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Cyberbullying is a phenomenon increasingly affecting students and faculty in K-12 through higher education systems. Cyberbullying in higher education negatively affects institutions and their respective stakeholders. The consequences range from faculty turnover to student suicide. Research related cyberbullying in higher education in online learning is emerging. Common understandings of cyberbullying vary by state, institution, and classroom level. Furthermore, many states, including Florida, defer conduct policies and their enforcement to the individual institution. In this article, a review of publicly available Florida university policies regarding cyberbullying in higher education were explored by a Florida professor and a higher education administrator. Utilizing document analysis, this study analyzed policies from the 12 state universities to document the institutional definitions of cyberbullying and the recommended reporting practices for faculty. Further, following the Community of Inquiry (COI) framework, this study examined policies and procedures to determine if they supported the construct of teacher presence. It was determined that there are multiple definitions of cyberbullying and that policies were publicly available but most lacked support for faculty to report related incidences. Most policies were implied and not explicitly related to cyberbullying. Finally, there was little to no evidence in the analyzed documents that would support teaching presence.

As distance education continues to increase, postsecondary institutions must focus on collectively sustaining inclusive instructional techniques that minimize learning barriers and maximize learning opportunities for diverse student populations. This study utilized the Inclusive Teaching Strategies Inventory-Distance Education (ITSI-DE) to analyze faculty (n = 116) perspectives and behaviors surrounding online accommodations and inclusive teaching practices based on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) concepts. A Pearson product moment correlation confirmed a statistically significant correlation between faculty attitudes and actions towards inclusive teaching practices. Next, a multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA) affirmed statistically significant differences between faculty attitudes and actions towards inclusive teaching practices based on gender. The implications of this research and future research recommendations are offered.

Utilizing a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental research design, this study investigated the impacts of the participation in a First-Year Seminar (FYS) course on student learning attitudes and behaviors. Using the sample of 1,231 freshmen students in a large, public, research university in the Southeast, the study examined if FYS participation promoted students learning attitudes and behaviors in the following ten areas: responsibility, competition, task-planning, expectation, wellness, time-management, college involvement, family involvement, precision, and persistence. Additionally, the study tested for the differences in changes of students learning attitudes and behaviors among five student populations enrolled in the seminar: first-time in college, summer bridge, international, out-of-state, and teacher pre-professionals. Hotelling's T2 test revealed statistically significant differences in learning attitudes and behaviors between pre and posttests for each of the 10 measured factors, while a two-way mixed design MANOVA indicated that changes in students' learning attitudes and behaviors were not significantly different for any of the factors depending on the subgroup. The lack of between-group differences demonstrated that the FYS course participation was equally beneficial for students from all populations examined in the study.

In this mixed-methods study, undergraduate students identified with a learning disability indicated their preferred instructional approaches to learning in college-level STEM courses. The relationships between preferred instructional strategies and learner characteristics: (a) declared major; (b) learning disability; and (c) gender were examined. Participants (n= 48) completed a survey instrument regarding their perceptions and preferences of instructional strategies in their science classes as well as their challenges to learning. An additional focus group (n=8) was conducted to further explore how these students prefer to learn in science. The participants' self-reported challenges for learning science content included: (a) difficulty in interpreting complex texts; (b) trouble remembering or recalling content; and (c) content that was not connected to real-world applications. While the challenges faced by the participants did not correlate to the participants' identified learning disability or declared major, the identified challenges differed by gender. The study participants self-reported a preference for direct instruction with hands-on experiential learning opportunities taking place outside of the traditional classroom environment. The declared major and type of learning disability appeared to have no relationship to the most preferred or least preferred instructional method.

Students within this study followed the ICSDR (Identify, Conceptualize/Connect, Storyboard, Develop, Review/Reflect/Revise) development model to create digital video, as a personalized and active learning assignment. The participants, graduate students in education, indicated that following the ICSDR framework for student-authored video guided their video creation process, resulting in focus for their ideas, and increasing motivation to learn more about their content. Finally, the participants indicated that creating a digital video was an authentic and personalized learning experience that fostered personal choice and voice and peer collaboration. Evidence from the qualitative study supports students following a development framework for video creation.

There is continued debate about the changing and varied nature of first year college courses in American higher education institutions; therefore, additional research is needed to inform faculty and administration of the specific areas on which to focus for teaching and learning in these courses. This study is one possible approach to easily determine student "gains" as measured by the College Success Factors Index, or CSFI. This index consists of ten college student success factors that indicate student achievement. The purpose of this research was to examine the CSFI pretest and post-test data for possible student gains. These self-evaluations were administered in both the summer 2013 and summer 2014 semester courses. The CSFI pre- and post-test scores comparing each summer were analyzed and the overall gains were observed. The summer 2013 courses were taught without a focus on the targeted success factors. A curricular intervention was then introduced in the summer 2014 courses that integrated the ten success indices into the lessons, activities, and assignments. The overall differences or "gains" in student learning are described, along with implications for first year teaching and program design in colleges and universities.

Service-learning has a longstanding history in higher education in and includes three main tenets: academic learning, meaningful community service, and civic learning. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching created an elective classification system called the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification for higher education institutions to demonstrate the depth and breadth of student learning and involvement through partnerships and engagement in the community. This study examines data from qualitative interviews key administrators from three different institutions to understand the institutionalization of service-learning at three different institution types--a Private Liberal Arts College, a Private Teaching University, and a Public Research University located in the same metropolitan area. Using comparative analysis, this study highlights emerging concepts to inform higher education institutions seeking to increase service-learning opportunities that benefit higher education practitioners as well as community leaders.

More literature is needed that focuses on the effectiveness of service learning projects in higher education, specifically how individual students are impacted. This study investigates the possible influence of an international service-learning experience on a student's worldview. The International Service-Learning Inventory was used to ask students a variety of questions on social justice, intercultural competencies, diversity, global awareness, democracy, civic engagement, and transformative learning. The study was conducted with University of Central Florida student participants (N = 9) enrolled in an international service-learning field experience in Botswana examining educational access and gender issues. The results demonstrated strong relationship among four factors: Community, Civic Engagement, Diversity, and Education & Leadership--of which were defined as a student's worldview. In addition, there were interaction effects with the four factors and gender and ethnicity and main effect sizes with the four factors and first generational students, Pell Grant recipients, and those who have traveled abroad. Because of the large effect size in the small population, this "pilot" or "exploratory" research suggests to the reader significant results may be found when examining larger populations.

This paper examines graduate students' perceptions of instruction of a professor who holds an adult education philosophy of self-directed learning (SDL). Students enrolled in three online courses (N=106) in the Fall of 2013 (n=56) and the Spring of 2014 (n=50) were asked to rank 10 of the professor's behaviors in the courses based on their level of comfort with the behavior. Additionally, the students were asked to provide narrative feedback regarding the behaviors. The results of the rankings and the feedback informed the professor as to the pros and cons of course behaviors consistent with a SDL learning (teaching) philosophy. The paper concludes with a discussion of possible resolutions to negative responses as well as suggestions for future research.

In higher education, generative chatbots have infiltrated teaching and learning. Concerns about how and if to utilize chatbots in the classroom are at the forefront of scholarly discussion. This quick-hit article presents a plan to teach learners about generative AI writing tools and their ethical use for writing purposes. As generative AI tools continue to emerge, this guide can support instructors from all disciplines to engage learners in getting the most accurate information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It can reasonably be said that the discussion board is the "heart" of an online course. The discussion board can and should help the learner to make meaning of the content or topic and to find relevance to their lives. When this "engagement" does not occur, the individual does not benefit from the discussion, and it becomes merely "busy work" and no deep learning takes place. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate an individual master's student who was not participating in the course discussion and apply a single-subject experimental design (A-B-A) in an effort to increase the student's participation in the course. The method was to observe the baseline behavior, apply the treatment, withdraw the treatment, and then re-assess the baseline behavior. The results of the experiment were astounding to the researcher. Not only was the experiment successful with the non-performing student, but other students in the course also dramatically increased their level of participation. The results of this study can serve as a best practice to remedy the sometimes disembodied nature of online learning.

Studies have documented the contribution of vocabulary knowledge in second language acquisition and have shown the benefits of repetition, creating context, and the use of multimodal instruction across visual and verbal modalities. This study examined instructional strategies used to teach French vocabulary in an inclusive, prekindergarten foreign language exploratory (FLEX) program using data from observations, videorecordings, and assessments of student learning. Results showed that students of all ability levels were able to learn French vocabulary, although students' scores varied across the three classrooms. Assessment results were highest in the classroom in which students received the most opportunities for repetition, engagement, and use of language in context where meaning was constructed through a community of practice. Implications of this study highlight the importance of the teacher and student engagement and the role of meaningful input.

As a first-time participant attending the 2007 American Association of Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE) conference in Norfolk, Virginia, I imagined my experience and presentation would be similar to experiences […]

Adult learners begin the study of a second language because they chose to do so, whereas early language learners are "forced" through culture transfer or bilingual education in early grades. Adults recognize that learning a language will satisfy an interest or meet a pressing necessity in their lives, and for those reasons, seek language learning opportunities. By adapting teaching style to this premise, the learning environment can better accommodate the learner. This study examines the case of a group of language teachers (N=25) in a language school in Lima Peru in 2010. The results of a self-assessment showed that 18 (72%) had a tendency to teach in a "pedagogical" style, whereas only seven (28%) were classified as "andragogical" in their teaching style. Qualitative interviews were conducted with three participants from each category in an effort to find explanations of their orientations and perspectives on expanding their orientations. The study concludes with implications for practice and suggestions for further research in regard to utilizing principles of andragogy in teaching adult learners of foreign languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents interviews with graduates to examine factors that help adults continue in and complete a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies (MALS) program. The author interpret the interviews in light of a model of student persistence, barriers to adult participation in education, and motivators that promote continued adult participation. Graduates who were interviewed revealed five main factors that helped them succeed in their MALS program. These factors are motivation to get a better job, desire for efficacy, family support and support from others, student-teacher relationships, and faith and religion.

Introduction: This study evaluated the presence of neurologic sequelae among trauma patients after flexion-extension (F/E) radiographs., Methods: Authors of the study conducted a retrospective review of patients (age ≥ 14 years) with a Glasgow Coma Score of 15 who sustained a blunt traumatic injury and received F/E radiographs. Radiographic scans were defined as positive, negative, inconclusive, or incomplete. The neurologic status of each patient was assessed before and after the F/E radiographs, and at discharge and follow-up., Results: Of the 501 patients included in the analysis, 84.6% (n = 424) had negative F/E radiographs, and 3.2% (n = 16) had positive F/E radiographs. Ten percent (n = 51) of patients had incomplete F/E radiographs, and 2.0% (n = 10) were inconclusive due to the inability to rule out a ligamentous injury. Three patients (0.6%) had MRI-confirmed ligamentous injuries, all of which had initial incomplete F/E radiographs due to pain. No patient had a documented neurological deficit before or after the F/E exam. Three patients with an initial negative F/E radiograph returned to the clinic with symptoms of neurologic sequelae. Two of these patients had symptom resolution with no further issues at future follow-up appointments. The third patient was found to have chronic neurologic symptoms after further evaluation., Conclusions: The inclusion of F/E exams in cervical spine clearance protocols did not demonstrate any new long-term iatrogenic neurologic injuries. Consideration should be given to performing MRIs on patients with incomplete F/E radiographs that cannot rule out a ligamentous injury., (Copyright © 2024 Durler, et al.)