CEHD Research in Press: 2024 November

NEWS 

Several CEHD faculty received UND Connect funding, which provides UND faculty and students with the opportunity to engage in community-based research, development, and outreach projects: Drs. Renuka de Silva and Julie Robinson, “Creating Ribbon Shirts and Skirts with Dakota Students: Sustaining Dakota Oyate Cultural Pride”; Dr. Akorede Teriba, “Decreasing Teacher Burnout Through Action Research: Peer Support Training to Improve Teacher Well-Being”; Drs. Elizabeth Suazo-Flores and Christie Cole (Languages), “Spanish Storytime Project”.

Dr. Rachel Navarro was featured on UND Today about the $1.5 million Substance Use Prevention Education grant from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children through the USDA Food and Nutrition Service to enhance perinatal substance use prevention education for WIC staff across the country.

Dr. Jesse Rhoades made the NASA Science and Technology directorate newsletter: From Campus to Cosmos: NASA Grants Boost Student, University Innovation

Mohammad Johurul Islam was selected for the Association for Educational Communications & Technology (AECT) 2024 McJulien Graduate Student Scholarship ($500) from the Culture, Learning and Technology Division.

On Tuesday, October 29 from noon to 1:00O, CEHD held a professional development session entitled, What Happens After You Get a Grant? The brown bag session was led by CEHD Post Award Officer and Grants Analyst Gabe Salander, and was attended by +20 faculty and students (in-person and online). The session covered the first steps after receiving an award, managing your project, annual reporting and budget meetings, planning your summers and reporting, F&A, and how the CEHD grants and contracts team can support PIs. If you could not attend the session, contact Robert Stupnisky@und.edu for slides and the recording.

SPOTLIGHT

Dr. Robert Stupnisky Faculty Motivation Research Group

The Faculty Motivation Research Group (FMRG) was established in 2019 and seeks to collaboratively examine the factors that affect higher education faculty success, focusing on motivation and emotions. Under the direction of Dr. Robert Stupnisky (Professor of Educational Foundations & Research), the group consists of 4-6 active CEHD doctoral and masters students, 5 active graduated alumni, and collaborators across the US, Canada, and Europe.

FMRG members meet for two to three hours every three weeks to share progress on their projects, collaborate on data analysis, provide feedback on manuscripts and analyses, and practice presentations. The group also regularly engages in professional development, such as sharing goals, reviewing CVs, co-watching and discussing informational videos (e.g., NCFDD), and strategizing projects. Each student member leads at least one project as the first author, as well as co-authoring other projects and meeting individually for an hour or more with Rob between group meetings.

The accomplishments of the group thus far include 17 data collections (quantitative and qualitative) from approximately 8,000 faculty, an NSF grant (#1853969), 14 peer-reviewed publications with many in progress or under review, approximately 6-10 research presentations per year at local, national, and international conferences, and five graduates who found degree-related employment in research or higher education positions.

Importantly, the work of FMRG has yielded the consistent finding that autonomous motivation (engagement based on enjoyment and perceived value) is the strongest predictor of faculty success in teaching and research; more so than motivation based on guilt or external rewards such as money. This effect holds after accounting for assumed predictors such as if they have been in the career age, time on contract, feel supported by their institution, have good work-home balance, good collegial relations, and/or clear expectations for outputs. For example, the most recent publication revealed a one-standard-deviation increase in autonomous motivation (approximately a half response option on a 1–5 Likert scale) corresponding to an 11.63% increase in publications and a 22.57% increase in citations over three years (Stupnisky et al., 2023). Other FMRG studies published or in progress include the impact or differences in motivation for faculty based on gender and family status, underrepresented minority status, research group participation, COVID-19, ADHD symptomology, health and stress, utilization of learning analytics, and other variables.

If you are interested in learning more about FMRG, please contact Robert.Stupnisky@und.edu

LATEST SCHOLARSHIP

CEHD faculty are in bold, and CEHD students are underlined. 

Publications

Kulago, H. A., Rutten, L., & Litson, D. (2024). Embracing epistemological collisions as sites of critical Indigenous pedagogy: Insights from partnering for Diné curriculum building. Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, 39(3), 55-72. https://journal.jctonline.org/index.php/jct/article/view/1211

Weber, S., Hardesty, C. L., Witwer, A., Dahl, E., Bush, E., Thomas, J., Baker, T., Dudley, A., & Moody E. J. (2024). Project SCOPE: A National Training Initiative to Improve Capacity of Providers to Support Children Impacted by Prenatal Opioid Exposure Using the ECHO Model ^TM. Front. Public Health 12:1478039. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1478039

Hinojosa, J. & Fehr, K. (2024). Commentary: The integration of sleep health education into diabetes care for adolescents with Type 1 diabetes. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 49(11), 789–790. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsae089

Clark, C. H. & Schmeichel, M. (2024). Can education save us from ourselves? Three psychological challenges to democracy. Review of Research in Education. Advanced Online Publication

Anderson, I., King, F., Clark, C. H., Blue, T. (2024). Centering Indigenous voices in the U.S. history classroom. Social Education, 88 (5), 276-284.

Presentations

Hailu, M. F., Chinkondenji, P., Ibrahim, M., Chhetri, N. & Judson, E. (November 2024). Collective Dreaming: Black Girl Refugees from Burundi and Their Aspirations for STEM College Education. Association for the Study of Higher Education, Minneapolis, MN.

Mitic, R. R., Chinkondenji, P., Khatun, R., Mangle, K. M., Davis, L. A. & Wolniak, G. (November 2024). Understanding Vocational Identity and Career Choice in Helping Professions Amid Adversity: A Mixed Methods Study. Association for the Study of Higher Education, Minneapolis, MN.

de Silva, R. & Chinkondenji, P. (October 2024). Re/imagining Digital Storytelling in Transnational and Multi-cultural contexts: North Dakota, Hawai‘i, Sri Lanka, and Malawi. UND Multicultural Conference for Belonging and Inclusion, Grand Forks, ND.

de Silva, R. & Chinkondenji, P. (2025, March), Re/imagining transformative storytelling by women in a digital era: Traversing multiple spaces in Sri Lanka and Malawi. 69th Annual Meeting of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES 2025), Chicago, IL. https://conference.cies.us.

Votava, K. & Johnson, C. Psychological safety considerations for early intervention teaming. Division of Early Childhood (DEC) 40th Annual International Conference on Young Children with Disabilities & Their Families, New Orleans, LA, September 19, 2024.

Votava, K., Johnson, C., Maddock, N., & Romanick, R. Experienced parents supporting early intervention. Division of Early Childhood (DEC) 40th Annual International Conference on Young Children with Disabilities & Their Families, New Orleans, LA, September 18, 2024.

Johnson, C., Votava, K., & Romanick, R. Improving reflection and practice: EI competencies. Division of Early Childhood (DEC) 40th Annual International Conference on Young Children with Disabilities & Their Families, New Orleans, LA, September 18, 2024.

Votava, K., Purcell, M., Buchter, J., Lee, E. & Pinkerton, T. We are more than just rubrics! How do I get my CAEP report to reflect it? Division of Early Childhood (DEC) 40th Annual International Conference on Young Children with Disabilities & Their Families, New Orleans, LA, September 18, 2024.

Jones, A., Vergean, B., Beavers, E., Votava, K., Lange, K. & Paul, K. Introduction to early childhood recommended practices modules. Division of Early Childhood (DEC) 40th Annual International Conference on Young Children with Disabilities & Their Families, New Orleans, LA, September 18, 2024.

Wang, T. (2024). “Crossing cultural boundaries: Students’ experiences, identities, and education in an era of mass migration,” Forum for Contemporary Geographic Issues, University of North Dakota, Oct. 2024

Whyte, G. (March 22-26, 2025). Unlocking the Urban Vernacular: Investigating Inner-City Male Students’ Perspectives on Standard English in a Technology-Driven World. Comparative and International Education Society, Chicago, IL.

Public Media

Dr. Rachel Navarro was featured on UND Today about the $1.5 million Substance Use Prevention Education grant from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children through the USDA Food and Nutrition Service to enhance perinatal substance use prevention education for WIC staff across the country.

Dr. Jesse Rhoades made the NASA Science and Technology directorate newsletter: From Campus to Cosmos: NASA Grants Boost Student, University Innovation %seFrom Campus to Cosmosp% NASA