draws on personal anecdotes and relevant literature to illustrate how HBCUs provide nurturing environments that empower Black students to thrive academically and personally. The author concludes by reflecting on the lasting positive impact of the HBCU experience on their sense of self and professional development, advocating for educational environments that value diversity and foster belonging for all students.
subject: Peer-Reviewed Articles
  topic: section
creator: Martina Malone
rights: Copyright (c) 2025
date: 2025-02-27
publication date: 2025-02-27

HBCUs: The College, The Community, and the Dynamics of Their Relationship to One Another
type: item
description: Topic: The Economic, Social, Educational Contribution of HBCU’S to their Community Title: HBCUs: The College, The Community, and the Dynamics of Their Relationship to One Another Abstract Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are more than just institutions of higher learning; they are cornerstones of their communities, contributing significantly to the economic, social, and educational fabric. Not only do HBCUs have a long and distinguished history of providing high-quality education to African Americans, particularly those from underserved backgrounds, they offer a nurturing and supportive learning environment, where students are encouraged to excel academically and develop their full potential. This research aims to provide an inclusive analysis of the multifaceted impact of HBCUs, investigating the unique pedagogical approaches employed by HBCUs, such as culturally relevant curricula, mentorship programs, and close faculty-student relationships, that contribute to student success. It will also examine the role of HBCUs in addressing educational disparities and promoting equity in higher education, illuminating their often-overlooked role as catalysts for individual and community empowerment.
subject: Peer-Reviewed Articles
  topic: section
creator: Dr. Anissa Horne
creator: Dr. Cheyrl Ensley
creator: Dr. karletta White
creator: Dr. Suzanne Mayo Theus
creator: Destin Theus
rights: Copyright (c) 2025
date: 2025-02-27
publication date: 2025-02-27

Examining Faculty and Staff Salary Inequities Between Historically-Black Colleges and Universities and Non-HBCU Institutions of Higher Education
type: item
description: Common within nearly all studies, researchers have found that low salaries (Bichsel et al., 2022; Clark, 2023; Scaringe, 2023) are a primary reason for faculty and staff to leave, especially at HBCUs (Herder, 2024; Lopez, 2023). As a result, this study leverages current Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) data (National Center for Education Statistics, 2024) to explore salary differences between faculty (multiple ranks) and staff (multiple classifications) at HBCUS and peer institutions. Quantitative analyses suggest that HBCU staff and faculty salaries lag considerably behind salaries at peer, non-HBCU institutions, suggesting financial inequities experienced by HCBUs may carry into compensation for faculty and staff, possibly limiting the impact that HBCUs can have within the Black community and beyond. Implications for research, policy, and practice are addressed, especially as they relate to federal funding mechanisms and private industry partnerships that could help provide HBCUs with the financial support they deserve to compensate HBCU faculty and staff equitably.
subject: Peer-Reviewed Articles
  topic: section
creator: Zachary Taylor
creator: Kayla Stan
rights: Copyright (c) 2025
date: 2025-02-27
publication date: 2025-02-27

Role Conflict among High School Teacher-Coaches: A Review of the Literature
type: item
description: The multitude of demands required of today’s high school teachers who are also athletic coaches often causes a problematic role conflict in which they must prioritize one role over the other. This literature review is part of a larger research study that aims to inform leaders, change policy, and improve practice for high school teacher-coaches. The purpose of this literature review is to explore these dual roles and responsibilities of today’s high school teacher-coaches in Louisiana public schools using role theory as a theoretical framework to help understand their decision-making processes.
subject: Peer-Reviewed Articles
  topic: section
creator: Margaret Westmoreland
rights: Copyright (c) 2024
date: 2024-12-30
publication date: 2024-12-30

Using Peer Review to Redesign the Introductory Public Speaking Course for Online Asynchronous Learning
type: item
description: This paper proposes a comprehensive redesign of the introductory public speaking course for 100% online and asynchronous delivery, emphasizing peer review-based assessment. Research from the post-pandemic educational age informs this approach, which aims to meet the changing demands of online education for digital native students despite the financial constraints faced by institutions. This redesign is focused on improving student engagement, developing skills, and fostering adaptability in digital communication contexts through a flipped classroom model that leverages structured peer interactions to foster critical thinking, collaboration, and communication skills essential for modern professional and civic engagement. By utilizing technological tools (particularly FeedbackFruits) and flexible grading methods, the course supports diverse learning styles and promotes the ability to handle constructive criticism effectively. Ultimately, this paper advocates for reimagining traditional educational paradigms to better align with the needs of today’s digital learners, preparing them for success in an interconnected world characterized by digital communication and remote collaboration.
subject: Peer-Reviewed Articles
  topic: section
creator: Chelsea Slack
rights: Copyright (c) 2024
date: 2024-12-30
publication date: 2024-12-30

Engaging Low-Income Latina/o Preschoolers in Science Inquiry through a Health-Based Curriculum
type: item
description: In recent years, there has been an effort to develop reform-oriented and inquiry-based early science instruction. Preliminary studies suggest that participation in inquiry-based learning activities promotes preschoolers’ learning and interest in science. In addition, science education in early childhood is of great importance to many aspects of a child’s development, and researchers suggest that science education should begin during the early years of schooling. The participants of this intervention were a total of 115 preschool students from six different public schools in a western, urban public-school district in California, USA. In this specific intervention analysis for one classroom only, a small sample of a total of 18 (4-5-year-old) Latino/multilingual preschool students (n =18; 9 boys and 9 girls) were exposed to an inquiry-based curriculum designed to teach them about health concepts in the context of science activities. The general goal of the study was to explore how different types of questions posed by an instructor related to children’s biological conceptual understanding. The author hypothesized that children who responded to more teacher questions would exhibit higher levels of conceptual knowledge about health/biology concepts in a posttest interview. This intervention confirmed that students who engaged in question-asking and generated explanations during the lessons gained a deeper conceptual knowledge as evidenced by more sophisticated knowledge of cold/flu prevention concepts in the posttests. Thus, these preliminary findings demonstrated that this inquiry-based curriculum was effective at helping children understand the processes of contagion and illness. Finally, understanding how preschool students engage in science inquiry lessons could greatly benefit researchers, educators, and practitioners to maximize the students’ conceptual knowledge about science.
subject: Peer-Reviewed Articles
  topic: section
creator: Walter Aminger
rights: Copyright (c) 2024
date: 2024-12-30
publication date: 2024-12-30

Teaching in the post-COVID classroom
type: item
description: In 2023, teachers continue to experience reverberations from the COVID-19 pandemic. The closure of schools across the United States required the adaptation of classrooms and a dynamic shift in the practices of teachers. As the pandemic subsided, this project sought to understand the ways that instructional practice, interactions with students and parents, and professional expectations had changed for classroom educators. Further, it attempted to understand ways that teacher preparation programs should adapt to meet the needs of preservice educators and to prepare them for the post-pandemic classroom environment. Subjects for the focus group were recruited on a volunteer basis from schools within one school district in north Louisiana. The topics discussed focused on shifts in teaching practices, interactions with students and parents, and professional expectations of teachers in the post-pandemic classroom. Participants identified changes related to student maturity levels and emotional stability, student behavioral issues, student accountability, student engagement and motivation, student absenteeism and expectations around makeup assignments, use of technology, and parental involvement. These changes impact teachers’ concerns professionally and personally. To train teachers to be successful in the post-pandemic classroom, teacher preparation programs must be aware of these changes and adept at addressing the new challenges.
subject: Peer-Reviewed Articles
  topic: section
creator: Tina Allen
creator: Dustin Whitlock
creator: Joanne Hood
rights: Copyright (c) 2024
date: 2024-12-30
publication date: 2024-12-30

Lessons Learned from a Quality Enhancement Plan
type: item
description: The Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) at one university aimed to improve academic performance in two gateway science courses that all STEM and pre-health sciences majors must take that were known to be barriers to student success. The project sought to achieve this primarily by a course redesign that incorporated an extra hour of instruction each week that provided active learning on historically difficult topics as well as lessons on metacognition. The literature on STEM pedagogy shows that faculty who successfully create active learning classrooms help to improve learning outcomes (Suchman, 2014). Additionally, planning, monitoring, and evaluating one’s own learning process through metacognition improves thinking skills and academic success (Tanner, 2012). The lessons learned from this project include important implications for the implementation of a directive such as garnering the support of faculty in the initial design, creating cohesion within the class, and ensuring a culture of active learning and student success across disciplines.
subject: Peer-Reviewed Articles
  topic: section
creator: Mallory Benedetto
creator: Anne Case Hanks
creator: Megan Lowe
rights: Copyright (c) 2024
date: 2024-12-30
publication date: 2024-12-30

Introduction to Special Issue
type: item
description: Introduction to Special Issue
subject: Exploring the Impact of AI on Best Practices for Higher Education Online Teaching and Learning
  topic: section
creator: Elizabeth R Hornsby
rights: Copyright (c) 2024
date: 2024-08-08
publication date: 2024-08-08

Refining Higher Education's Core Competence and Its Shaping Influence on the Future of Learning and Work
type: item
description: Higher education plays a vital role in developing core lifelong competencies that empower graduates to thrive amidst technological and economic disruption. This article proposes that higher cognitive skills, emotional intelligence, and digital literacy are key competencies that promote transferable skills applicable across diverse industries and markets. It provides recommendations for how the higher education community can strategically cultivate these timeless yet critical competencies while also leveraging innovations like AI. The article articulates higher education's continuing value in nurturing adaptable human potential to equip graduates to navigate an unpredictable future workforce transformed by technology. It emphasizes competencies like critical thinking, empathy, creativity, and communication that enable graduates to complement and effectively direct emerging AI tools. The University of Louisiana System's core competencies initiative demonstrates a framework outlining essential skills for lifelong success. As jobs rapidly evolve with advancing AI, adaptability becomes key and core competencies ready graduates for new challenges by developing transportable human strengths. By upholding these timeless competencies while innovating, higher education can fulfill its vital purpose of empowering students to define their own success despite disruption.
subject: Exploring the Impact of AI on Best Practices for Higher Education Online Teaching and Learning
  topic: section
creator: Jim Henderson
creator: Claire Norris
creator: Elizabeth R Hornsby
rights: Copyright (c) 2024
date: 2024-08-08
publication date: 2024-08-08

STEM Success Scholars: First-year interventions to promote STEM identification in low-income, high-achieving college students in a STEM learning community
type: item
description: Many first-year, low-income STEM students do not remain in STEM majors past their first year nor do they complete STEM degrees. Our project aimed to support low-income, STEM majors financially and promote their STEM identities by creating a learning community focused on developing positive relationships among students, faculty, and peer mentors. Our research examined how first-year interventions such as a cohort-based STEM-themed first-year experience, peer and faculty mentoring, community meetings, and STEM seminars and conferences provided opportunities for students to (1) develop a sense of belonging, (2) develop competences in biology and math, (3) perform biology and math practices, and (4) be recognized for their competence and performances. Qualitative methods were used collecting and analyzing data from observations of scholars during a first-year experience course, meetings and seminars, and semi-structured interviews. Findings inform how interventions during STEM majors’ first year of college can support students’ STEM identity.
subject: Peer-Reviewed Articles
  topic: section
creator: Laura Rodriguez
creator: Kim Ward
creator: Elizabeth Cowles
creator: Carmen Cid
creator: Barbara Murdoch
rights: Copyright (c) 2024
date: 2024-12-30
publication date: 2024-12-30

Navigating the Future of Education: Embracing AI for Success
type: item
description: The review discusses the book "101 Creative Ideas to Use AI in Education," emphasizing the growing integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the educational landscape. The book offers practical strategies to address challenges brought about by the global pandemic. It caters to a diverse audience, including educators, researchers, students, policymakers, and administrators. The review highlights specific examples from the book, such as using ChatGPT for writing skills enhancement, AI-supported peer reviews, and Project-Based Learning scenarios. It also touches upon AI's role in formative assessment, business education, and fostering critical thinking. The importance of ethical AI use is underlined, advocating for a balanced approach that preserves human dimensions in education while leveraging AI's capabilities. Overall, the review emphasizes the need to embrace AI's potential responsibly in education.
subject: Exploring the Impact of AI on Best Practices for Higher Education Online Teaching and Learning
  topic: section
creator: Danielle Bergeron
rights: Copyright (c) 2024
date: 2024-08-08
publication date: 2024-08-08

The Case for Cognicy
type: item
description: New advances in technology, specifically large language models and generative artificial intelligence (AI), require a shift in the way higher education looks at assessing learning. The process of thought must be judged and assessed as independent of any resulting product. This separation of process and product necessitates a new way of viewing critical thinking and learning skills. This paper proposes that a new ability, termed cognicy, will be essential to viewing learning, understanding, and thought in an AI world. Cognicy is defined as the foundational ability to think and understand in a process that decouples cognitive processes from their tangible outcomes. Since product can be created by AI in a way that is indistinguishable from human output, it is the process of thinking and learning that remains uniquely human. Cognicy encompasses these skills while seeing a tangible outcome as a by-product rather than evidence of understanding. In giving these skills a name that is separate from concepts like critical thinking, a shared framework and language is created to help move the discussion forward. Much like the push for numeracy seeks to decouple understanding of conceptual math from tasks like arithmetic, a focus on cognicy seeks to decouple thought from tasks that are easily achievable by AI. While there is not yet a specific way to judge cognicy outside of the tangible as of now, there are existing frameworks that already develop cognicy. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) allows for multiple means of instruction, as well as multiple means of assessment. This gives both teacher and student a way to put thought and understanding before a specific task-based output. Metacognition gives learners a skillset that helps them explore their own thinking, an essential skill in gaining cognicy. AI literacy is inextricably linked to cognicy, as it increases metacognitive awareness as it develops AI skills. It is imperative that education recognizes and embraces the shif…
subject: Exploring the Impact of AI on Best Practices for Higher Education Online Teaching and Learning
  topic: section
creator: Meredith King
rights: Copyright (c) 2024
date: 2024-08-08
publication date: 2024-08-08

When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It, and the Future Ain’t What It Used to Be: Lessons in Living with ChatGPT
type: item
description: This article provides critical guidance for college English teachers in evaluating the use of ChatGPT in their course pedagogy. Included in this article are a brief overview of ChatGPT as a Large Language Model Artificial Intelligence platform, an analysis of the ethics related to ChatGPT in the classroom, and sample lesson plans that are adaptable to a variety of undergraduate English composition and literature courses.
subject: Exploring the Impact of AI on Best Practices for Higher Education Online Teaching and Learning
  topic: section
creator: Bruce Craft
rights: Copyright (c) 2024
date: 2024-08-08
publication date: 2024-08-08

The More Things Change: The Ethical Impacts of AI in Higher Education
type: item
description: The release of ChatGPT and other AI tools has raised significant and challenging questions around the ethics of artificial intelligence in higher education. The initial concerns regarding AI in higher education centered on academic integrity, and the literature reflects this initial response. However, the multifaceted nature of higher education institutions means that there are many domains that will be ethically impacted by the application and implementation of AI. The purpose of this literature review is to examine these many domains and stakeholders in terms of ethical impact to surface questions, concerns, and concepts that may help practitioners navigate this complex construct of education, technology, and ethics. From the review of literature, it identifies several implications for practice including academic integrity, assessment (including the concept of cognicy and the practice of authentic assessment), policies and syllabi, and frameworks, principles, and tools. It concludes with a rumination on how the work of ethics is often accomplished through questions and that at this stage in the evolution of AI, it is difficult to identify black-letter answers. We must be prepared to adapt and evolve even as AI does.
subject: Exploring the Impact of AI on Best Practices for Higher Education Online Teaching and Learning
  topic: section
creator: Megan Lowe
rights: Copyright (c) 2024
date: 2024-08-08
publication date: 2024-08-08

Pedagogy vs. Reality: An Investigation of Supports and Barriers when Implementing NGSS Storylines
type: item
description: Over the course of a two-year curriculum field test study that implemented a curriculum-based professional learning framework, we investigated the factors that influenced teachers’ willingness and ability to implement NGSS-aligned, phenomenon-based storylines for teaching the nature of science, evolution, and climate change. Through qualitative data collected from interviews and lesson evaluation surveys from 25 middle and high school science teachers, we identified potential implementation barriers and support structures relating to organizational culture as well as curriculum and instruction at the classroom, school, community, and systemic levels. The data indicate that lack of administrative support, time constraints, difficulty with student sense-making, and mismatched classrooms are the largest barriers to implementation, while curriculum-based professional learning including working through the lessons from a student perspective, peer collaboration, autonomy, and flexibility were the largest predictors of successful implementation. Administrators can play a large role in providing successful supports and removing barriers for teachers implementing NGSS-aligned, phenomenon-based lessons.
subject: Peer-Reviewed Articles
  topic: section
subject: curriculum adoption
  topic: keywords
subject: instructional change
  topic: keywords
subject: Next Generation Science Standards
  topic: keywords
subject: phenomenon-based instruction
  topic: keywords
subject: storylining
  topic: keywords
subject: professional learning
  topic: keywords
creator: Blake Touchet
creator: Diane Wright
creator: Lin Andrews
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Research Issues in Contemporary Education
date: 2024-03-30
publication date: 2024-03-30
starting page: 46
ending page: 76

Science and Mathematics Teachers’ Views of the Characteristics of Effective Professional Development: A Q Methodological Study
type: item
description: Education researchers regularly seek to evaluate and define what encompasses successful professional development (PD) for teachers. Numerous items and lists that are considered the characteristics of effective PD have emerged from this research. However, follow-up with teachers on their perceived views of these characteristics is lacking from the literature. Teachers can help determine which aspects should be considered in the design of high-quality professional learning in the future. For this study, Q methodology was utilized to examine the subjective views of the teachers. Q sorts were correlated and factor analyzed (PCA with cluster rotation) to extract four significant factors on which all 17 participants loaded significantly (McKeown &Thomas, 2013; Newman & Ramlo, 2010; Watts & Stenner, 2012). These factors were examined through the lens of andragogy (adult learning theory) to determine the connections between the characteristics of effective PD and the core adult learning principles. Teachers in this study perceived effective PD as those opportunities that establish cooperative learning amongst participants, focus on improved student learning outcomes, provide opportunities for feedback, and allow for ongoing support. Future research is needed to see if the results obtained apply to other teacher populations.
subject: Peer-Reviewed Articles
  topic: section
subject: Q methodology
  topic: keywords
subject: teacher professional development
  topic: keywords
subject: mathematics/science education
  topic: keywords
subject: andragogy
  topic: keywords
subject: adult learning
  topic: keywords
creator: Dominick Fantacone
creator: Qiu Wang
creator: Jeffry Radloff
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Research Issues in Contemporary Education
date: 2024-03-30
publication date: 2024-03-30
starting page: 77
ending page: 113

Exploring the Dynamics of Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education
type: item
description: This position paper explored the current state of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, educator support and opposition to AI tools in teaching and learning, and the ethical and social implications of AI tools in higher education. As technology emerges in the educational community, educators must have a voice in how AI looks in the classroom. This paper addresses support and opposition to a need for more studies on student experiences with AI tools, such as personalized learning platforms and intelligent tutoring systems. Educational technology has acknowledged that social and ethical implications exist. However, this position paper acknowledges the need for being inclusive in framing technology and AI tools across less developed countries, emerging economies, and developed countries. This inclusion of diverse experiences impacts how AI perceives and generates new content. The practical applications of AI in future studies should explore how best to implement AI tools while advancing knowledge and maintaining academic integrity in becoming more technologically literate citizens.
subject: Exploring the Impact of AI on Best Practices for Higher Education Online Teaching and Learning
  topic: section
subject: higher education
  topic: keywords
subject: artificial intelligence
  topic: keywords
subject: teaching and learning
  topic: keywords
creator: Adronisha T. Frazier
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Research Issues in Contemporary Education
date: 2024-08-08
publication date: 2024-08-08

Improving Aspiring Teachers’ Confidence in Their Ability to Conduct Parent-Teacher Conferences Through the Use of Artificial Environments.
type: item
description: Overall teacher effectiveness is connected to the teacher’s sense of confidence in their personal ability to be effective. An important part of teacher effectiveness is communication and collaboration with parents, and family members of their students. Research has demonstrated the positive impact strong relationships between families and school have on both parties. However, even the most comprehensive teacher preparation programs are limited to the amount of practice they can provide aspiring teachers because parent-teacher conferences are confidential meetings. The key to providing aspiring teachers an opportunity to practice this skill and grow in their confidence and sense of efficacy is through the use of acritical environments and simulations. Providing teacher candidates with artificial environments to practice simulated parent-teacher conferences improves overall teacher candidate’s sense of confidence in their ability to conduct these meetings effectively. The use of artificial environments has the potential to have a positive impact on various parts of teacher preparation programs.
subject: Exploring the Impact of AI on Best Practices for Higher Education Online Teaching and Learning
  topic: section
subject: Artificial Environments
  topic: keywords
subject: Teacher Confidence
  topic: keywords
subject: Parent-Teacher Conferences
  topic: keywords
subject: Aspiring Teachers
  topic: keywords
creator: Melanie Forstall Lemoine
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Research Issues in Contemporary Education
date: 2024-08-08
publication date: 2024-08-08

Generative AI and the Development of Assignments that Promote Critical Thinking and Ethical Application in Counselor Education
type: item
description: Students have gravitated to the convenience of artificial intelligence (AI) and have implemented AI in many of their daily practices learning on the benefits of AI to generate text, music, and for entertainment. Faculty are also emerging as AI consumers. Given that faculty workloads have become increasingly difficulty to manage, AI holds promise for assisting faculty with teaching and research. In this article, the authors give two examples of ways they used generative AI to enhance learning through creating assignments that aligned to course objectives and lessons. Implications are discussed.
subject: Exploring the Impact of AI on Best Practices for Higher Education Online Teaching and Learning
  topic: section
subject: Artificial Intelligence
  topic: keywords
subject: Curriculum
  topic: keywords
subject: Counseling
  topic: keywords
subject: Counselor Education
  topic: keywords
creator: Imre (emeric) Csaszar
creator: Jennifer Rhea Curry
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Research Issues in Contemporary Education
date: 2024-08-08
publication date: 2024-08-08

Developing a Culturally Responsive Social Studies Classroom with Trade Books
type: item
description: In this article, the authors focus on a one-week research project examining Frederick Douglass’s civic actions to challenge racial discrimination African Americans faced before and after the U.S. Civil War. Our one-week research project was implemented at a free public charter school in a mid-sized Southern city. Our project connects to the disciplinary literacy skills argued for in the indicators of the C3 Framework. The following research questions drove our study: (a) in what ways, if any, do students articulate the challenges African Americans faced in the slavery system?; (b) In what ways, if any, do students articulate the civic actions taken by Frederick Douglass to challenge racial discrimination in U.S. society? First, we define the concept of public issues and describe their importance in an abbreviated literature review. Next, our focus shifts to examining how disciplinary literacy skills advocated for in the C3 Framework helped to shape our project. Then, we briefly focus on the demographic information for the students that participated in our study along with giving the demographic information about the teacher that implemented this project. Next, methods utilized in our project will be given. Then, a description of the student data and analysis procedures is provided. Next, we talk about the findings from our study and give a discussion section to unpack our findings. Finally, we close the article with limitations from our study and recommendations for future research studies to build upon our project.
subject: Peer-Reviewed Articles
  topic: section
subject: social studies trade books
  topic: keywords
subject: disciplinary literacy
  topic: keywords
subject: culturally responsive teaching
  topic: keywords
creator: Jeremiah Clabough
creator: Timothy Lintner
creator: Caroline Sheffield
creator: Alyssa Whitford
rights: Copyright (c) 2024 Research Issues in Contemporary Education
date: 2024-03-30
publication date: 2024-03-30
starting page: 114
ending page: 138