Educational Psychology Commons^™

Eighth Grade Mathematics Intervention: Improving Student Self-Esteem And Content Knowledge Of Targeted Mathematic Skills, Stephanie Hart

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

By eighth grade some students believe they are “not good” and never will be successful at mathematics. Discouraged by poor grades, negative feedback from teachers or demoralized by repeated academic failure, these students disengage from their mathematics classwork. In some cases, mathematics intervention classes are a last chance to get them back on track to qualify for Algebra I in 9^th grade. The purpose of this study is to identify strategies to reengage students by increasing their academic content knowledge in mathematics and boosting their self-esteem and sense of belonging in the school setting. The review of the literature …

Identifying Supports For Parents Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Sarah Rushworth

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) lack social and communication skills, leading to challenging behaviors. This impacts family functioning and can lead to parents being isolated and feeling stressed (Russa, Matthews, & Owen-DeSchryver, 2014). The parents of these children must learn how to handle the challenges that come along with the disorder. Parents of children with ASD need to have more supports in place to feel more supported (Nealy, O’Hare, Powers, & Swick, 2012). The literature revealed that the programs implemented today focus mainly on the child outcomes, lacking focus on parent needs (Samadi, McConkey, & Kelly, 2012). Parents find …

Dropout Rates In Exposure With Response Prevention For Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: What Do The Data Really Say?, Clarissa W. Ong, Joseph W. Clyde, Ellen J. Bluett, Michael E. Levin, Michael P. Twohig

Psychology Faculty Publications

The purposes of this review were to: 1) determine the attrition rates for exposure with response prevention (ERP) for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), 2) compare them to those in other treatments for OCD, and 3) identify predictors of ERP attrition. A systematic literature search of randomized controlled trials for ERP for OCD yielded 21 studies, representing 1400 participants. Attrition data were extracted for individual treatment conditions. The weighted mean dropout rate for ERP was 14.7% (95% CI [11.4%, 18.4%]). This figure was not statistically different from that of comparison conditions (e.g., cognitive therapy; OR = 0.67-2.22, all ps > 0.15). Only two …

The Moderating Role Of The Home Environment And Parenting Beliefs On The Early Achievement Outcomes Of Children With Difficult Temperaments, Kenji R. Madison

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study examined the relationship of children’s temperamental attention and activity (at 4-and-a-half years old) and proximal processes (parenting beliefs) and home environment in relation to children’s achievement outcomes. Emphasis was placed on the moderating role of the home environment and parenting beliefs on the relationship between children’s temperament (activity and attention level) and their academic achievement. The use of regression analyses specified that children’s activity and attention were associated with achievement in reading and mathematics at 4-and-a-half years and reading, mathematics, and phonics achievement in the 1^st grade. Analyses also depicted home environment and parenting as associated with …

Examination Of The Nu Data Knowledge Scale, Jonathon David Sikorski

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The focus of this dissertation is the development of the NU Data Knowledge Scale: A measure of teachers’ data use skills and knowledge. The psychometric properties of the NU Data Knowledge Scale were thoroughly examined in this dissertation. First, the test items were based off the databasics, and were independently categorized by subject matter experts. The measure was revised based off of the recommendation of the subject matter experts. The survey was sent to 215 rural Nebraskan teachers along with a demographics section and “Comfort with Data Use” questionnaire. The psychometric properties of the measure were discussed that related the …

Unpacking Conjoint Behavioral Consultation: Predictors And Conditions That Support Parent-Teacher Relationships, Shannon R. Holmes

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Empirical support confirms interventions with the goal of building partnerships between families and schools are effective methods for addressing childhood social-behavioral concerns and academic delays (for reviews see Jeynes, 2012). Conjoint Behavioral Consultation (CBC; Sheridan & Kratochwill, 2008) is a problem-solving based intervention that seeks to remediate childhood behavior problems by enhancing working relationships between parents and teachers. CBC consistently yields positive effects for children, families, and teachers (Sheridan, Eagle, Cowan, & Mickelson, 200; Sheridan et al., 2012; Sheridan et al., in submission; Sheridan, Ryoo, Garbacz, Kunz, & Chumney, 2013) and these outcomes are achieved through supportive parent-teacher relationships (Sheridan …

The Use Of Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve Analysis For Academic Progress And Degree Completion, Joshua William Schutts

Dissertations

College student retention and graduation are important to students, institutions, and the community. Institutions must commit to understanding why students persist and depart in order to address student success. As a result, institutions and governmental entities have increased the emphasis they place on using data to improve student success and degree completion. An abundance of research suggests that background factors (such as high school GPA and ACT score) combined with environmental factors (such as one’s major and first semester GPA) are predictive of student success. However, the literature has yet to explore the value of ROC curve analysis as a …

Psychological Stresses And The Needs Of Mothers Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, And The Relationship Between Them In The United Arab Emirates, Abeer Arafa Abdul Aziz Muhammed Al Dib

Theses

The present study aimed to identify the sources and the levels of psychological stresses for mothers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It also aimed to identify their needs and its degrees in the United Arab Emirates, as well as to define the relationship between psychological stresses and their needs. The study sample consisted of (174) mothers of children with (ASD). Their children were enrolled in one of the rehabilitation of the disabled centers which were under the supervision of the United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Society Development. The sample has been chosen in stratified random way. Two tools …

Comparing The Effects Of Two Utility Value Interventions On Graduate Students' Interest, Performance, And Perceptions Of Utility Value, Ivan Vladimirov Ivanov

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The present study compares the immediate and delayed effects of teacher- vs. student-generated utility value interventions on students' interest, performance, and perceptions of utility value. In addition, it examines whether sense of autonomy mediates the relationship between type of utility value intervention and performance. The study is grounded in self-determination theory and expectancy-value theory and adopts a 3x3 mixed model design, with random assignment of participants to two relevance instruction conditions and a control condition.

Findings suggest that the teacher-generated utility value intervention was more effective than the student-generated utility value intervention and the control condition in terms of increased …

The Indelible Power Of The Intraverbal: Expanding The Intraverbal Repertoire And Utilizing Conditioned Praise Words To Decrease Problem Behaviors Of Typically Developing Students In Schools, Jose A. Zamudio

Theses and Dissertations

This study tested a disciplinary strategy that aimed at teaching students positive behaviors to decrease (or eliminate) problem behavior at school. In this study, data of five disruptive students from a middle school in South Texas were analyzed to evaluate the outcomes of the disciplinary strategy implemented by a disciplinary program facilitator at the campus. Students were conditioned to be more receptive to particular praise words related to positive thinking, and ten teachers at the campus were trained to deliver the conditioned praise words when the students expressed positive behaviors that corresponded with the conditioned praise words. Positive thinking celerated …

Structural-Symbolic Translation Fluency: Reliability, Validity, And Usability, Matt C. Hoskins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Standardized formative mathematics assessments typically fail to capture the depth of current standards and curricula. Consequently, these assessments demonstrate limited utility for informing the instructional implementation choices of teachers. This problem is particularly salient as it relates to the mathematical problem solving process. The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate the psychometric characteristics of Structural-Symbolic Translation Fluency, a curriculum-based measure (CBM) of mathematical problem solving. The development of the assessment was based on previous research describing the cognitive process of translation (Mayer, 2002) as well as mathematical concept development at the quantitative, structural, and symbolic levels (Dehaene, …

Agentic Engagement, Teacher Support, And Classmate Relatedness— A Reciprocal Path To Student Achievement, Curt Ryan Wakefield

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The present study is informed by self-determination theory and explores the relatively new construct of agentic engagement. Measures of agentic engagement, teacher support for autonomy and competence, and relatedness (teacher and classmate) were collected from 172 high-school students in a three wave short term longitudinal design. Regression statistics demonstrated that (a) initial students’ agentic engagement predicted perceived teacher autonomy and perceived teacher relatedness, (b) perceived teacher autonomy, perceived competence, perceived teacher relatedness and perceived classmate support predicted agentic engagement at the end of the semester and (c) reciprocally mid-semester agentic engagement predicted perceived teacher relatedness at the end of the …

Epistemic Beliefs Of Middle And High School Students In A Problem-Based, Scientific Inquiry Unit: An Exploratory, Mixed Methods Study, Jiangyue Gu

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Epistemic beliefs are individuals’ beliefs about the nature of knowledge, how knowledge is constructed, and how knowledge can be justified. This study employed a mixed-methods approach to examine: (a) middle and high school students’ self-reported epistemic beliefs (quantitative) and epistemic beliefs revealed from practice (qualitative) during a problem-based, scientific inquiry unit, (b) How do middle and high school students’ epistemic beliefs contribute to the construction of students’ problem solving processes, and (c) how and why do students’ epistemic beliefs change by engaging in PBL.

Twenty-one middle and high school students participated in a summer science class to investigate local water …

The Concordance Of Caregiver-Teacher Perspectives On The Behavior Of Children With Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, Allison Werlinger

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Diagnosing a child with a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a complex process that can require the collaboration of many individuals. Gathering information from multiple informants has been essential for diagnosis (CDC, 2012). The Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Teacher Rating Form (TRF) have been used in research to determine cross-informant agreement within various clinical populations, but little research has studied the concordance of caregiver-teacher perceptions on the behavior of children with FASDs. Data from 139 participants diagnosed with an FASD through the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Clinic in Las Vegas, Nevada were included for analysis. Interrater Pearson r …

Measuring Student Engagement In Technology-Mediated Learning Environments, Curtis R. Henrie

Theses and Dissertations

This is a multiple-article format dissertation that explores methods for measuring student engagement in technology-mediated learning experiences. Student engagement is the committed, focused, and energetic involvement of students in learning. Student engagement is correlated with academic performance, student satisfaction, and persistence in learning, making it a valuable predictor of important learning outcomes. In order to identify which students need help or to evaluate how well an instructional interaction promotes student engagement, we need effective measures of student engagement. These measures should be scalable, cost effective, and minimally disruptive to learning. This dissertation examines different approaches to measure student engagement in …

Investigating The Factor Structure Of The Teachers’ Sense Of Efficacy Scale With Pakistani In-Service And Pre-Service Teachers, Sajid Ali Yousuf Zai

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Teachers with a high sense of efficacy are motivated to achieve and are generally optimistic about future learning. There is an extensive body of research that indicates a teacher’s self-efficacy beliefs can be a performance indicator for school outcomes. Research on characteristics related to teachers in Pakistan has been increasing over the last decade, however there are a number of instruments being used with this population without any documented validation studies. The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity of the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES; Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001) to determine the latent structure of …

Effects Of A Self-Management Procedure Using Student Feedback On Staff Members' Use Of Praise In An Out-Of-School Time Program, Cade T. Charlton

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Out-of-school time (OST) programs are under increasing pressure to improve student achievement. However, OST program administrators face a number of challenges to improving program effectiveness including inconsistent student participation, inexperienced staff members, and a lack of high-quality professional development. OST program administrators can address these challenges by implementing staff development practices that encourage the use of effective instructional strategies.

Specific praise is a simple and effective instructional strategy that has been linked to improved student engagement, enhanced academic achievement, and stronger student-teacher relationships. Unfortunately, there have been very few studies examining the effects of interventions designed to increase OST staff …

Impact Of Universal Social-Emotional And Behavioral Screening Among Middle School Students: A Multistage Approach To Identification, Kristen M. Ballinger

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Mental health problems often have an onset during the school age years and significantly impact the development, academic achievement, and future success of children and adolescents (Kessler et al., 2005). Less than half of the 10% to 20% of youth believed to be emotionally and behaviorally at-risk receive the mental health services they need (Bradshaw et al., 2008; Gresham, 2007). As a result, universal screening for mental health risk has been recommended as the best initial step to identifying and intervening with at-risk students. Numerous screeners and methods of implementation exist, but a widely accepted and utilized process has failed …

Using Generalizability Theory To Investigate Sources Of Variance Of The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-2 With Trainees, Dorothy Rita Parriott

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can be considered a serious developmental concern, which, complicated by its rising rate, creates a challenge for psychologists in properly and consistently diagnosing the disorder. Various types of assessments such as reporting measures, observation systems, and standardized assessments are currently used in the identification of ASD. Any one instrument typically examines multiple domains of functioning such as intellectual, neuropsychological (including adaptive, attention, sensory, motor, language, memory, executive functioning, academic, and social/emotional), and behavior (social and repetitive/restricted). Often, evaluators combine assessments that were not originally meant to detect ASD with those that were intended for that purpose. …

Total Communication Methods For Preschool Children With Autism: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study Of Parent And Professional Perceptions, Leigh Beesley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental, phenomenological study was to explore experiences of using a total communication system with preschoolers diagnosed with autism as explained by their parents and teachers. The research focused on the experience specifically relating to functional communication and social interactions. Determining resources that parents and teachers need that may have made the employment of the strategies more successful, was of importance to this study in order to determine implications, or future needed research. The participants in this study, determined by purposive sampling, included parents, teachers, paraprofessionals, and speech therapist located in an elementary school setting. The study …