CEHD Research in Press: August 2026

NEWS 

Dr. Tony Perry received a grant from EdFund ($70,000) for an evaluation of recent state investments in CTE, with particular attention to the differential impacts on rural and urban students of consolidating CTE in regional centers. The Grand Forks Herald recently reported on this work and published a positive editorial on state and community investment in CTE.

Dr. Tugba Boz was awarded a $499,663 grant, with Dr. Perry and two CEM faculty members (Naima Kaabouch, Prakash Ranganathan) serving as co-PIs (October 2027–September 2029). The project will provide professional learning for local and statewide educators to integrate AI and cybersecurity into traditional CTE pathways—such as agriculture, manufacturing, and health sciences—and develop a UND-administered certificate for CTE students across North Dakota.

The ROOTS (Rural Outreach and Opportunities for Teacher Success) program has received a strategic investment from UND. Led by Patricia Lopez, Katie Stermer, and Logan Rutten, ROOTS enhances teacher retention, particularly in North Dakota’s rural schools, by providing an intensive induction experience for UND teacher education alumni. ROOTS participants form supportive cohorts that meet to analyze problems of practice and celebrate successes. They participate in personalized instructional coaching and professional development aligned with their needs and interests. If you are interested in collaborating to support ROOTS, please contact any member of the leadership team.

Dr. Pempho Chinkondenji has been appointed Editor of the Malawi Journal of Education and Development (MJED), published by the University of Malawi’s School of Education. The journal publishes research examining the intersection of education and development, including the social, economic, political, and cultural dimensions of education, with a focus on Africa and beyond.

During the week of August 3, Dr. Pempho Chinkondenji and seven Ph.D. students (Giovanni Whyte, Leesha Lunnie, Tahsin Rahman, Angelina Antwi, Aivan [Tasrif] Mahmud, Kevin Read, and Nneka Nwaokeafor) co-led a Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) project with approximately 20 immigrant and refugee high school students on campus. This research project, which began in 2024, aims to explore how refugee and asylum-seeking youth in Grand Forks experience and make meaning of belonging and community in their schools and local communities following resettlement. The YPAR workshop concluded with an art exhibition featuring artwork created by participants during the workshop series, providing youth with an opportunity to share their perspectives and experiences. This research was funded through a CEHD Mini Grant and the Blikre Family Faculty Support Award.

Dr. Matt Knutson served as a Fulbright Specialist at Hochschule Offenburg in Germany at the beginning of summer 2026. There, he taught a section of Intro to Esports and delivered a lecture tied to the America250 commemoration, “250 Years of Competition in the U.S.” While abroad, he conducted original research on the Atari Bundesliga, the earliest known competitive video gaming league, which operated in Germany from 1982 to 1986. Hochschule Offenburg produced an internal publication compiling essays by Dr. Knutson and other Fulbright scholars affiliated with the institution.

Parvej Ahmed (PhD IDT) has been selected as the recipient of the 2026 Outstanding Student Practice Award by AECT’s International Division. This award recognizes substantial contributions to a project or professional practice in an international setting outside the U.S. Specifically, the award recognizes Parvej’s work on AI-driven legal education in Bangladesh, including the study “Honing Law Students’ Legal Writing Competency with an AI Personal Coach: Does It Work?” The award will be presented at the AECT International Division Membership Meeting and Awards Ceremony during the AECT Convention in Chicago (November 3–7, 2026).

Jen Huber passed two credentialing examinations administered by the Research Administrators Certification Council (RACC). The Certified Research Administrator (CRA) credential demonstrates broad knowledge across the sponsored-project lifecycle, including proposal development, compliance, award administration, financial management, and project closeout. The Certified Pre-Award Research Administrator (CPRA) credential demonstrates specialized knowledge of pre-award administration, including funding opportunities, proposal preparation and submission, budgeting, institutional approvals, and sponsor requirements.

SPOTLIGHT

Dr. Akorede Teriba — 2026 Elnora Hopper Danley Faculty Fellow

Congratulations to Dr. Akorede Teriba, Assistant Professor of Counseling Psychology and Co-Training Director of the Ph.D. Program in the Department of Education, Health & Behavior Studies, who has been named the 2026 Elnora Hopper Danley Faculty Fellow. This alumni-supported award — one of CEHD’s most prestigious internal honors — recognizes an early-career faculty member who demonstrates outstanding potential for scholarly achievement. It provides an annual salary stipend and $15,000 per year in research and professional development funding over three years, supporting a coherent, externally fundable program of research. Dr. Teriba was selected from a competitive pool of applicants through review by the college’s Research and Professional Development Committee.

Dr. Teriba’s funded project, “Addressing Rural Behavioral Health Disparities: Developing a Mechanism-Driven Peer Support Intervention for Rural North Dakota,” takes aim at a pressing public health challenge. Most North Dakota counties are designated as health professional shortage or medically underserved areas, leaving rural communities with limited access to timely behavioral health support. Rather than treating peer support as a broadly defined intervention, Dr. Teriba’s approach is distinctive in its focus on mechanism: the project will test whether structured peer interactions produce measurable changes in three specific psychological targets — growth mindset, emotion regulation, and self-compassion — and whether those changes, in turn, drive improvements in well-being and reductions in psychological distress. The study will compare facilitated and unfacilitated peer support formats, generating evidence on scalability and implementation relevant to under-resourced rural settings. This work builds directly on Dr. Teriba’s established research agenda and is carried out through his Human Flourishing Lab, which involves doctoral, master’s, and undergraduate students in all phases of the research process.

The Danley Fellowship will provide the scholarly momentum needed to position this work for national funding. Over three years, the project will move from intervention development and a small feasibility pilot, through full pilot trial implementation, to mechanistic analyses and external grant submission. The primary funding target is an NIH/NIMH application under PAR-25-181, Development of Psychosocial Therapeutic and Preventive Interventions for Mental Disorders, with submission planned before the close of the award period. Beyond its scientific contributions, the project has the potential to offer low-cost, community-embedded strategies for improving behavioral health in rural and underserved populations — an impact that aligns squarely with both CEHD’s mission and UND’s broader commitment to serving the people of North Dakota.

LATEST SCHOLARSHIP

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

Grants

Liu, H. (2026). Shared wearable measurement platform for interdisciplinary human behavior science [Grant]. VPRED Office, EPSCoR. $43,735.

Rhoades, J. (2026). Full-body TrackX inertial measurement unit [Grant]. VPRED Office, EPSCoR. $28,600.

Perry, T. (2027–2029). Evaluating North Dakota student access to diverse CTE pathways after HB1199 [Grant]. EdFund (https://ed-fund.org/). $70,000.

Boz, T., Perry, A., Kaabouch, N., & Ranganathan, P. (2027). CyberAI innovation: iCyAI-CTE: Expanding workforce pathways into cybersecurity and AI through an integrative career and technical education model (Award No. 2622977) [Grant]. National Science Foundation.

Clinton-Lisell, V. (2026). Funding to support mentorship of early-career researchers to conduct and disseminate open education research [Fellowship]. Open Education Research Fellowship. $340,000.

Clinton-Lisell, V. (2026). A systematic examination of inclusive access costs in California public higher education institutions [Grant]. Michelson 20MM Foundation. $25,000.

Flinn, R. (2026). Women’s addiction services leadership institute—ATTC supplement [Grant]. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. $54,999.

Link, L. (2026). Burgum rural scholars [Grant]. Burgum Foundation. $160,178.75.

Link, L. (2026). Aspiring principals’ pipeline grant (Round 4) [Grant]. North Dakota Department of Public Instruction. $150,000.

Drummond-Lage, A. P., Ravi, P., & Madhivanan, P. (2026–2027). Beyond survival: Exploring breast cancer equity and survivorship in Brazil [Grant]. Research, Education, Advocacy, and Direct Service (READS) Grants Program, American Association for Cancer Education. $5,000.

Publications

Shrestha, B., & Clinton-Lisell, V. (2026). Facilitating conditions and gender gaps: Predicting intention to adopt digital education resources among teachers. Journal of Learning for Development, 13(2), 258–269. https://doi.org/10.56059/jl4d.v13i2.2296

Azizova, Z. T., & Ahiase, G. (2027). Epistemic dominance and the decolonial turn in comparative and international education research. In Annual review of comparative and international education 2025, Part A (International Perspectives on Education and Society, Vol. 53A, pp. 163–184). Emerald Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-36792026000053A007

Ahiase, G., & Azizova, T. Z. (2026). Higher education financing, faculty gender diversity, and STEM student outcomes in Europe and Central Asia. Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-026-01733-y

Clark, C. H., & Van Kessel, C. (Eds.). (2026). Teaching democracy now. Teachers College Press. https://www.tcpress.com/products/teaching-democracy-now_9780807785058

Teriba, A. A., Peterson, A. M., Rollag, A. C., Flinn, R. E., Lenway, A. C., Tang, Z., & Lukman, A. (2026). Mental health counselors’ adaptive functioning: Exploring burnout, occupational well-being, and psychological resources. Occupational Health. https://www.mdpi.com/3042-8637/1/3/38

Hacker, M. E., & Flinn, R. E. (in press). A scoping review of self-stigma of mental illness among medical students. Current Psychology.

Robinson, J., & Raboin, S. (in press). Weaving Indigenous teachings into place-based learning: Pathways to exploring identity and interconnectedness in STEAM. In T. Shockey & S. Potes (Eds.), Place-based learning. North American Native Research and Education Foundation.

Hammack, R., Robinson, J., Gist, J., Lee, M. J., & Boz, T. (2026). Understanding how elementary teachers characterize science and engineering within classroom instruction. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/1046560X.2026.2706373

Summers, R. (2026). Being a smart consumer of online educational resource marketplaces. Science Scope, 49(4), 59–64. https://doi.org/10.1080/08872376.2026.2679974

Inouye, M. C., Summers, R., Lee, M. J., Cabrera, L. N., Macias, M., Gist, J., . . . Davis, D. (2026). Learn-modify-implement-reflect: Delivering formative assessment and reflecting on student learning in elementary teacher professional learning. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 37(6), 863–884. https://doi.org/10.1080/1046560X.2026.2656142

Cho, H., & Christ, T. (2026). Shared reading and discussion of culturally relevant texts with families from refugee backgrounds: An inclusive research approach. In SAGE research methods: Inclusive research methodologies. SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781036247072

Cho, H., & Jang, E. (2026). Teachers developing linguistic knowledge through analysis and reflection to support multilingual learners. Language Awareness. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658416.2026.2677921

Butville, D., Rutten, L., Hockensmith, A., Kreider, M., Kelly, F., Bryan, M., & Dvir, B. (2026). Teaching hard history amid contemporary challenges: Inquiry pedagogies for impactful Holocaust education. LEARNing Landscapes, 30, 61–76. https://doi.org/10.36510/learnland.vi30.1164

Link, L. J., Simonds, R. M., & Navarette-Burks, L. A. (2026). Disrupting the hidden costs of behavioral grading: Uncovering stakeholder perceptions to advance equity. Journal of School Administration Research and Development, 11(S1), 74–83. https://www.ojed.org/JSARD/article/view/9083

Adgerson, A. (2026). Energy transitions and the C3 inquiry arc: Modeling an inquiry-driven unit for rural elementary preservice teachers. Frontiers in Education, 11, Article 1851938. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2026.1851938

Suazo-Flores, E., McGrail, C., & Adgerson, A. (2026). The future of STEM: Socioecological STEM education. In R. Elmas & M. Akarsu (Eds.), STEM education for the 21st century: Shaping future learning practices in the age of AI (pp. 339–361). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-95-9023-0

Salahuddin, M., Herbert, M., & Stupnisky, R. H. (2026). Faculty research and technological competencies as predictors of research success. Industry and Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1177/09504222261436507

Salahuddin, M., Hoberg, R., & Stupnisky, R. H. (2026). A systematic review identifying the measures and factors relating to faculty research success. Higher Education Studies, 16(1), 213–231. https://doi.org/10.5539/hes.v16n1p213

Meidinger, R., & Suazo-Flores, E. (2026). Earthworms and multiplication. Mathematics Teacher: Learning and Teaching PreK-12, 119(7), 536–541. https://doi.org/10.5951/MTLT.2025.0511

Suazo-Flores, E., Montenegro, H., & Gauna, L. (2026). Intimate scholarship de formadoras(es) en matemáticas: Contribuyendo a la generación de conocimiento práctico en la formación y apoyo a profesoras(es) de matemáticas. Sophia Austral, 32(5), 1–4. https://doi.org/10.22352/SAUSTRAL20253205

Chinkondenji, P., & Kamnkhwani, R. (2026). Centering agency, voice, and power-sharing in research with pregnant learners and student mothers: Integrating photovoice and statistics in international education development. International Journal of Educational Development, 125, Article 103644. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2026.103644

Presentations

Tang, Z., & Flinn, R. E. (2026, August). Cultural pathways of stigma internalization: Authoritarian filial piety as a mediator in Chinese sexual minority men living in the United States [Poster presentation]. Student Affiliates of Seventeen (SAS) & the Sections of Division 17 Social Hour, 2026 American Psychological Association Conference, Washington, DC.

Bennett, S., & Flinn, R. E. (2026, July). Clinical considerations: Providing culturally responsive, evidence-based care for LGBTQ+ clients [Invited presentation]. Dr. Mohamed Elnakib’s Foundations of Multicultural Psychology course, California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University.

Gist, J., Robinson, J., Lee, M., & Hammack, R. (2026, November). Connecting engineering design lessons to community: A workshop for elementary teachers [Conference presentation]. National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST), Indianapolis, IN.

Azure, A., Klemetsrud, B., & Robinson, J. (2026). Embedding community and culture in your classroom through connection [Workshop presentation]. North Dakota Indian Education Summit, Bismarck, ND.

Midkiff, E., & Clark, C. H. (2026). Is (science) fiction more inspiring than fact? [Conference presentation]. Science Fiction Research Association Conference.

Midkiff, E. (2026). Winnie the Pooh as proto-cozy fantasy [Conference presentation]. A Hundred Years of A Hundred Acres Symposium, Homerton College, Cambridge University.

Ahmed, P., Hung, W., Johur, T., Islam, M. J., Bansah, P. F., & Islam, R. (2026, November 3–7). Stakeholders’ readiness for AI-driven legal education: Evidence from Bangladesh [Paper presentation]. AECT International Convention, Chicago, IL.

Ahmed, P., Hung, W., Johur, T., Islam, M. J., Bansah, P. F., & Islam, R. (2026, November 3–7). What skills do law students need in the AI era? Insights from legal educators, lawyers, and judges [Roundtable presentation]. AECT International Convention, Chicago, IL.

Ahmed, P., Hung, W., Johur, T., Islam, M. J., Bansah, P. F., Islam, R., & Dasse, K. (2026, November 3–7). Teaching law in the AI era: Co-designing an instructional framework with law faculty [Roundtable presentation]. AECT International Convention, Chicago, IL.

Bansah, P. F., Hung, W., Ahmed, P., Islam, M. J., & Johur, T. (2026, November 3–7). AI-enhanced instructional scaffolding for systems thinking and causal modeling in business education [Paper presentation]. AECT International Convention, Chicago, IL.

Bansah, P. F., Hung, W., Ahmed, P., Islam, M. J., & Johur, T. (2026, November 3–7). Learning analytics as instructional adaptation in K–12 personalized learning: A systematic review [Paper presentation]. AECT International Convention, Chicago, IL.

Bansah, P. F., Hung, W., Ahmed, P., Islam, M. J., & Johur, T. (2026, November 3–7). Instructional structure in human and AI-assisted inquiry: Effects on systems thinking [Paper presentation]. AECT International Convention, Chicago, IL.

Islam, M. J., de Silva, R., Johur, T., Ahmed, P., Daiyan, A., & Bansah, P. F. (2026, November 3–7). Empowering adults through AI-enhanced mobile informal learning: A systematic synthesis of literature [Paper presentation]. AECT International Convention, Chicago, IL.

Adgerson, A. (2026, June). Affirming what they bring: Harnessing middle schoolers’ real-world 21st-century skills in the STEM classroom [Conference presentation]. 2026 Chicago International Summit on Education, AdAstra Research Institute, Chicago, IL. https://www.chicagosummit.org/_files/ugd/d9226a_709ca61334514a8988f86bd2522e799a.pdf

Ravi, P. (2026, May 13). Innovative Cancer Awareness, Research, and Education (iCARE) Lab initiative [Presentation]. Cancer Survivorship and Wellness Working Group Meeting, Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network. Virtual.

Ravi, P. (2026, May 27). Unmasking the appeal: Protecting youth from nicotine and tobacco addiction [Invited presentation]. Mountain Plains Addiction Technology Transfer Center (MPATTC). Virtual.

Ravi, P. (2026, June 19). The PhD passport: From scholar to global professional [Invited webinar]. 2026 National Public Health Dentist Day, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Saveetha Dental College and Hospitals (SIMATS), Chennai, India. Virtual.

Ravi, P. (2026, August 22). Innovative Cancer Awareness, Research, and Education (iCARE) Lab initiative [Invited presentation]. North Dakota Mensa Regional Gathering: FoRGe North 2026, Grand Forks, ND.

Boz, T. (2026, July). Exploring human-AI collaboration in rural classrooms: Insights from the Khanmigo pilot study in a rural school district [Invited paper presentation]. Human Computer Interaction International Conference 2026, Montreal, Canada.

Williams, L. A. (2026, August). Invisible after the storm: Psychological recovery, social isolation, and me [Paper presentation]. American Psychological Association Annual Conference, Washington, DC.

Williams, L. A. (2026, June 16). Accessibility and disability inclusion at the United Nations Library [Invited presentation]. United Nations Library and Archives, Geneva, Switzerland. Virtual.

Public Media

Williams, L. A. (2026, August). Dealing with disasters increasingly requires a smartphone—losing access can be a nightmare, but there are ways to prepare. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/dealing-with-disasters-increasingly-requires-a-smartphone-losing-access-can-be-a-nightmare-but-there-are-ways-to-prepare-289847

Williams, L. A. (2026, July 13). Repeated storms are turning disaster recovery into a way of life, and leaving communities facing disaster fatigue. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/repeated-storms-are-turning-disaster-recovery-into-a-way-of-life-and-leaving-communities-facing-disaster-fatigue-287147

Williams, L. A. (2026, May 27). Older Americans are often compelled to keep working—and then criticized for not stepping aside. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/older-americans-are-often-compelled-to-keep-working-and-then-criticized-for-not-stepping-aside-282837

Williams, L. A. (2026, July 17). [Radio interview on disaster preparedness and extreme weather]. In R. Myles (Host), Frontline Voices. WBAI Pacifica Radio.

Williams, L. A. (2026, July 14). [Quoted in] What happens when extreme weather becomes a cycle you can’t escape. Inside Climate News. https://insideclimatenews.org/news/14072026/todays-climate-extreme-weather-disaster-fatigue/

Link, L. J. (2026, July 20). South Carolina is allowing teachers to give zeros again, but the problem with grading goes deeper. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/south-carolina-is-allowing-teachers-to-give-zeros-again-but-the-problem-with-grading-goes-deeper-286426

Piekkola, C. (2026, July 28). Language and identity intertwine at bilingual writing camp. UND Today. https://blogs.und.edu/und-today/2026/07/language-and-identity-intertwine-at-bilingual-writing-camp/

Note: The 2026 UND Summer Bilingual Writing Camp was funded by the Spencer Foundation (PI: Hyonsuk Cho, “MYSELF-MLI: Midwestern Youth Social-Emotional Learning Focused on Multilingual Identity”) and supported by the College of Education and Human Development.

Midkiff, E. (2026). Did the dragons win? On the goals and methods of Dragons Then and Now [Public talk]. LibraryCon, Grand Forks Public Library.

Shultz, S. (May, 2026). The principal pipeline (featuring Laura Link). Preparing educators to lead schools across North Dakota. UND Alumni Magazine. Spring, 109(2), 18 – 19. https://undalumni.org/news-stories/impact/beyond-campus.html

Murphy, C. (May, 2026). The everyday choice of leadership (featuring Laura Link). UND Today. https://blogs.und.edu/und-today/2026/05/the-everyday-choice-of-leadership/?utm_source=mailpoet&utm_medium=email&utm_source_platform=mailpoet&utm_campaign=May%205,%202026%20issue

Growing educational training programs focus on North Dakota’s industry needs. (n.d., mentions Tony Perry’s work). Grand Forks Herald. https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/north-dakota/growing-educational-training-programs-focus-on-north-dakotas-industry-needs