November 23, 2021
Faculty publish research, serve as guest editors
Faculty across the College of Education have recently published research in their discipline. Several of our faculty also served as guest editors of Theory & Practice in Rural Education, which is based out of our Rural Education Institute.
Dr. Loni Crumb
Dr. Loni Crumb in the Department of Interdisciplinary Professions published an article in The Community College Enterprise titled “Underserved but Undeterred: Single Mother Students’ Experiences at Community Colleges.”
The abstract reads:
Single mother students represent a significant proportion of the student body at community colleges. Thus, the purpose of this article is to examine the experiences of single mother students enrolled in community colleges across the United States and identify ways that administrators, faculty, and staff can foster their academic persistence. The author provides practical applications and strategies such as inclusive student orientations, campus affinity groups, and intrusive advising that may aid in retention and degree completion for single mother students amid the challenges they may face.
Dr. Africa Hands
Dr. Africa Hands in the Department of Interdisciplinary Professions published an article in the Journal of Education for Library & Information Science titled “Fostering Doctoral Student Socialization and Research Expertise through Writing Pedagogy.”
The abstract reads:
In this article, we introduce a pedagogical exercise for doctoral writing and publication that aims to support students’ grounding in their research and to demonstrate concretized thinking throughout various stages of the research/writing/doctoral milestone process. We add to existing doctoral writing pedagogies with the contribution of the 7-Slide Update, which guides doctoral students to focus on key dissertation elements to support their socialization into and communication within academic discourse communities. This exercise creates a structure by which students can begin articulating their research, charting yearly progress, and developing as communicators of scholarship through written and oral means. The pedagogical exercise also supports socialization as doctoral students position their work in their respective disciplinary or academic discourse communities as it emphasizes developing research expertise and scholarly communication skills. The exercise is adaptable for use in doctoral and graduate-level programs. The article presents the original implementation of the exercise at a doctoral student residency and its modified version implemented a year later. Feedback from student and faculty participants is shared and implications are detailed.
Drs. Jennifer Gallagher, Ben Blaisdell, Christy Howard and Janeé Avent Harris served as guest editors for the latest edition of Theory & Practice in Rural Education.
Dr. Jennifer Gallagher (LEHE), Dr. Benjamin Blaisdell (SEFR), Dr. Christy Howard (LEHE), and Dr. Janeé Avent Harris (IDP) served as guest editors for the latest edition of Theory & Practice in Rural Education, which focused on critical race theory. They wrote the introductory article, titled “Navigating Contentious Time in Rural Education: An Introduction to Volume 11, Issue 2 of TPRE.”
The abstract reads:
In this introductory article to the special issue, the guest editors situate the articles of the issue within the current contentious climate surrounding critical race theory (CRT). They first provide a background and summary of the major tenets of CRT then apply those tenets to current legislation aimed at banning CRT in schools. They then situate the current backlash against CRT within a history of resistance to racial justice efforts in schools. The editors explain their stance on the current issue of CRT and then substantiate their position with evidence from the articles within the special issue. The conclusions they draw are that CRT is a valuable and applicable theoretical tool in schools and education research.