Faculty Success

Grants Awarded

  • Baxter, D., Aguiar, E.J., Woodruff, E. Empowering High School Students Through Personalized Sport Education: A Mixed Personalized System of Instruction (PSI)-Sport Education-Fitness Model integrating Heart Zones Technology, College of Education Rising Tide Grant, The University of Alabama ($25,000).
  • Rightmire, Z., Geary, C., Parten, A., Shaw, K.,  Zagdsuren, B., Boudreaux, B.D., Lowell, R. Enhancing Certification Readiness for Kinesiology (KIN) Exercise Science Students Through Equipment Access and Instructor Training in KIN 392 Clinical Exercise Physiology, KIN 493 Fitness Appraisal and Exercise Prescription, and KIN 494 Strength and Conditioning (Grant No. A-13008-2312106-400-RTGRIZ), College of Education Rising Tide Grant, Department of Kinesiology, The University of Alabama ($30,000).
  • Gong, Hee Jung (PI), Hasan, Khandakar (Co-PI and PhD student). Beyond Detection: Faculty Approaches to Identifying and Responding to AI in Graduate Writing, College of Education Rising Tide Grant, The University of Alabama ($19,250).

Publications

  • Mertens, G. E., & Adams, B. (2026). "Digital anxieties and caution-fairy tales: How children’s picture books frame the Internet." Early Childhood Education Journal, Latest Articles.
    đź”—doi.org/10.1007/s10643-026-02128-5.
  • Adams, B., & Poe, D. R. (2026) “They didn’t mean anything bad”: Emotive shielding in novice teachers’ responses to immigrant student scenarios. Teaching Education, Latest Articles.
  • Battogtokh Zagdsuren, Nick T. Barefoot, Elroy J. Aguiar, Philip Gable, Stefanie Wind, Mark T. Richardson, and Hayley V. MacDonald. "Interaction between automatic evaluation, reflective processes, and executive function in predicting physical activity behavior." Translational Journal of American College of Sports Medicine 11(1), 2025.
    đź”—doi.org/10.1249/TJX.0000000000000331.
    đź”—ovid.com/jnls/acsm-tj/abstract/10.1249/tjx.0000000000000331~interaction-between-automatic-evaluation-reflective.
  • Gerstner, C.-C. E. (2026). "Promoting students’ social-emotional well-being in diverse school settings: An implementation study of the SEL program Fly Five in international schools." School Mental Health.
    đź”—doi.org/10.1007/s12310-026-09854-6.
  • Mohammadnabi, Matthew A., Andrew D. Fields, Oleg A Sinelnikov, Michael R. Esco. "Accuracy of two metabolic running equations for estimating v̇o2peak in male youth soccer players." Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise Science (in press).
    đź”—tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1091367X.2025.2589881
  • Boudreaux, B.D., Xu C, Sanchez GJ, Murdock ME, Cruz GJ, Jurado A, Gonzales A, Ellis J, Diaz F, Chang MJ, Scott A, Lee SAJ, Romero EK, Sullivan AM, Duran AT, Schwartz JE, Kronish IM, Edmondson D, Diaz KM. "Sedentary behavior and risk of readmission after hospitalization for suspected acute coronary syndrome: a prospective study." J Gen Intern Med (in press).
  • Lowe, T., Suresh T., Oro, Ean G., Freedberg M., Hussain S., Griffin L. "Local vibration of the hamstrings induces changes in cortical and spinal excitability to the antagonist quadriceps following ACL reconstruction." Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2025 (published ahead of print).
    đź”—doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000003872.
  • Han, H. "Pursuing Moral Purpose for Human Flourishing." Research in Human Development (in press).
  • Nabizadeh, D., Walker, D., Han, H., & Laird, M. "Exploring large language models’ responses to moral reasoning dilemmas." Ethics & Behavior (in press).
  • Gaffiero, D., Suárez-Pellicioni, M., & Hunt, T. E. (2026). "Investigating the content-specificity and time course of attentional biases in mathematics anxiety: a dot-probe approach." Cogent Psychology, 13(1).
    đź”—doi.org/10.1080/23311908.2025.2604325.
  • Suárez-Pellicioni, M., Price, G., & Booth, J. R. (2025) "Inter-hemispheric parietal functional connectivity predicts longitudinal math gains in children." Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience.
  • Nguyen, N. & Suárez-Pellicioni, M. (2025). "How hard did you try? A scoping review of the literature on effort investment in math." Frontiers in Education. 10:1575780.
    đź”—doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2025.1575780.
  • Hu, C. (2026). "Complicating the majority-minority paradigm: Race, class, and intersectionality in the United States." In K. L. McFaden & S. C. Hardee (Eds.), Privilege in America: A reference handbook (pp. 110-112). New York: Bloomsbury Publishing.
  • Grant T. Malone, Adam P. Knowlden, Sarah M. Flora, Hayley V. MacDonald (2026). "Associations Between Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Obesity, and Indices of Cardiovascular Health Among a Cross-Sectional Sample of Adults Residing in the Southeastern United States." Sleep and Breathing
    đź”—doi.org/10.1007/s11325-026-03627-w

International, National
or State Presentations

  • *Gong, H. J., Akyuz, F., Kim, H. & Vita, B. (2025). Navigating international students’ decision-making and behaviors in test-optional admissions in the U.S. [Accepted in Paper session]. Annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), Denver, CO., United States. *with students
  • Egbuikwem, M. & *Gong, H. J. (2025). Institutional commitment: The socialization experiences of doctoral women in STEM. [Accepted in Paper session]. Annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), Denver, CO., United States. *with students
  • Banks, C.K. (2026, Feb. 10). "From Outsider to Reflective Practitioner: Multicultural Lessons from Arts-Based Research with Roma Immigrant Students." The Association of Teacher Educators Conference, Washington, D.C., United States.
    Summary: This presentation explores how reflexivity and outsider awareness shape the research process and pedagogy in multicultural teacher education. Grounded in a participatory arts-based study with Roma immigrant girls, the paper reflects on the ethical and methodological complexities of conducting research across cultural boundaries. By revisiting the data analysis process after the original study, Banks considers how self-awareness, reflexivity and community engagement can deepen the integrity of research and inform culturally responsive practices in teacher preparation.
  • Hernandez, E. (2026, February). "Time series analysis of undergraduate class attendance: Seasonality, academic events, and forecasting." Southwest Educational Research Association 49th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA., United States.
  • Boyd L., Roach, M. M., & Hernandez, E. (2026, February). "College students with learning disabilities." Southwest Educational Research Association 49th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA., United States. *with students