CEHD Research in Press: March 2026
NEWS
Drs. Woei Hung and Virginia Clinton-Lisell were recognized among the world’s most influential researchers in the Stanford-Elsevier Top 2% Scientists List in an article by UND Today. Joining only fifteen faculty members from the University of North Dakota, the widely respected global ranking highlights scholars whose work has had a significant impact on their fields.
Percy Kpodo (EFR PhD student) has been selected as a recipient of the UND Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship for the 2026-2027 academic year. This prestigious award, jointly supported by the School of Graduate Studies, the Office of the Vice President for Research & Economic Development, and the School of Aerospace Sciences, recognizes his strong academic achievements and the quality and promise of your dissertation research. The fellowship provides a total award of $21,500 for the period of August 16, 2026 through May 15, 2027 paid out as a graduate research assistantship. This appointment is to support your full-time engagement in dissertation research and writing during this period.
Dr. Tao Wang was recently appointed as an associate editor for two academic, peer-reviewed journals (links provided): Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, and Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies.
Dr. Akorede Teriba and his colleagues were highlighted in Psychology Today for their qualitative investigation into women’s motivations for physical exercise. The article brings attention to their use of phenomenological methods to capture the lived experiences of women who consistently engage in exercise. It also underscores the study’s contribution to understanding how intrinsic motivation, rather than external pressure, supports long-term adherence to fitness routines. https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/fit-femininity/202602/do-you-have-difficulty-sustaining-your-exercise-program
At UND Graduate Research Achievement Day (GRAD), 78 CEHD students presented, and several doctoral students earned top honors across both online and on-campus competitions. Richard Hoberg (EFR PhD) secured 1st place in the online category, while in the on-campus Education division, Matt Torgerson (T&L PhD) took 1st, Md Tahsin Rahman (EFR PhD) earned 2nd, and Robbie Lunnie (EFR PhD) placed 3rd. The UND GRAD event was featured in an article in UND Today.
Dr. Tugba Boz was selected for the 2026 Early Career Scholars Program at the University of North Dakota for the project, “Developing an AI-Powered Teacher Support System Focusing on Teacher-Student Interaction Talk for Rural Elementary Teachers: A Proof-of-Concept Study.” The project examines how AI can support rural elementary teachers by automating classroom instruction analysis and generating individualized feedback for teacher reflection and growth. Dr. Boz will be mentored by Dr. Ryan Summers.
Dr. Pempho Chinkondenji has been elected as Member-at-Large on the Board of Directors of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES), with her three-year term beginning at the 2026 Annual Conference in San Francisco (March 28–April 1). This recognition highlights her leadership and contributions to the field, alongside the release of her new book, Drop-out, Push-out, or Walk-out?: (Re)imagining Education for Young Mothers and Pregnant Adolescents, available through Emerald Publishing (use code EME30 for 30% off). A recently shared video further captures what makes Dr. Chinkondenji’s work so impactful—offering a glimpse of her insight, warmth, and commitment to meaningful research.
Join us for the inaugural Midday Methods Seminar on Friday, April 24, from 11–12 in Room 5, featuring Pempho Chinkondenji, Renuka de Silva, Joshua Hunter, and Cheryl Hunter. Entitled, “What makes research participatory and field-based?” progrides attendees with greater understanding of the complexity and rigor required to do field-based and participatory qualitative research; providing support for faculty engaging in field-based and participatory research projects; and providing mentorship of students in advanced qualitative research methodologies, specifically field-based and participatory methods.
Lacey Anderson (EFR PhD student) was recently featured in UND Today for her work exploring AI use in the Learning Garden and is presenting at this week’s AI & Human Innovation Showcase. Building on her earlier work presenting a vision for edible schoolyards across Grand Forks and East Grand Forks, Lacey has also participated in the Center for Innovation’s Runway Pre-Accelerator Program, where she earned the Social Impact Award and a $1,000 prize—exemplifying how her research meaningfully translates into community action.
SPOTLIGHT
CEHD Conference, Research Award Recipients, and National Research Ranking
The annual CEHD Research Conference was held on March 30, 2026 in the UND Memorial Union, as described in UND Today. It was the largest research conference to date for CEHD, with the program including 8 on-campus talks, 3 virtual talks, 80 poster presentations, and a new format of 15 roundtable presentations. The conference was attended by over 150 people.
The final session of the day recognized the recipients of the 2026 CEHD Excellence Awards in the areas of research and scholarship:
Inspire Award for Graduate Student Research:
Sydney Raboin
Doctoral candidate in Education, Health, & Behavioral Studies PhD (Kinesiology Specialization). Research areas: sports psychology, general mental wellness of athletes, performance enhancement, presence & management of mental health disorders. 3 first-authored publications, 9 conference presentations, Graduate Research Assistant for Project CuRRENT
The Aspire Award for Early Career Excellence in Research and Scholarship:
Pempho Chinkondenji
Top Honors: NAEd/Spencer Fellow with two international research awards, demonstrating high productivity through a book, 9+ articles, multiple chapters, and ongoing submissions. Funded & Leading: $1.8M+ in grant proposals alongside editorial and peer review roles, with real-world impact as research informs policy, advocacy, and global education change.
Excellence in Research and Scholarship Award:
Logan Rutten & Renuka de Silva for the following products:
Rutten, L., Wolkenhauer, R., Tekavec, K., Burns, R. W., & Allen, L. M. (2026). Understanding professional development schools as P–20 partnerships: A systematic review of PDS descriptions, 2008–2022. Review of Educational Research.
de Silva, R. M. (2024). The divine feminine: Calling back the treasured moʻolelo from the forbidden past to heal the present. Cultural Studies↔ Critical Methodologies, 24(4), 281-291.
The UND Today article also shared that the UND College of Education & Human Development now ranks 69th nationally among colleges of education in the latest National Science Foundation Higher Education Research & Development (HERD) survey, with research expenditures totaling $7.4 million. This marks a notable rise from 82nd place in the previous year, when expenditures were approximately $5.2 million, and from 101st place two years ago, with $3.3 million in research spending.
LATEST SCHOLARSHIP
CEHD faculty are in bold, and CEHD students are underlined.
Publications
Rutten, L., Wolkenhauer, R., Tekavec, K., Burns, R. W., & Allen, L. M. (2026). Understanding Professional Development Schools as P–20 partnerships: A systematic review of PDS descriptions, 2008–2022. Review of Educational Research, 96(2), 435–475. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543251363558
Carpenter, A.J., Lewis, T., Benson, J., Pemberton, B., Chinkondenji, P., Feraud-King, T., & Henry, D. (2026). Visualizing Beyond the Mask: Black Collegians Cultivating Safety through Joy. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, 26(1), 123–142. https://doi.org/10.33423/sm4bet04
Gauna, L., Suazo-Flores, E., & Montenegro, H. (2026, April 7). Relational editorship: Untold editors’ stories of publishing intimate scholarship in Chile. Invisible College for Research on Teaching: Untold Stories, Los Angeles, California. https://invisiblecollege4teacherrsch.com/invisible-college-2026
Boog, K., Bartholomay, E., & Fehr, K. (2026). Sleep knowledge and cognitions and their relation to behavioral sleep indices. Journal of Sleep Research, e70320.
Park, H., Boz, T., Sawyer, A., & Willingham, C. (2026). Exploring robot programming in a geometry content course: Learning opportunities for prospective elementary teachers. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education.
Presentations
Chinkondenji, P. (March 18, 2026). Data Analysis – Beyond Coding. Guest speaker in Dr. Meseret Hailu’s EDHI 8940: Qualitative Research in Higher Education II. University of Georgia (Virtual).
Chinkondenji, P. (March 5, 2026). Education, Research, and Capacity Building. Invited Speaker at the Malawi School of Government’s Capacity Building for National Development Workshop. Lilongwe, Malawi.
Brandt, S. & Rabenn, M. (2026, February 26). Beyond the Banned List: Classroom Strategies for Engaging Preservice Teachers in YA Censorship Conversations. [Virtual presentation.] Young Adult Literature Summit: Investing, Creating, and Problem-Solving: Building the Next Era of YA Literature Scholarship and Pedagogy.
Ravi, P. (2026, March 1–3). Occupational Exposure to Pesticides and Toxic Metals among Women Beedi Workers in Mysore, India [Poster presentation]. 2026 Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network Annual Meeting, Chapel Hill, NC, United States.
Adgerson, A. (2026, June 5). Affirming what they bring: Harnessing middle schoolers’ real-world 21st century skills in the STEM classroom. Paper presentation accepted for Chicago International Summit on Education 2026. Chicago, IL, United States. https://www.chicagosummit.org/
Midkiff, E., Clinton-Lisell, V., Teriba, A., Johnson, A., & Nolz, J. (2026, March). Imagining worlds without pictures: Speculative fiction and aphantasia[paper presentation]. International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts 2026, Orlando, FL.
Wang, T. (2026). Living Across Discourses: A Reflexive Inquiry into the Framework of Glocal Citizenship. Paper presented at the 70th Annual Conference of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES), San Francisco
Amusan, N., Dietrich, L., Barnnie, D., Ellingson, K., Lenway, A., Teriba, A. (Accepted). The development of masculinity beliefs within family dynamics. [Research talk]. 2026 North Dakota Psychological Association Conference, Fargo, North Dakota.
Dietrich, L., Rollag, A., Lenway, A., Ellingson, K., Barnnie, D., Teriba, A. (Accepted). Parental bonds: How parental relationships impact cognitive reappraisal and emotional expression. [Research talk]. 2026 North Dakota Psychological Association Conference, Fargo, North Dakota.
Rollag, A., Peterson, A., Brown, C., Lenway, A., Ellingson, K., Cooper, A., Teriba, A. (Accepted). The Impact of Masculinity Beliefs on Stigma and Emotion Regulation. [Poster session]. 2026 American Psychological Association Convention, Washington, DC.
Link, L. J. (2026, April 22). Leadership Karma. 18:83 Speaker Series. [Leadership Presentation]. University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND, United States.
Matzke, L., Link, L. J., & Olson, J. (2026, July). Grow your own leaders: A state-university-district partnership model for principal pipeline success [Conference session]. National School Leaders Conference. NAESP, Orlando, FL, United States.
Boz, T., & Perry, A. (2026, March). Teaching artificial intelligence to prospective elementary teachers through educational robotics. Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education, Philadelphia, PA.
Boz, T. (2026, March). Mapping the field: A systematic review of key concepts in K-12 artificial intelligence education research. Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education, Philadelphia, PA.
Cornish, J., Davis, H., Boz, T., & Hammack, R. (2026, March). My home my health: Hybrid professional development on disease ecology units for middle school students. Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education, Philadelphia, PA.
Boz, T., Davis, H. B., Hammack, R., Cornish, J., & Smith, N. C. (2026, April). Supporting rural teachers through place-based disease ecology curriculum and professional development. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA.
Mitic, R., Teriba, A., Morin, J. (2026). Psychological Fortitude, well-being, and sport satisfaction: A structural Equation Analysis of college student-athletes. [Roundtable session]. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, California.
Public Media
Williams, L. A. (2026, February). I asked students whether they’d want to be teachers. They quickly responded, “Why would I?” The Conversation. Featured in: Why is there a teacher shortage? Burnout and a staffing crisis. Katie Couric Media.
Williams, L. A. (2026, February). I asked students whether they’d want to be teachers. They quickly responded, “Why would I?” The Conversation. Featured in: I asked students whether they’d want to be teachers? They quickly responded, ‘Why would I?’ North Dakota Monitor.
Williams, L. A. (2026, February). I asked students whether they’d want to be teachers. They quickly responded, “Why would I?” The Conversation. Featured in:I asked students whether they’d want to be teachers. They quickly responded, ‘Why would I?’ MSN.
Comments