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Full Issue: Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence, Volume 9, Issue 2, Fall 2025
No full textThe full-length Fall 2025 issue (Volume 9, Issue 2) of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence
Access the online Pressbooks version (with downloadable EPUB format) here.
This issue of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence brings together articles that highlight approaches for engaging students and broader communities through teaching, coaching, and assessment in higher education. The contributions examine community-engaged learning in graduate coursework, the use of coaching practices to support student-centered teaching and advising, Cooperative Extension staff readiness for virtual instruction, and alternative assessment strategies aimed at increasing engagement and reducing anxiety in challenging STEM courses. Collectively, the articles emphasize practical, evidence-informed strategies that foster connection, reflection, and inclusion across diverse instructional contexts in higher education
Adapting the Comprehensive Assessment of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Processes (CompACT) Questionnaire for Contextual Relevance in Uganda: A Comprehensive Approach
No full textThe global utility of acceptance and commitment therapy highlights the need for adapting measures that can effectively capture the richness of psychological flexibility. One such instrument is the Comprehensive Assessment of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Processes (CompACT). We translated the CompACT into Luganda and adapted it for use in Uganda. The original CompACT was translated into the Luganda language and reviewed through a series of evaluations. Nine mental health professionals participated in one-on-one interviews, while a focus group of eight culturally competent laypersons provided further insights. Their feedback resulted in revisions to enhance the instrument’s clarity, relevance, acceptability and completeness. The revised version was then cognitively tested with n = 25 trainees at Makerere University. Input from these various groups was synthesized and triangulated to develop the final version. A total of 23 items were adapted to improve the comprehensibility and completeness of the scale. Overall, respondents deemed the tool clear and acceptable. This study highlights the importance of a rigorous adaptation process, including translation, expert review, cognitive testing and feedback triangulation, to ensure psychological measures remain valid and relevant across cultures. Such an approach ensures accuracy in diverse contexts and provides a model for adapting psychological instruments for non-Western populations
Calibration and Systems Engineering Collaboration
No full textSystems engineering and calibration engineering are critical to the efficient development, production, and operation of complex systems. Systems engineering provides the framework for the system lifecycle, ensuring stakeholder needs are met through integrated solutions. Calibration engineering ensures the accuracy, reliability, traceability of measurement, and compliance with standards. Coordination between system engineering and calibration ensures that instrumentation, control systems, and system performance are enabled. As the lifecycle coordinator, systems engineering relies on calibration engineers to reduce risks, optimize development, and ensure operational success.
However, the relationship between these disciplines is often poorly coordinated, as noted in tabletop discussions at CALCON 2024. By improving coordination, efficiency is increased, risks are reduced, and performance is improved. Throughout the lifecycle, coordination is essential for optimized and cost-effective system development, production, and operation.
This paper explores the interactions between systems engineering and calibration engineering across the lifecycle, highlighting how early and continuous collaboration addresses challenges such as traceability, compliance, and risk management. Through insights from industry practitioners, it aims to improve coordination between these disciplines, contributing to the successful realization of complex systems
Educational Policies Committee Minutes December 4, 2025
No full textApproval of Minutes - November 6, 2025 Subcommittee Reports Center for Civic Excellence Updates Other Business Adjourn: 3:15 p
Design, Control, And Optimization of Unfolding-Based AC-DC Topologies With Three-Port Resonant Converters for Electric Vehicle Battery Charging Applications
No full textThe global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reliance on fossil fuels has made electric mobility a cornerstone of sustainable transportation. This transition is driving demand for advanced charging infrastructure and more efficient power conversion systems. Power converters play a central role, not only in enabling reliable EV charging but also in integrating renewable energy sources with the grid. Because of the large amount of power involved, these converters must operate efficiently, reliably, and at low cost. Conventional high-power chargers often use two stages of conversion, which are effective but limited by size and energy losses. To overcome these challenges, there is growing interest in single-stage converters that can handle EV charging and grid integration in a more compact and efficient way. The first part of this research develops an efficient converter designed for wireless EV charging that performs grid interfacing and battery charging in a single stage. The system improves efficiency, enhances grid power quality, enables stable operation, and does not require large passive components. Advanced control and modulation methods are introduced to strengthen the soft-switching performance of the converter, while modeling approaches are developed to support accurate control and reliable operation. The second part of this work addresses the challenge of limited energy generation capacity as EV adoption grows. A multiport converter system is proposed that allows renewable energy and battery storage to be integrated directly with the grid and charging infrastructure. This system improves energy management, supports grid stability, and demonstrates scalability for higher-power charging. Together, these innovations support the development of faster, more compact, efficient, and reliable EV charging solutions
Initial Fungal Decomposer Community Determines Wood-Derived Carbon in Discrete Soil Carbon Pools in Aspen Clearcuts
No full textSoil carbon storage can be affected by forest management activities that alter the amount of biomass at a site, including slash retention and salvage harvesting. Initial fungal colonization of retained biomass may affect soil carbon storage due to differences in fungal decomposition strategies. To examine the effect of wood addition on wood-derived soil carbon storage and the interaction between initial fungal decomposer communities and wood application depth, δ13C modified wood inoculated with white- or brown-rot fungi was applied to soils across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Wood-derived carbon was assessed after 3.5 years in bulk soil samples and in three discrete soil carbon density fractions. Linear mixed-effects models were used to assess these interactions. Wood addition significantly increased wood-derived soil carbon storage, regardless of wood application depth. Inoculation by white-rot fungal species resulted in significantly greater carbon storage than brown-rot fungal inoculation in bulk soil. When wood was added to the soil surface, results suggest that wood-derived C is greatest in the most stable C density fraction. Additionally, when wood was added to the soil surface, weak evidence suggested that white-rot inoculation resulted in greater carbon storage than brown-rot inoculation across all density fractions. These results demonstrate that initial fungal decomposer community colonization can affect soil carbon storage
Salinity and Moisture Influence CO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e and CH\u3csub\u3e4\u3c/sub\u3e Emissions From High-Latitude Coastal Soils
No full textSea level rise and more frequent and larger storms will increase saltwater flooding in coastal terrestrial ecosystems, altering soil-atmosphere CO2 and CH4 exchange. Understanding these impacts is particularly relevant in high-latitude coastal soils that hold large carbon stocks but where the interaction of salinity and moisture on greenhouse gas flux remains unexplored. Here, we quantified the effects of salinity and moisture on CO2 and CH4 fluxes from low-Arctic coastal soils from three landscape positions (two Wetlands and Upland Tundra) distinguished by elevation, flooding frequency, soil characteristics, and vegetation. We used a full factorial laboratory incubation experiment of three soil moisture levels (40%, 70%, or 100% saturation) and four salinity levels (freshwater, 3, 6, or 12 ppt). Salinity and soil moisture were important controls on CO2 and CH4 emissions across all landscape positions. In saturated soil, CO2 emissions increased with salinity in the lower elevation landscape positions but not in the Upland Tundra soil. Saturated soil was necessary for large CH4 emissions. CH4 emissions were greatest with low salinity, or after 11 weeks of incubation when SO42− was exhausted allowing for methanogenesis as the dominant mechanism of anaerobic respiration. In partially saturated soil, greater salinity suppressed CO2 production in all soils. CH4 fluxes were overall quite low, but increased between 3 and 6 ppt in the Tundra. In the future, a small increase in floodwater salinity may increase CO2 production while suppressing CH4 production; however, where water is impounded, CH4 production could become large, particularly in the landscapes most likely to flood
Implementing \u3cem\u3eReading Mastery\u3c/em\u3e as a Component of Tiered Literacy Instruction
No full textDespite attempts at reform over the decades, many students with and without disabilities in the United States struggle to learn to read. Bear River Charter School is a K-6 public charter school in Utah that has effectively used Reading Mastery Signature Edition to teach most students to read at grade-level by the end of third grade. Data from the 2022-2023 school year show that over 80% of students in kindergarten, over 70% of students in Grades 1 and 2, and over 90% of students in Grade 3 met grade-level reading benchmarks by the end of the year. This chapter describes the implementation of Reading Mastery Signature Edition at Bear River Charter School as one component of tiered literacy instruction at the school- and classroom-levels. Implementation facilitators (i.e., school charter, leadership, resources, coaching) and barriers (i.e., lack of resources, complexity of intervention) are discussed, and recommendations for effective implementation of empirically supported programs and practices based on implementation drivers are provided
6. OER as Assessment; Assessment as OER: Collaborative OER Creation and Assessment in Language and Culture Courses
No full textThis chapter describes the transformative integration of Open Educational Resources (OER) utilized as assessments in language courses at two distinguished Western Canadian universities. It explores how OER, underpinned by a commitment to collaborative learning and evaluation, reshape educational practices. Through collaborative maps, peer editing, and renewable assignments, educators and students collectively contribute to the creation of a repository of knowledge, embracing a pedagogical paradigm that values student engagement and deepens their understanding of OER. This process demonstrates the ability of OER to redefine academic assessment and collaboration, showcasing how OER can transform the educational experience into a more engaging, enriching, and equitable journey
16. Confronting I Just Don\u27t Have Time : An Argument for Seeking and Documenting Professional Learning
No full textWe confess our teaching is not always exemplary and our students often struggle to learn. We argue that intentionally pursuing professional learning is the only way to improve our teaching, and that documenting this learning is imperative when we make the case for teaching excellence. This chapter will examine the common lament of “I just don’t have time” for professional learning, followed by a discussion of how to exchange this self-sabotaging notion for a self-sustaining alternative, and a description of the benefits of documenting professional growth. The aim of this chapter is three-fold: to argue that “I just don’t have time” stifles instructors’ professional learning and growth, to frame the argument around values and priorities, and to offer practical strategies for making time to pursue and document professional learning