Articles

Teaching and Generative AI: Pedagogical Possibilities and Productive Tensions," edited by Beth Buyserie and Travis N. Thurston, is a crucial and timely contribution to the ongoing conversation about AI's impact on education. This book thoroughly explores the opportunities and challenges that AI technologies introduce to both traditional and online classroom environments

The U.S. college admissions process is a uniquely complex and decentralized system that poses significant challenges for both students and their parents. With over 4,000 institutions offering varied application platforms, deadlines, and requirements, navigating this process demands a highly personalized approach. While students juggle academic, extracurricular, and application-related responsibilities, effective time management becomes a critical factor in securing both admission and financial aid opportunities. Parents, ideally positioned to support their children through this journey, however they often find themselves overwhelmed due to a lack of clear and accessible information. The increasing dependance on expert guidance highlights the limitations of generic online resources in addressing the individualized needs of applicants. Furthermore, emotional involvement and limited knowledge can hinder parents' ability to provide objective and strategic support. This paper examines the multifaceted challenges parents face in the college admissions process and discusses potential strategies to bridge the information and support gap, ultimately aiming to enhance student outcomes during this pivotal life transition.

The Native American princess pageant is an institution that provides a site within which Native American women exhibit and advocate for traditionally important tribal values and behavior. In doing so, princesses transmit culture, and honor is bestowed upon their families, ancestors, and elders. Through their travels and interaction with others, princesses are afforded opportunities to share their culture as they learn more about the cultures of others (Aicinena & Ziyanak, 2024; Cherokee Phoenix, 2023; Fox, 2017; Lonelodge, 2019). In the current study, we sought to determine through qualitative research methods how a specific tribal princess program, specifically the Choctaw Princess and Royalty Program, assists in the maintenance and perpetuation of traditional Choctaw culture and how the program contributes to strengthening Choctaw identity within the program’s participants. To date, no researcher has published study in which this topic has been explored. Our findings led to the identification of three themes and six subthemes: 1) Formal Cultural Education: The Princess in Training Program. Subthemes include Personal Growth, and Cultural Educators. 2) Becoming a Functioning Member of the Choctaw Nation which encompasses four subthemes: Respect for Others, Cultural Identity, Servant Leadership, and Humility. 3) Choctaw Princesses Serve as Role Models. During the process of preparing for pageants, in the midst of pageant competition, and while serving their year-long term as a princess, Choctaw girls and women learn about and share their traditional culture while strengthening their identity as members of the Choctaw Nation.

This mixed methods study explored the perceptions of high school students towards online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic by examining the factors that affected their academic achievement. The survey results revealed that a lack of social presence contributed to students’ disengagement from online learning, affecting their academic performance. A qualitative thematic analysis approach was applied to analyze open-ended questions. The findings from this study demonstrated the importance of giving voice to students and learning from their experiences with online learning during the pandemic. Specifically, this study focused on understanding how students perceived the transition to online learning and how their experiences with online learning affected student learning outcomes.

The article is about how the voices of the marginalized should be integrated in teaching history, especially in terms of culturally responsive teaching, in order to make the classroom more inclusive. It examines the relevance of teacher preparation, incorporation of diverse histories, and the use of technology in fostering cultural respect. The study reveals that the self-efficacy of teachers in multicultural classrooms is directly related to their perceptions of diversity climate in schools. It also stresses the necessity to take the marginalized histories, like the history of LGBTQ+ as well as Latinx, into consideration, to consider the whole picture of history. The article finds that teachers should consider prioritizing diversity and inclusion to create an inclusive and engaging learning environment that suits all students.

While right-wing extremism and related hate crimes, and anti-Semitism rise, Holocaust education for law enforcement provides crucial historical awareness and strengthens competence in decision-making and ethical judgment. In Berlin, law enforcement officers participate in Holocaust education programs at the Wannsee Conference Memorial and the Topography of Terror on the grounds of the former Reich Security Main Office (Reichsicherheitshauptamt). While the law enforcement officers participating in the programs possess basic pre-knowledge of the Holocaust and Nazi-era crimes, the programs help them deepen their understanding of Nazi history. However, they demonstrate limited awareness of perpetrator research and the role of the German Order Police (Ordnungspolizei) in the Nazi era, with little improvement in this area after the Holocaust Education programs at memorials based in Berlin. This highlights the need for more comprehensive educational efforts to address these gaps and foster a more thorough understanding of their institutional history.

This study examines immersive community learning during a student trip to the United States-Mexico border, with nine students documenting their experiences through journals and evaluations. Using innovative techniques from statistical network science, we analyzed commonalities and differences in students' experiences, quantitatively assessing sentiment variations and exploring their first-hand observations. Novel methods using cluster centrality and community detection were deployed to identify broad areas of observation and concern. Emotion fluctuations, recorded with the National Research Council (American English) dictionary, are placed on a firm numerical basis, and thematic currents are unearthed with the presence or absence of topical diversity. Students reported strong emotional engagement with their experiences, reflecting on challenged worldviews through phrases like "border dynamics," "strong stories" from immigrant narratives, and "emotional farewell." These findings demonstrate that community-based learning curricula, which extend beyond traditional classroom limits, can effectively address and overcome misinformation regarding border issues. The study spotlights the transformative potential of education focused on community engagement, empathy, and solidarity, providing a framework for future community-based educational projects and emphasizing their substantial benefits to student learning experience. Four pedagogical contributions and actionable insights to take from this research: (1) preparation and design, (2) emphasis on “communal living,” (3) reflection, and (4) establishing trust.

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the schooling processes in K-12 systems. Principals navigated many challenges both during remote online learning and after returning to in-person education. This study explored the processes that 11 charter high school principals experienced during the pandemic. Using thematic analysis of interview data from 11 school principals, researchers aimed to understand how urban school principals’ perceptions towards online education practices in underprivileged communities have changed towards both online learning and schooling in general during the covid-19 pandemic. The goal of this examination is to then make recommendations for systemic reform. Five themes emerged: 1) school principals’ differing experiences with online learning during the pandemic, 2) challenges and opportunities in transitioning to online learning during the pandemic, 3) equity problems, 4) perspectives of school principals on online learning during the pandemic, and 5) shifts in school principals’ perceptions of online learning. Findings suggest important implications for principals, district leaders, policymakers, and researchers.

In the last two decade, it has become clear that retention methods must utilize polychoric correlation instead of Pearson correlation to eliminate drawbacks such as underestimation of the magnitude of the relationship between latent variables that result in spurious findings (Bernstein & Teng, 1989). In the present study, the literature review will be examined and compared using Monte Carlo simulation to determine the most parsimonious method of retention for categorical data. With continuous variables, the majority of researchers still implement Cattell’s scree test (Henson & Roberts, 2006) and Kaiser-Guttman-1 rule (Velicer et al., 2000), because these procedures are the default in popular statistical packages, such as SPSS and SAS. The present study will examine two of the most accurate methods: MAP (Minimum Average Partial) and PA (Parallel Analysis) along with Very Simple Structure (VSS) with categorical variables.

This article explores the need to humanize online learning environments while simultaneously developing students' AI literacies and essential academic skills. Fostering meaningful student engagement by integrating AI tools within the #DigitalPowerups strategy for online discussions, educators can enhance both social presence and collaborative knowledge co-construction, creating a more dynamic and interactive learning experience for students. This approach not only supports creativity, critical thinking, and interdependent thinking, but also ensures that students are equipped with the technological competencies required for success in this digital-age. Remixing these elements—humanized learning, AI literacy, and #DigitalPowerups—provides a comprehensive strategy for engaging students more deeply with course content while preparing them to navigate and thrive in modern educational and professional contexts.