Education Commons^™

The Mental Health Of First-Generation College Students Of Color, Devin Hallquist

Doctoral Dissertations

College students who identify as a person of color and are also the first person in their family to attend college must navigate challenges related to white supremacy, institutional racism, and structural inequality. Though the amount of research on first-generation college students of color is steadily increasing, there remains a lack of research on the mental health of these students. Through an intersectional approach, the current study explored the mental health of first-generation college students of color during their sophomore year of college. Participants in the current study completed questionnaires related to psychological symptoms, experiences of racial/ethnic stress, and ethnic …

For The Love Of Teaching: Pre-Service Teachers’ Experience Of Moral Education, Anne Marie Foley Ruiz

Doctoral Dissertations

Moral aspects of teaching arise each and every day, yet we lack information about how prepared teachers feel about this critical aspect of teaching. This multi-case study explores perceptions of five pre-service teachers in an elementary teacher education program in Western Massachusetts. A series of interviews explore their histories prior to the program and their experiences in the program as related to the pre-service teachers’ orientations to the moral work of teaching. Research questions address the awareness and self-efficacy of student teachers in implementing the moral aspects of teaching. Using Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clark, 2006), this study explores beliefs …

Investigating Person-Specific Profiles Of Readiness-To-Exercise: Exploring Associations With Hypothetical Experiential Outcomes And Perceived Relevance, Cory Beaumont

Doctoral Dissertations

Autoregulation is a person-adaptive strategy wherein exercise workloads are adjusted to match one’s readiness (e.g., acute mental, physical, perceptual state). Prior work demonstrated that structural features of readiness profiles (i.e., which factor(s) are most important) differ across individuals. As this work relied on mathematical modeling, research is needed to understand the informational utility of person-specific profiles (PSPs) of readiness. Purpose: Model heterogeneity in PSPs of readiness (Aim 1), explore associations between PSP factor scores and forecasted experiences to hypothetical muscle-strengthening exercise (Aim 2), and explore participants’ perceptions of relevance and utility regarding their PSP (Aim 3). Methods: For …

It’S All The Rage: An Animated Approach To Screening For Postpartum Depression, Amanda Gorham

Doctoral Dissertations

Postpartum depression presents a complication for mothers which can, in some cases, be severe and even life-threatening. Instruments commonly used to screen for this psychological condition have been challenged by an extensive body of literature, with many mothers being unidentified and even untreated for their symptoms. The presented research introduces a newly developed screening instrument for detecting probable postpartum depression using text-free scenario-based animations, based on the lived experience of the condition as qualified by empirical research and the existing body of literature. Developed items were controlled for quality via Think Aloud Protocol and alignment studies with subject matter experts …

“If I’Ve Got God On My Side, I Can Do It”: A Phenomenological Investigation Of The Lived Experiences Of Spirituality For Lds Ncaa Di Student-Athletes, Matthew J. Moore

Doctoral Dissertations

The aim of this study was to explore the lived experiences of spirituality for National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I (DI) student-athletes who also identified as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). Using an existential phenomenological approach (Thomas & Pollio, 2002), nine interviews were conducted with four self-identified female and five self-identified male members of the LDS Church who were current NCAA DI athletes at the time of the study; they participated in four different DI sports (cross-country/track and field, football, soccer, and volleyball) and attended five different DI institutions. Their mean age was …

The Effectiveness Of Point-Of-View-Video Modeling On Improving Social And Communication Skills, Beyza Alpaydin

Doctoral Dissertations

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurobiological disorder with symptoms that affect individuals’ social interaction capabilities, their verbal and nonverbal communications, and the repertoires of activities and interest. These deficits in social and communication skills directly or indirectly influence the individual with ASDs’ lives. Therefore, many interventions have been developed to increase social and communication skills for individuals with ASD. Video modeling (VM) is one of the effective interventions in teaching social communication skills for children with ASD. There are multiple variations of VM interventions. One of the forms of VM intervention is point-of-view video modeling (POVVM) that has …

What's In A Label? Unpacking The Meaning Of Achievement Labels From Tests, Francis O'Donnell

Doctoral Dissertations

As a result of federal accountability policies, achievement level labels from statewide assessments are ascribed to public school students 17 times between grades 3 and 12. Depending on students’ performance and state of residence, they may be labeled inadequate or in need of support, below proficient or approaching expectations, level 3 or on track—to name a few examples. These labels are delivered through individual reports for students and parents as well as group reports for teachers. In spite of their widespread use, research on how achievement level labels are interpreted is minimal. The aim of this …

Examining Mediation And Moderation Effects Of Academic Motivation On The Relationship Between Disciplinary Events And Academic Performance In Secondary School, Cynthia Shuttleton

Doctoral Dissertations

Academic motivation is a key factor in students’ academic and behavioral success in school. Previous research has demonstrated strong relationships between disciplinary events and academic performance, as well as between academic performance and academic motivation. However, there is limited understanding of the relationship between academic motivation and disciplinary events, or how academic motivation, academic performance, and disciplinary events are related. The purpose of this study was to examine student self-ratings of their academic motivation in grades 9-12 in a public high school, and to investigate the associations and interactive relationships between these three variables. Participants (N=78) completed the …

Home Learning In The New Mobile Age: Parent-Child Interactions During Joint Play With Educational Apps, Shayl Griffith

Doctoral Dissertations

The rapidly increasing popularity of touch screen mobile devices, and accompanying educational applications (“apps”) targeted towards preschool children, calls for a new look at parent-child interactions around educational media. Research has shown that parental involvement in children’s educational media exposure can improve engagement and learning outcomes. However, to date little information is available on how parents navigate their children’s use of educational mobile technology, or how similar or different these interactions are to more commonly studied parent-child interactions, such as around shared reading. This study described, using observational data, parent-child interactions around educational apps and mobile devices in a sample …

Conceptualization And Measurement Of Adolescent Prosocial Behavior: A Two-Study Mixed Methods Investigation, Shereen El Mallah

Doctoral Dissertations

Prosocial behavior is a multifaceted construct that may be expressed and received in a myriad of ways, thereby posing several challenges in measurement. Undoubtedly, significant advancements in the measurement of prosocial behavior have been made since the construct first found its way onto the research stage; however, a few fundamental problems persist with regard to: 1) the absence of a universally employed definition, 2) substantial variation in operationalization and measurement of the construct, and 3) inconsistent reports regarding the nature of prosocial development during the transition between adolescence and young adulthood. These issues are further compounded under conditions of adversity …

The Effect Of Familiarity On Learning With Video Clips Containing Seductive Details, Jonah Lee Ruddy

Doctoral Dissertations

Seductive information included in educational lessons can arouse students’ emotional and situational interest. However, research on seductive details across instructional modalities shows both helpful and harmful effects on learning. The seductive details effect describes the negative influence of interesting, but irrelevant, information on achieving learning goals. Results from studies of videos with relevant and seductive details in multimedia lessons are inconclusive. Prior knowledge of target information has been shown to moderate the seductive details effect. In this study, the moderating effect of prior exposure to, or familiarity with, seductive, rather than target, information was explored using a multifactorial design. The …

High School Students' Perceptions Of School Climate In Relation To Discipline History And Discipline Approach, Kayla R. Gordon

Doctoral Dissertations

High school is a unique period of time within students' educational careers where there are an increasing number of variables that can facilitate or impede their academic, social-emotional, and behavioral success. Previous research has demonstrated strong effects of school climate, or the quality of school life and experiences within the school building, on factors including students' academic performance, motivation to learn, and attendance. In addition, school climate has been negatively correlated with drop out rates as well as other short and long term negative outcomes for students. The purpose of this study was to examine student perceptions of school climate …

Exploring The Effectiveness Of A Mindfulness-Based Social Emotional Learning Program On Kindergarteners’ Risk For Social, Academic, And Emotional Problems, Molly Alvin

Doctoral Dissertations

This intervention study explored the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based social emotional learning program, Calmer Choice, on kindergarten students’ risk for social, academic, and emotional problems. The study used a quasi-experimental design with two measures collected as pretests and posttests for students in an intervention group and students in a wait-list control group. Kindergarten teachers completed the Social Academic Emotional Behavior Rating Scale (SAEBRS; Kilgus & von der Embse, 2014) and the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment-mini (DESSA-mini; Naglieri, LeBuffe & Shapiro, 2014) for each student at these two time points. The intervention, Calmer Choice, consisted of 16 lessons taught twice a …

Social-Emotional Development Assessment: Scale Development For Kindergarten Through Second Grade Youth Universal Screening, James F.M. Brenchley

Doctoral Dissertations

The goal of this project was to address a significant gap in the research literature with regard to available screening tools that allow young children to self-identify needs related to their social-emotional development. A review of current evidence-based social-emotional tools led to the identification of seven domains most frequently utilized: self-regulation, emotional regulation, social skills, self-concept, school connectedness, social responsibility, and optimism/positivity. To accomplish this endeavor, two studies were conducted to develop a screening measure that demonstrated adequate psychometric properties, but also minimized cost related to time for implementation. The first study was a review of 105 pilot scale items …

Targeting Difficult Multiplication Problems: Increasing Multiplication Fact Fluency Through A Learning Trials Intervention, Kelly Mccullough Thompson

Doctoral Dissertations

The acquisition of basic math facts is a necessity for elementary school students as it fosters skill development as math concepts increase in difficulty. Specifically, by the end of the fifth grade, students are expected to have mastered all basic one-digit by one-digit multiplication problems. Many students, however, do not become fluent with multiplication facts, particularly the most difficult basic facts (i.e., digits 6-9). The current study was designed to determine if a computer-based learning trials program could enhance automaticity with difficult multiplication facts. Further, we investigated whether the computer program targeting difficult facts could enhance fluency across all basic …

Examining The Effectiveness Of A Sentence Construction Intervention Combined With Self-Regulation Instruction Using A Regression Discontinuity Design, William Furey

Doctoral Dissertations

The Language and Writing strands of the Common Core State Standards place a heavy emphasis on sentence-level conventions including syntax/grammar and mechanics. Interventions targeting these foundational skills are necessary to support struggling writers as poorly developed sentence construction skills inhibit more complex writing tasks. This study examined the effects of a supplemental intervention on the writing skills of fourth grade students identified as struggling writers. The intervention used explicit instruction and the Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) framework to teach students a sentence construction strategy along with self-regulation procedures. A regression discontinuity design was used to test whether students included in …

Residence Directors As Residential Crisis Workers: Exploring The Role Of Campus-Based Critical Incident Stress Management In The Mitigation Of Compassion Fatigue, Noga Flory

Doctoral Dissertations

Residence Directors, as a result of repeated exposure to their students' trauma, are prone to developing compassion fatigue. Research on the use of college-based Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) has been shown to foster collaboration, consultation, and increased stress debriefing among staff who respond to critical incidents on campus. CISM can teach Residence Directors means of recognizing work-related triggers, contribute to the normalization of stress reactions, and improve healthy coping and self-care strategies. CISM can also potentially help reduce or diminish the incidence of compassion fatigue and burnout, thereby improving Residence Directors' overall professional and personal quality of life and …

Detecting Candidate Preknowledge Of Items Using A Predictive Checking Method, Xi Wang

Doctoral Dissertations

In on-demand high-stakes testing programs such as GRE and TOEFL, some items are repeatedly used across test administrations to reduce the cost of developing new items constantly. Item exposure provides an opportunity for examinees to have knowledge of particular test items in advance of their administration. It poses a threat to test security and ultimately will result in invalid test scores. Therefore, many testing programs conduct quality control to monitor test compromise at individual and/or group level. A predictive checking method is proposed in this study to detect examinee preknowledge on exposed items. We consider a scenario where a test …

Identifying Examinees Who Possess Distinct And Reliable Subscores When Added Value Is Lacking For The Total Sample, Joseph A. Rios

Doctoral Dissertations

Research has demonstrated that although subdomain information may provide no added value beyond the total score, in some contexts such information is of utility to particular demographic subgroups (Sinharay & Haberman, 2014). However, it is argued that the utility of reporting subscores for an individual should not be based on one’s manifest characteristics (e.g., gender or ethnicity), but rather on individual needs for diagnostic information, which is driven by multidimensionality in subdomain scores. To improve the validity of diagnostic information, this study proposed the use of Mahalanobis Distance and H^T indices to assess whether an individual’s data significantly departs …

The Development And Validation Of The Emotion Knowledge And Awareness Test, Catherine A. Rossi

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop, test, and pilot a general outcome measurement tool that will allow educators to test young children’s knowledge of factors of emotional development: emotional identification and fluency, understanding situations where multiple emotions are present, understanding that others may feel differently in situations, and emotional regulation (CASEL, 2014). There are few assessments that reliably measure emotion knowledge in early elementary grades. The Emotion Knowledge and Awareness Test (EKAT) has been developed for kindergarten through second grade students to measure emotion awareness across two domains: knowledge and management. It was developed as a pre/posttest assessment …

Examining The Writing Motivation And Achievement Of At-Risk Elementary-Aged Students, Melissa Sue Martin

Doctoral Dissertations

Writing achievement of students in the United States is weak. Approximately 75% of 12th graders are not proficient writers (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2012) and performance of students in poverty lags behind that of more affluent peers. Because writing is complex (Torrance & Galbraith, 2006) and often viewed as aversive to students (Boscolo & Gelati, 2013), motivation is an important consideration for teachers. However, little research exists examining writing motivation.

A correlational research design was employed to examine writing achievement and motivation (i.e., self-efficacy and attributions) of at-risk elementary-aged students (N = 61). Participants, who attended Title 1 …

Effect Of Mindfulness Training On Interpretation Exam Performance In Graduate Students In Interpreting, Julie E. Johnson

Doctoral Dissertations

Many graduate interpreting students struggle because the real-time, interactive nature of interpreting dictates that they be able to regulate their attention across different parallel cognitive activities and manage the inherent stress and unpredictability of the task. Within the framework of Cognitive Load Theory, this mixed-methods study explored the effect of short-term mindfulness training on consecutive interpreting exam performance using a quasi-experimental repeated-measures design. It also examined the relationships among mindfulness, stress, aspects of attention, and interpreting exam performance. The sample included 67 students (age M = 26.9 years; 82% female) across seven language programs (Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Russian, …

The Effect Of More And Less Relevant Details And Teacher Voice On Student Retention And Problem-Solving Transfer In Teacher-Created Multimedia, Colette Roche

Doctoral Dissertations

Many teachers create multimedia resources for their students, but most are uncertain as to what factors to consider regarding the design of multimedia instructional materials. Prior research identified instructional design principles for multimedia including the coherence principle and voice principle.

The purpose of this study was to test the coherence principle in a realistic setting using a heterogeneous group of ninth grade students in a humanities course to determine the effect of seductive details on retention and problem-solving transfer. To extend understanding of the voice principle, this study examined the effect of the teacher’s voice on student learning as measured …

Implementing Universal Social And Emotional Learning Programs: The Development, Validation, And Inferential Findings From The Schoolwide Sel Capacity Assessment, Cheyne A. Levesseur

Doctoral Dissertations

In order to effectively transport universal social and emotional learning (SEL) programs into natural settings, it is important to understand implementation barriers that may hinder the likelihood of successful outcomes (Fixsen, Naoom, Blasé, Friedman, & Wallace, 2005). The current study is primarily based on the notion that within the planning phase of implementation, few technically adequate assessment measures targeting both organizational capacity (OC) and provider characteristics (PC) for SEL programming actually exist. The purpose is to extend the SEL implementation assessment literature by developing a new rating scale designed to measure SEL implementation barriers (School SEL Capacity Assessment [SSCA]) and …

Investigating The Predictive Validity Of Three Measures Of Number Sense, Bethany Politylo

Doctoral Dissertations

Number sense has been identified as an important foundational skill in the development of later mathematics competence. Although number sense has historically been difficult to define in the educational literature, operational definitions of the construct typically consist of a collection of early numeracy skills or “number sense components” such as quantity discrimination, rote counting, and one-to-one correspondence. Consequently, assessments of number sense tend to measure a wide variety of these skills. The purpose of this study was to investigate the predictive validity of three measures of number sense: the Test of Early Numeracy (TEN), Number Sense Brief Screener (NSB), and …

Postive Behavioral Interventions And Supports In Out Of School Time: Providing Professional Development Via Consultation And Performance Feedback, Sheera Hefter

Doctoral Dissertations

American youth are in need of supervision after the school day concludes. After School Programs (ASPs) provide students with safe and supportive venues that have the potential for encouraging student growth and development. ASPs across the country struggle to find high quality professionals to staff their programs; adequate training for these professionals is also limited. There is also significant evidence linking strong teacher-student relationships to both academic and social success. Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a framework that has a strong evidence base to support success in promoting a proactive approach to behavior management within school settings. The …

Using Social Network Analysis To Investigate The Relationship Between School-Based Team Communication Networks And Implementation Of Positive Behavior Support Systems, Shannon K. Barry

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between school-based team communication networks and implementation of school-wide reform efforts and initiatives, namely Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). The study employed social network analysis (SNA) to determine if a relationship was present between the structure and properties of the team communication network and the level of implementation of PBIS, the position and properties of the PBIS leadership team and the level of implementation of PBIS implementation, and the quality of internal process for collaboration of the PBIS leadership team and PBIS implementation. It was predicted that schools in …

The Effects Of Voluntary Versus Cold-Calling Participation On Class Discussion And Exam Performance In Multiple Sections Of An Educational Psychology Undergraduate Course, Brittany Ann Carstens

Doctoral Dissertations

Although class participation has been linked to improved student performance, little research has evaluated the effects of cold-calling versus voluntary participation. This study (N =156) determined the differential effects of voluntary and cold-calling participation practices on participation credit, uncapped magnitude of participation, participation rate, attendance, and adjusted exam scores. These dependent measures were compared between (a) voluntary and cold-calling conditions and (b) high and low participants under baseline (voluntary participation without credit and high-rate and low-rate participants). The use of voluntary and cold-calling procedures was alternated across units. Results were evaluated using mixed designs with repeated-measures across treatment units …

Theories-In-Use And Espoused Theories: An Examination Of Team Decision-Making In The Initial Special Education Eligibility Meeting, Heather Anne Stewart

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether education professionals’ theories-in-use were congruent with their espoused theories (Argyris & Schön, 1974) regarding the inclusion of parents as team decision-making partners in the initial special education eligibility meeting of individualized education programming (IEP) teams. Particular attention was given to procedural practices education professionals used to include parents as decision-making partners and their descriptions of this practice.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates the inclusion of parents as members of IEP teams, including their right to participate in the special education eligibility decision. Research supports the inclusion of parents …

The Relationship Between Demands And Resources And Teacher Burnout: A Fifteen-Year Meta-Analysis, Tammy Marie Stewart

Doctoral Dissertations

This meta-analysis explored the phenomenon of teacher burnout— the biggest contributor to teacher attrition (Owens, 2013; Unterbrink, 2014; Yu, 2015). The focus of this study was to use meta-analytical procedures to explore the relationship between burnout dimensions (i.e., emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and feelings of personal accomplishment) and specific demand and resource correlates. Demand correlates included work overload, role conflict, role ambiguity, and student misbehavior. Resource correlates included peer support, supervisory support, and decision-making. This meta-analytical research method encompassed fifteen years of published and unpublished studies from January 2000 through January 2015. A total of 116 studies met the following inclusion …