Educational Psychology Commons^™

Student's Perceptions Of Smartphone Use At Home And At A High School Regarding A New Smartphone Policy: A Case Study, Ana Zurita

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The new generation raised in the digital era continues to present unresolved challenges for both parents and teachers. The purpose of this case study is to analyze students' usage of their smartphones in their lives, and understand the success of a new school policy on smartphone use at an arts school in the U.S. For this qualitative research, I interviewed ten participants from the high school. The literary review informs us that smartphones are potentially addictive, with negative effects for healthy mental, emotional and social child development, as well as a source of misleading information. As a consequence, smartphones in …

Creating Dynamic Spaces: Exploring Student-Empowered Self-Expression Through Art, Meghan E. Charest

Honors Theses

Research suggests that students living in rural areas may be more likely to face adversity and stress due to intersecting challenges present in their communities including poverty, substance abuse, addiction, poor health, reduced economic opportunity, and geographic isolation. I conducted an engaged scholarship project in partnership with students and staff at JES to explore ways that open-ended art activities that provide students with self-directed creative spaces can cultivate a student-centered environment built around strong relationships. This type of environment can mitigate the negative impacts of adverse childhood experiences potentially affecting rural Maine students and improve a culture of emotional wellness …

Stability Of The Learning Behaviors Scale, Nikki Davidson

Masters Theses

Learning behaviors are observable actions, habits, and manifestations of attitudes that facilitate learning, such as persevering at difficult tasks, showing interest in academic subjects, demonstrating care and concern about classwork, and graciously accepting feedback (Buchanan, McDermott, & Schaefer, 1998). Assessment of these learning behaviors is an essential first step to effective intervention. It is important to know which learning behaviors to target and the degree of deficit in order to remediate learning problems. The present study examined the medium length (two-month) stability of scores obtained from the Learning Behaviors Scale (McDermott, Green, Francis, & Stott, 1999). Fifty K-8 teacher rater …

Cyberbullying: School Administrators' Perceptions Of Law And Prevalence, And Their Roles In Prevention, Intervention And Discipline, Suzan Gragg Denby

Theses and Dissertations

This study was aimed at investigating secondary school administrators’ experiences with and their perceptions of cyberbullying, as well as their intervention and prevention procedures. As technology has become ubiquitous in our society, students’ use has increased and impacted the school environment. Given the potential for cyberbullying and the negative effects of such, schools harbor the responsibility to prevent and intervene in such occurrences. This can be a tricky process.

This study included 12 administrators of secondary schools across eight school divisions in Virginia. Through an interview process, administrators spoke of their experiences with technology and cyberbullying incidents, and how they …

“I Get Knocked Down But I Get Up Again”: Integrative Frameworks For Studying The Development Of Motivational Resilience In School, Ellen Skinner, Jennifer Pitzer Graham, Heather Anne Brule, Nicolette P. Rickert, Thomas Kindermann

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Many subareas share a common interest in students’ motivational resilience, defined broadly as patterns of action that allow students to constructively deal with, overcome, recover, and learn from encounters with academic obstacles and failures. However, research in each of these areas often progresses in relative isolation, and studies rarely utilize developmental or social-contextual approaches. As a result, we do not yet have a clear understanding of how to help children and adolescents develop a rich and flexible repertoire of tools to deal productively with everyday academic challenges and difficulties. In this article, we knit together these disparate areas of …

Metacognition: How To Improve Students' Reflections On Learning, Lisa K. Son, Nicole Brittingham Furlonge, Pooja K. Agarwal, Retrievalpractice.Org

Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Perception Of Parents And Teachers About Social Media Communication Effecting Children’S Attitudes Toward Schooling In Deployed Military Families, Luther Mike Robinson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Military families represent an under-researched and unique population in U.S. society. Little is known about the effects that extended separations have on military families and/or about the daily challenges such families face. This basic qualitative inquiry examined military spouses’ perception of how social media and digital face-to-face communication with deployed parents influenced their children’s behaviors and attitudes toward school. It also examined the perceptions of teachers who teach or taught military children whose parents were deployed. The study’s conceptual framework consisted of Bandura’s social cognitive theory of self-efficacy and Ainsworth and Bowlby’s attachment theory. The research questions for this study …

It’S Fun!” Using Students’ Voices To Understand The Impact Of School Digital Technology Integration On Their Well-Being, Daniel James Mourlam, Daniel Decino, Lisa Newland, Gabrielle Strouse

School of Education Faculty Publications

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to better understand children’s perception of their school-based educational technology use and its role in their well-being. Children (N = 23) from the Midwestern U.S. completed an interview and mapping exercise focused on the contexts and factors that impact their well-being, including schools and teachers. Phenomenological analyses of interview transcripts focused on children’s perceptions of 1) school educational technology use, and 2) the impact of school educational technology use on their well-being. Children described a variety of school educational technology experiences, which they perceived as having both positive and negative effects on their …

The Reliability Of Single-Item Assessments, Sijun Zhang

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Single-item assessments have become more popular recently in distinct areas, even though there is no consensus about whether they are sufficiently reliable. Researchers have developed methods to estimate the reliability of single-item assessments, some are based on factor analysis (method FA), correction for attenuation (method CA), and others employ Molenaar and Sijtsma’s theory (method MS), coefficient λ6 (method λ6), or latent class model (method LCRC). However, no empirical study has investigated which method estimates the reliability of single-item assessment most precisely. This study investigated this question via a simulation study. To represent assessments as found in practice, the simulation study …

Implicit Sense Of Gratification : A New Lens On Academic Intrinsic Motivation, Haiyang Su

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The main purpose of this study was to explore the relationship among key concepts from three motivation theories— mastery and performance goal orientation from Achievement Goal Theory (AGT, Elliot & McGregor, 2001), proximal and distal goal setting from Goal Setting Theory (GST; Locke & Latham, 1990), and academic intrinsic motivation based on the Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985). The study also examined moderating effects by gender and grade level difference on the relationship between proximal goal setting and academic intrinsic motivation. Implicit sense of gratification, a new concept proposed in this study, was used to test the mediation …

Effects Of The Helping Early Literacy With Practice Strategies (Helps) Program On Reading Fluency With English Language Learners, Heeyeon Chung

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the HELPS Program on the reading fluency skills of English Learners (ELs) using a multiple-baseline single case design methodology. Participants in this study included five ELs attending a public elementary school in northern New York State. Students were identified for participation through a review of available records indicating below-average reading fluency skills and/or teacher recommendations based on reading fluency performance in the classroom. Visual analysis and Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) were used to evaluate Words Correct Per Minute (WCPM) scores from the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills …

Validity Of The Responses To Feedback Survey : Operationalizing And Measuring Students' Cognitive And Affective Responses To Teacher Feedback, Angela M. Lui

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

In 1998, Black and Wiliam used the term the black box to illustrate how little was known about what happens in classrooms. Their review spawned a great deal of research on formative assessment, including strategies for giving feedback to students. More recently, scholars in the field of classroom assessment and measurement have expressed the need for research on how students understand, interpret, and process feedback. I call this the new black box.

Cross-Cultural Validation Of The Korean Version Of The Multicultural Counseling Self-Efficacy Scale-Racial Diversity Form (K-Mcse-Rd) For Korean Counselors, Sung Yong Park

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Faced with growing racial and ethnic diversity in South Korea, the demand for culturally competent counseling services by multicultural clients has increased. The current study aims to contribute to the research of multicultural counseling and multicultural counselor training by examining psychometric properties of the culturally adapted Multicultural Counseling Self-Efficacy Scale-Racial Diversity form for use in South Korea. The purposes of the study were threefold: (a) establish content validity during the translation and cross-cultural adaptation stage for the MCSE-RD to the context of multicultural counseling in South Korea; (b) test plausible underlying factor structures and report internal consistency reliability estimates of …

Demographic Differences In Post-Secondary Outcomes Following Participation In The Diagnostic Assessment And Achievement Of College Skills Intervention, Jana Vanderslice-Barr

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The majority of high school seniors are unprepared for post-secondary coursework in mathematics and reading (National Assessment of Educational Progress, 2019). Research shows traditional methods for bolstering college readiness skills to be ineffective, unnecessary for the majority of students, and associated with negative outcomes (Jaggars & Stacey, 2014). Another approach to enhancing college readiness is to offer newly enrolled college students the opportunity to assess their level of readiness, and take steps to become better prepared on their own. The Diagnostic Assessment and Achievement of College Skills (DAACS) system was developed with this purpose in mind. The DAACS is intended …

The Effects Of A Self-Regulated Writing Intervention On English Learners' Academic Writing Skills, Diana Akhmedjanova

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The goals of this dissertation were (1) to help English learners (ELs) improve their persuasive writing and self-regulated learning (SRL) skills and (2) to examine the effectiveness of the self-regulated writing intervention in an authentic setting. ELs are well-represented across university and college campuses in the U. S. While most of them thrive academically and receive their undergraduate and graduate degrees, a majority of ELs experience difficulties with academic writing. Therefore, there is a need to develop and examine evidence-based practices to promote the development of academic writing skills of ELs. One promising line of research involves adding instruction in …

An Examination Of Response To Intervention Implementation In New York State, Job Thomas

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The New York State Education Department required that all school districts implement Response to Intervention by July 1, 2012. Given that measurable change can be expected between one and three years after prioritizing actions of change, this study will examine the level to which the Response to Intervention framework is being prioritized in New York schools and districts. Specifically, this study will examine practitioner self-reported perception of implementation to determine the extent to which school districts participating in a statewide personnel development project incorporate the four components of RtI including, multi-level prevention system, screening, progress monitoring and data-based decision making.

Implementing A Web-Based Cognitive Defusion Program To Target Negative Self-Referential Thoughts In College Students: A Pilot Study, Clarie-Ann Henriques Wollach, Leeann Cardaciotto, Michael E. Levin, Sharon Lee Armstrong

Psychology Faculty Publications

Cognitive defusion may enhance healthy coping with negative self-referential thoughts amongst college students. However, research is needed to examine how to effectively introduce and teach defusion to this population. The current pilot study tested the usability of and satisfaction with the D-FUSE program, a single-session, web-based program for a mixed sample of undergraduates and its effectiveness in producing improvements in cognitive defusion and self-criticism. In an undergraduate sample (N = 141), the D-FUSE program was found to be usable and satisfactory. Program engagement rendered significant reductions in the believability of and emotional discomfort produced by negative self-referential thoughts. Further improvements …

Examining Processes Of Change In An Online Acceptance And Commitment Therapy Dismantling Trial With Distressed College Students, Michael E. Levin, Jennifer Krafft, Michael P. Twohig

Psychology Faculty Publications

This secondary analysis examined the processes of change from a randomized dismantling trial evaluating the Open (i.e., cognitive defusion, acceptance) and Engaged (i.e., values, committed action) components of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). Analyses were conducted with 161 distressed college students randomly assigned to a full online ACT program (Full n=40), online ACT targeting the Open components (Open n=41) or targeting the Engaged components (Engaged n=39), or a waitlist condition (Waitlist n=41). The intervention occurred over six weeks followed by a post-treatment assessment with mental health symptoms as the primary outcome. Consistent with predictions, pre- to …

Evaluating Acceptance And Commitment Therapy And Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Self-Help Books For College Student Mental Health, Michael E. Levin, Woolee An, Carter H. Davis, Michael P. Twohig

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objectives: Self-help has the potential to improve access to mental health resources for college students. However, solutions are needed to improve sustainable delivery, cost- effectiveness, and to know which resources are most useful. Methods: A sample of 109 college students were randomly assigned to read either an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) or Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) self-help book through the University library website over 8 weeks with assessments at baseline, midtreatment (4-weeks), and posttreatment (8-weeks). Results: The majority of participants reported reading over half of their assigned book and high satisfaction ratings were given for both books. Both conditions …

Utilizing Act Daily As A Self-Guided App For Clients Waiting For Services At A College Counseling Center: A Pilot Study, Jack Haegar, Carter H. Davis, Michael E. Levin

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective: Considering increasing demands for mental health services at college counseling centers (CCCs), there is a need for cost-effective solutions that avoid depleting stressed CCC resources. This study examined if ACT Daily, a mobile application based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), could serve as an effective self-guided intervention.

Participants: 11 individuals on a CCC waitlist suffering from anxiety/depression participated in the study over 2 weeks.

Methods: This study implemented a pre-post, open trial design of ACT Daily. Assessments were completed at baseline and 2-week post assessment.

Results: Results indicated that ACT Daily was acceptable and that participants improved on …