Educational Psychology Commons^™

Adhd And Theory Of Mind In School-Age Children: Exploring The Cognitive Nature Of Social Interactions In Children With Adhd, Rachel Feigenbaum

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) experience significant difficulties with social skills (Barkley, 2006; DuPaul & Stoner, 2003; Stormont, 2001). The inhibitory deficit associated with ADHD is typically identified as the cause of these impaired social skills (Barkley, 2006). Additionally, some researchers have suggested that theory of mind (ToM), which is the ability to attribute mental states to oneself and to others, may be involved, but the research on ToM deficits in children with ADHD is limited and the findings are mixed. A key methodological issue in this literature is the use of traditional but problematic measures of advanced …

Effects Of A Computer-Based Simulation On Chemistry Self-Efficacy, Yolanta V. Kornak-Bozza

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Self-efficacy (SE) is a measure of belief in a person’s own ability to complete a task and reach a certain goal (Bandura, 2006). It is a significant area in the field of educational psychology because it can be used to predict performance in the area being measured. Chemistry represents a challenging field of study although the skills learned from it are necessary to move forward in STEM (Luzzo, Hasper, Albert, Bibby, Martinelli, 1999). It is not uncommon for students to enter this course with feelings of low SE. Increasing SE could result in improved educational outcomes and have a long- …

The Relationship Between Non-Traditional Instructional Strategies And The Multicultural Competence Of School Psychologists, Jacqueline Kluger

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

School psychology training programs have taken on the great responsibility of preparing practitioners who are culturally competent and able to provide effective services to a diverse range of students, families, schools, and communities. Literature in the related fields of counseling psychology and teacher training show evidence of the effectiveness of multicultural training on trainees’ and practitioners’ cultural competence, with some evidence that the instructional methods used in courses and workshops play a role in outcome. There is to date a dearth of research available in the school psychology literature to provide guidance to trainers and program administrators as to the …

Cumulative Exams (With A Twist), David E. Copeland

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

When first hearing about cumulative exams, students generally have a negative reaction – their impression is that cumulative exams are more difficult because knowledge has to be retained for longer periods of time.

The First-Year University Experience For Sexual Minority Students: A Grounded Theory Exploration, Edward Alessi, Beth Sapiro, Sarilee Kahn, Shelley L. Craig

Department of Social Work and Child Advocacy Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This exploratory study used grounded theory to understand the role of minority stress on the first-year experience of lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and questioning emerging adults attending a university in the Northeastern part of the United States. Twenty-one lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and questioning sophomores participated in focus groups asking them to reflect on their first year of university. Themes suggest that participants tackle multiple challenges simultaneously: the developmental task of increased independence and stressors specific to lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and questioning adults such as encountering stigma. Furthermore, participants manifested resilience in response to minority stress. Participants joined campus …

Exploring Mental Health In Justice Involved Youth: Relevance For Policy And Practice, Angelina Sarah Maclellan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Over the past two decades, awareness of the prevalence of mental health problems in young offenders (ages 12 to 17 years) has grown, with estimates suggesting significantly higher rates compared to the general population. While experiencing poverty does not cause crime, recent research drawing from the Social Psychology of Crime suggests that individuals who experience poverty tend to live in adverse social environments, which can facilitate exposure to modeling and/or reinforcement that is related to antisocial behaviour. In the present study, archival data were drawn from 281 young offenders’ files from an urban-based court clinic to examine how the youth’s …

Teaching And Learning Mathematics In The Ar/Vr Environment, Alexander Vaninsky

Publications and Research

This presentation discusses teaching and learning mathematics in augmented (AR) or virtual (VR) reality created by a combination of goggles and earphones. It claims that interactive learning in such an environment is more attractive and efficient. It increases motivation and interest in the subject matter. The approach is underlain by the findings of educational neuroscience considering the learning process as the formation of domains in the brain forming mathematics knowledge centers. The teaching process provides sensory excitation and establishes connections among these and other domains. Hardware and software are available in the market. The suggested approach allows for practical implementation …

Teacher Empowerment: A Focused Ethnographic Study In Brunei Darussalam, Shanthi Thomas

The Qualitative Report

Teacher empowerment, as a process that enables teachers’ intrinsic motivation and brings out their innate potential, is of critical importance in modern times. However, the teacher empowerment construct in existing education literature originated in the west, and its dimensions are aligned to the western cultural scenario. The purpose of this study was to understand the behaviours of school leaders, teacher colleagues, students as well as their parents, and themselves, that teachers perceived as empowerment-facilitating and/or empowerment impeding. This study took place in a secondary school in Brunei Darussalam, a private secondary school. This study was designed as a ‘focused ethnography’, …

Examining The Impact Of Web-Based Training Modules Among Special Educators And Paraprofessionals Who Support Students With Autism, May Ahn

Dissertations

Although researchers have clearly identified evidence-based ABA practices for children with autism, the research-to-practice gap in implementation continues to exist in schools. This may be due to lack of staff development and knowledge in specific instructional methods (Odom, Collet-Klingenberg, & Hatton, 2010). Moreover, the delivery of training may be a factor in staff development. For example, workshops are one of the most common ways professionals access training (Brock, Huber, Carter, Juarez, & Warren, 2014). However, workshops often have limited impact on implementation of new knowledge. Advances in technology have made online training more accessible for educators as a delivery option. …

An Exploration Of African American Parents' Level Of Trust In Special Education Meetings, Kizin Burton-Fox

Dissertations

There is a plethora of research to suggest that there are a number of benefits to parent participation in a student's education, including improved education outcomes for students (Cheung & Pomerantz, 2012). However, there has been no real consensus on whether or not African American parents demonstrate appropriate involvement in their children's education since parent participation has typically been defined according to the norms of White middle class culture (Fields-Smith, 2005). Nevertheless, African American students have been found to demonstrate some of the lowest levels of academic achievement compared to their White counterparts, even when socioeconomic factors are taken into …

An Examination Of Multicultural Competence And Racial Colorblindness Among School Psychologists, Sandy D. Flores

Dissertations

The field of school psychology has developed a strong commitment to culturally competent practice. However, there is a lack of literature examining multicultural competence among school psychologists. The present study sought to address this need using a two-pronged approach. First, the study expanded the research base for a self-report multicultural competence scale by administering the measure to a sample of practicing school psychologists. Second, the study investigated the relationship between racial colorblindness and self-perceived multicultural competence among school psychologists by administering an additional racial colorblindness measure. Given that similar fields have identified the negative impact of racial colorblindness on multicultural …

Elementary Principals' Perceptions Of School Psychological Services, Tiffany Marie Voight

Dissertations

There is a growing need for school psychologists to reform and restructure their roles in order to meet the mental health needs of student populations (Adelman & Taylor, 2003). Many school psychologists, district (school psychologists serving multiple schools) and building (school psychologists serving one school) are in favor of changing roles and responsibilities, but are faced with resistance from administrators when advocating for change (Adelman & Taylor, 2003). The purpose of this research study was to investigate elementary principals' perceptions about school psychological services. Survey research was utilized to measure elementary principals' perceptions of school psychological services provided by district …

Childhood Obesity Programming In Schools: A Mixed Method Program Evaluation Of The Cope Healthy Lifestyles Teen Intervention, Lindsay Viellieu

Dissertations

The current study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the COPE Healthy Lifestyles TEEN program with adolescent females within a suburban high school setting. The program assessed changes in Body Mass Index, knowledge and behaviors relating to nutrition and physical activity and self-concept. The study also focused on participants' perspectives on program components and how those components facilitate change. The results of this study indicate the program increased knowledge relating to nutrition and physical activity; behaviors relating to physical activity; and self-concept. Given the on-going nature of the childhood obesity epidemic worldwide and the relationship between mental health and …

Applying Encoding And Retrieval Techniques To Chinese Rhyme Reading In Advanced Placement Chinese Instruction, Nan Wang

The Nebraska Educator: A Student-Led Journal

Learning Chinese as a foreign language is increasingly prevalent in public school districts in the U.S. As ACTFL (2011) reported, an increasing number of enrollments of Advanced Placement Chinese courses indicate a growing demand for Chinese language courses in U.S. public school districts (ACTFL, 2011; ACTFL, 2017). AP foreign language exams indicate that students from the mainstream culture in the U.S. do not perform as well as racial minority test takers (Brown & Thompson, 2016). Therefore, implementing appropriate teaching strategies in a student-centered foreign language environment is a desperate need. This is a pragmatic instructional design proposal, which emphasizes the …

The Nebraska Educator, Volume 4: 2017 (Complete Issue), Abraham Flanigan, Zoe Falls, Carin Appleget, Lyrica Lucas, Sarah Mcbrien, Markeya Peteranetz, Shuling Yang

The Nebraska Educator: A Student-Led Journal

Effects of Environment on Depressive Symptoms on Chinese Left-Behind Children Lanyan Ding & Eric S. Buhs, Ph.D. .....4

Students on the Edge: Evaluating an Academic Support Group Ben Heinisch & Nicole M. Smith.....26

Examining Inequalities in Science Literacy by Religious Affiliation Among Adults Alexis Swendener ........47

Applying Encoding and Retrieval Techniques to Chinese Rhyme Reading in Advanced Placement Chinese Instruction Nan Wang....64

There are not many student-run academic journals, so The Nebraska Educator is excited to provide a forum for researchers, scholars, policymakers, practitioners, teachers, students, and informed observers in education and related fields in educational settings in the United …

Mexican-Origin Youth's Risk Behavior From Adolescence To Young Adulthood: The Role Of Familism Values, Lorey A. Wheeler, Katharine H. Zeiders, Kimberly A. Updegraff, Sue A. Rodriguez De Jesus, Norma J. Perez-Brena

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Engagement in risk behavior has implications for individuals' academic achievement, health, and well-being, yet there is a paucity of developmental research on the role of culturally-relevant strengths in individual and family differences in risk behavior involvement among ethnic minority youth. In this study, we used a longitudinal cohort-sequential design to chart intraindividual trajectories of risk behavior and test variation by gender and familism values in 492 youth from 12 to 22 years of age. Participants were older and younger siblings from 246 Mexican-origin families who reported on their risk behaviors in interviews spaced over eight years. Multilevel cohort-sequential growth models …

Sibling Relationship Quality And Mexican-Origin Adolescents' And Young Adults' Familism Values And Adjustment, Sarah E. Killoren, Sue A. Rodriguez De Jesus, Kimberly A. Updegraff, Lorey A. Wheeler

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

We examined profiles of sibling relationship qualities in 246 Mexican-origin families living in the United States using latent profile analyses. Three profiles were identified: Positive, Negative and Affect-Intense. Links between profiles and youths’ familism values and adjustment were assessed using longitudinal data. Siblings in the Positive profile reported the highest familism values, followed by siblings in the Affect-Intense profile and, finally, siblings in the Negative profile. Older siblings in the Positive and Affect-Intense profiles reported fewer depressive symptoms than siblings in the Negative profile. Further, in the Positive and Negative profiles, older siblings reported less involvement in risky behaviors …

Academic Help-Seeking Behaviors In Young Children, Lindsey Nelson

Human Development Honors Papers

Private speech and help-seeking behaviors have found new traction through Zimmerman’s conceptualization of self-regulated learners as “metacognitively, motivationally, and behaviorally active participants in their learning….and are aware when they know a fact or possess a skill and when they do not and, unlike passive classmates proactively seek out information when needed and take necessary steps to master it” (1990, p. 4). The current study is a follow-up of Metacognitive processes in Development [MinD], through which researchers Lindsey Nelson and Professor Loren Marulis analyzed metacognitive skills (i.e., knowledge and behavior) using a puzzle task at the Connecticut College Children’s Program Lab …

Teaching At Branch Campuses: The Faculty Experience, Whitney Harper, Larry W. Owens, Simon Funge, Dana J. Sullivan

Social Work Faculty Publications

There is limited research on the perceptions of faculty who teach branch campus students. Exploratory in nature, this qualitative study explored the branch campus teaching experiences of a particular subset of educators – those who teach in social work education programs. The paper will discuss social work faculty members’ perspectives about the advantages and challenges of teaching branch campus students. Eighty-one social work educators from twenty-six states completed an online survey developed by the researchers. The survey included qualitative questions that explored both resident and non-resident faculty members’ perceptions regarding the advantages and disadvantages of teaching branch campus students. The …

Enhancing Student Altruism Using Secure Attachment Messages (Sam) In Lecture, Kelly Campbell, Stephany Ramos

Psychology Faculty Publications

In this brief report, we examine whether students’ (N=230) willingness to help individuals in distress (altruism) would be augmented after viewing Secure Attachment Messages (SAM) during lecture in a college racism course. Students were presented with SAM in alternating weeks as part of the PowerPoint presentation slides. In each of the weeks, their likelihood of engaging in altruistic behaviors was assessed using hypothetical scenarios and a student response system, Top Hat Monocle. We predicted that the SAM would prompt students to think of their attachment figures and enhance their feelings of security, which would increase their willingness to engage in …