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Item Gen Con Programs(2025-11-05)Gen Con is the largest and oldest continuously running convention that is focused on analog games. It has been an important fixture in the development of modern tabletop games not just for role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons, but also boardgames, collectible card games, miniature games, live action role-playing games, and others. Each year over 70,000 people make a pilgrimage to Indianapolis, Indiana to celebrate and play these games. Gathering of Gamers explores the convention through a year-by-year history from 1967 through 2022. The book not only discusses the prominent games at each annual convention, it also examines the major milestones in tabletop game development over the years, how gamer culture and the perception of gamers in society has evolved, how technology has impacted conventions and the games we play, and the relationship between game conventions and the cities and other entities that host them. It is no secret that tabletop games, which include board games like The Settlers of Catan, card games like Dominion and Magic: The Gathering, and role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons and Cyberpunk, have become a popular pastime in the United States and their ubiquity is only growing. The board game market alone is valued at over $13 billion and that figure does not include role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons. Gathering of Gamers narrates how we got here thanks to the role that game conventions like Gen Con played in popularizing these games. This history is assembled from a close reading of various publications including zines, correspondence, convention programs, websites, interviews, and social media that surround the convention. It also takes a more distant look at the convention through data analysis of game attendance and sales of the various games and events, more than 20,000 of which are currently available at Gen Con each year. This approach makes this text useful not just to those looking to learn about the history of modern analog games, but also for those looking to attend Gen Con or other game conventions.Item The Value of a Doctoral Degree(2025-10-07)Item An Analysis of Undergraduate Microbiology Students’ Beliefs and Attitudes Related to Virtual Learning(2025-10-17)Since the inception of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, undergraduate microbiology students globally have had their education disrupted causing uncertainty with their education, learning, and career trajectories. Undergraduate students have faced challenges with the transition of online/virtual learning and interacting with their fellow colleagues and instructors. The COVID-19 pandemic challenged the education system globally and created a major paradigm shift that forced educators of all levels to adjust their traditional face-to-face pedagogy to an online mode of pedagogy instantaneously. I initiated this study because of the dilemma that the COVID-19 pandemic had on students’ experiences and instructors’ in meeting the challenges of transferring a course entirely online in a relatively very short time. The purpose of this study is to investigate the following: (1) to what extent do undergraduate students change their knowledge about topics in microbiology relevant to the course presented online? (2) to what extent do the undergraduate students change their opinions relating to topics addressed in a microbiology course relevant to the course presented online? (3) how do undergraduate students experience computer-based learning in a microbiology course relevant to the course presented online?Item A Study of Secondary School Students’ Participation in a Novel Course on Genomic Principles and Practices(2020-05-22)This paper presents the design, development, and validation of a study among secondary school students’ participation in a novel course on genomic principles and practices by analyzing and documenting evidence of their participation, and educational outcomes, in a novel course on genomic principles and practices. A mixed methods approach, using qualitative and quantitative methods, was used to address three research questions. 1) Based on affective evidence, how did secondary school students perceive and critically judge, content topics learned in a course on modern genomic principles and practices? 2) Based on cognitive evidence, how much of the content did secondary school students learn when they participated in a course on modern genomic principles and practices? 3) Using individual interview evidence, what are the major perceptions that the secondary school students expressed throughout the duration of the course? The participants were provided an opportunity to comment on the course through individual and collaborative interviews, in order to find out to what extent they perceived the course to be interesting and challenging. Future inquiry expanding from this research would help to establish the foundational pathway for designing a more inclusive genomics curriculum. In conclusion, the course offered real-life/real-world applications that encourage all students to conceptualize genomics, human health, diseases, medicine, ethics, beliefs, research, and careers.Item The Transition From Classroom to Zoom and How it Has Changed Education(2020-07-10)In 2020, millions of students, educators, and academic faculty (and others in the world of government, business, etc. worldwide) became aware of greater emphasis for distance teaching and learning (DTL) and communication, especially given the demands being made due to the COVID-19 pandemic. More particularly, some innovative technologies have especially been designed to bring a new coherence to the integral intersection of the teaching and learning dimensions of education, especially when focused on student-centered teaching and learning. While there may have been a grace period for educators to adjust to this paradigm shift, the online educational resources and interactive platforms for teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have made more immediate applications possible, especially given the challenges of teaching during a pandemic. The availability of technology in all academic settings, particularly STEM, has enabled educators to implement a range of diverse pedagogical approaches to engage their students more effectively in STEM learning. However, some educators lack the pedagogical skills and/or strategies needed to effectively transition to virtual/teaching online STEM topics and/or classes. The purpose of this article is to highlight the effectiveness of DTL learning by utilizing interactive websites and effectively integrating them into STEM classrooms.