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No Building? No Problem: Scaling Nursing Education with Virtual Reality
Full text linkTrack: Innovative Technologies and Learning Spaces
In 2023, the UNC School of Nursing moved to a smaller, temporary space with limited classroom resources, while facing a state mandate to increase nursing graduates by 2026. With a need to expand enrollment without increasing clinical training sites, the school turned to virtual reality (VR) simulation. VR allows for high-quality clinical experiences in any space with internet access. Using a $2.7 million state grant, the school launched a VR simulation program, increasing simulation-based learning by 20% within its first year. This approach enabled students to practice clinical decision-making and communication skills while receiving personalized feedback. Faculty also found innovative ways to incorporate VR, including group simulations and make-up assignments. Ultimately, VR simulation became a crucial tool for expanding the nursing program during a challenging transition, enhancing both student learning and program growth
Student-Led Research as a Catalyst for Curriculum Relevance in an Applied Infectious Disease Course
Full text linkTrack: Learning Professionals as Researchers
Introduction:The influenza vaccination status of healthcare workers (HCWs) can influence HCW infection risks, absenteeism, rates of healthcare-associated infections, patient healthcare costs, and institutional effectiveness. While extensive research has explored vaccine knowledge and attitudes among professional nurses, limited attention has been given to pre-nursing students—an essential group poised to address future healthcare challenges. Faculty from Schools of Health Sciences and Nursing collaborated with traditional undergraduate research (UR) students to design and implement an evidence-based course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) to engage pre-nursing students in meaningful, real-time research. By integrating vaccination relevance, the etiology of viruses, and flu into the curriculum, the study demonstrates how applied infectious disease education can prepare students for professional practice while addressing critical gaps in knowledge and beliefs.
Methods:Faculty investigators and UR students collected data via anonymous surveys and confidential interviews to assess baseline knowledge and beliefs among 5 working nurses (Fall 2023), 38 nursing students (Spring 2022), and 89 pre-nursing students enrolled in an applied infectious diseases course (Spring 2023/Fall 2023/Spring 2024). Evidence from working nurses and nursing students informed the development of a CURE curriculum designed to improve pre-nursing students’ understanding of influenza disease, vaccination, and their implications for HCWs. Chi-square tests analyzed differences in pre/post-curriculum knowledge and beliefs, with a focus on contrasting outcomes between historically-high (HHV) and historically-low influenza vaccinators (LHV).
Results:Among working nurses, interviews revealed gaps in knowledge regarding vaccine safety, efficacy, and the role of HCW vaccine status in patient outcomes, as well as resistance to employer vaccine mandates. Nursing students also displayed limited understanding of vaccine safety and the risks HCW vaccination poses to both their own health and patient outcomes. Pre-nursing students exhibited similar deficiencies, with LHV students demonstrating lower baseline knowledge and less support for HCWs\u27 personal responsibility to vaccinate. After participating in the CURE curriculum, pre-nursing students showed significant knowledge improvements in areas such as vaccine safety, efficacy, and patient risks. However, changes in vaccine-related beliefs were less pronounced, indicating the complexity of influencing personal perspectives.
Discussion:This study highlights the importance of using research and evidence-based practices to design a curriculum bridging the gap between foundational etiology knowledge and real-world clinical challenges. Incorporating real-time research and relevant practice topics, such as the etiology of viruses and the importance of vaccinations, increases engagement by directly tying course content to students’ future professional responsibilities. Collaboration between faculty in the Schools of Health Sciences and Nursing ensured a focus on career-relevant outcomes, and UR students played a key role in data collection and analysis. The CURE curriculum not only improved pre-nursing students’ knowledge but also attracted participants to engage in future research projects, fostering a pipeline of research-oriented healthcare professionals.
Differences identified between HHV and LHV student groups provided insights for refining future curricula, emphasizing the need for tailored educational strategies to address both knowledge and belief disparities. This framework, combining interdisciplinary research, CURE activities, and evidence-based practice, can serve as a model for enhancing curriculum relevance and student engagement across diverse academic disciplines
Is Texas Holding ‘Em?: The Influence of Black STEM Teachers on Black Student Achievement
Full text linkThis study examines the critical issue of underrepresentation of Black science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers and its potential influence on Black students’ academic achievement and experiences in STEM subjects. The research aims to determine how the presence of Black STEM teachers relative to Black student populations might influence academic performance in STEM disciplines. By addressing the lack of diversity and representation in education, particularly within STEM fields, this study contributes to the body of knowledge on the significance of representation in shaping educational experiences and outcomes. The findings underscore the importance of diversity and equitable representation in educational practices and initiatives, potentially informing policy decisions and fostering a more supportive and inclusive environment for all students in STEM. Ultimately, this research aims to contribute to a more diverse and innovative STEM workforce
You Know I\u27ve Been Holding On: Exploring the Lived Experiences of Black Women Teachers and Influencing Factors for Retention
Full text linkThis study explores the challenges and experiences faced by Black women teachers in urban schools that contribute to high attrition rates. Guided by Patricia Hill Collins’ Black Feminist Thought, the study investigates the intersectionality of race, gender, and class with the Black teacher’s experiences. The study captures their stories and insights using qualitative narrative inquiry to understand the dynamics influencing their retention. The findings uncover intense stress levels and desired resources for sustainability. In addressing these challenges, policymakers and stakeholders can focus on creating supportive environments leading to the retention of Black women teachers
Breaching the Walls: Military Strategy in the Babylonian Seige of Jerusalem
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The city of Jerusalem fell to a Babylonian siege in 586 B.C. Historians recognize the validity of the siege but put little effort into an analysis of the siege tactics utilized by the Babylonians. Most historical knowledge of the sieges comes from biblical accounts within the books of Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and 2 Kings. However, in 2019, University of North Carolina at Charlotte students uncovered artifacts confirming accounts of the siege at UNCC’s dig site in Jerusalem. Among the artifacts, UNCC students discovered a Scythian arrowhead and a golden earring in an ashen layer. The implications of this finding further validate the biblical accounts. This discovery allows historians to revisit the siege with a clearer view of the events of theconquest. This paper analyzes biblical accounts, prior historical research, and newfound artifacts, alongside a historical understanding of the siege methodology of the time, to establish a picture of the two years Jerusalem spent under siege. This paper uses these sources to paint a portrait of the methodology employed by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon during the siege. Such as, what wall the Babylonians breached the city from, what tools they used to breach the wall, and why the Babylonians “hesitated” following the breach. This paper proposes a theory of exact methods used by the Babylonians to conduct the siege that led to the destruction of one of the mosthistorically significant cities in the world
The Hierarchy of Parampara: Rethinking Relationship to Legacy in Dance
Full text linkIn this article, author Aadya Kaktikar complicates simplistic attribution of apprentice-learning in the Indian context to a lack of creativity and personal expression. Kaktikar shows how play becomes central to the teaching and learning procedures of a traditional art form of Odissi. Investigating her training with her Guru, Kaktikar urges for play to remain central despite hierarchies within structural formations and across technical procedures, which are perhaps necessary for cultural/ historical continuity of form and content
Examining the Influence of Practice-Based Teacher Education Approaches on Primary Grades Teacher Candidates’ Development of Inclusive and Equity-Based Mathematics Teaching
Full text linkThis article proposes the construct of Inclusive and Equity-Based Mathematics Teaching (IEBMT), a synthesis of theory and research for effective mathematics teaching for all students. There is a critical need for educator preparation programs to intentionally design course activities and clinical practice experiences to provide teacher candidates (TCs) with ample, worthwhile experiences to develop the knowledge and skills required to be an effective teacher for all students. The study examines how practice-based teacher education (PBTE) approaches in two elementary education mathematics pedagogy courses influenced TCs enactment of IEBMT. The inductive analysis of teacher candidates’ projects and reflections indicated that they were adequately prepared to support learners who had knowledge of the counting sequence and were able to accurately count a set of 5 objects. However, teacher candidates reported and demonstrated in their project a desire and a need for further opportunities to develop classroom- based skills at observing or listening to primary grade learners and quickly making effective instructional decisions about future activities and questions based on what they notice. The article concludes with implications for both course activities and clinical practice experiences for teacher candidates to support their capacity to teach mathematics effectively
Fostering STEM in Early Childhood Programs: Practices of Preschool Parents with STEM Backgrounds
Full text linkThe study examines STEM practices of early childhood parents with STEM backgrounds, the experiences that influenced their STEM interests and the ways they are developing STEM learning in their young children. A qualitative research design was used that involved interviewing parents recruited from child care centers from the reserachers town. The study finds family role models, preschool curriculum and passion/motivation/ are key factors in stimulating STEM interest and learning in young children. Strategies that early childhood programs can adopt to foster STEM in young programs is the highlight of this work
The Original Scam: A Critical Race Policy Discourse Analysis of the School Choice Debate in Texas
Full text linkThis study applies a Critical Race Policy Discourse Analysis to examine the rhetoric and ideological underpinnings of Texas’s 2023 school choice debates, particularly the proposed Education Savings Account (ESA) program. Grounded in Critical Race Theory (CRT), the research analyzes the discourse surrounding House Bill 1 (88(4) HB 1) using data from legislative texts, gubernatorial press releases, public testimony, and media narratives. Findings reveal that despite race-neutral framing, the discourse both for and against the ESA program is deeply racialized, drawing on historical legacies of segregation and white supremacy. The study identifies three dominant themes: the racial origins of voucher programs as a tool to resist desegregation, the misleading rhetoric of parental empowerment, and the rebranding of school choice as a defense against liberal "indoctrination." Importantly, it highlights the role of white male Republican lawmakers from rural districts who opposed the bill, not necessarily from an anti-racist standpoint, but to protect local public schools from defunding. This research contributes to policy analysis by uncovering how school choice narratives obscure racial inequities while advancing neoliberal agendas, and underscores the need for equity-focused public education policies