Educational Psychology Commons^™

A Sustainable Future For Open Textbooks? The Flat World Knowledge Story, John L. Hilton Iii, David Wiley

Faculty Publications

Many college students and their families are concerned about the high costs of textbooks. E–books have been proposed as one potential solution; open source textbooks have also been explored. A company called Flat World Knowledge produces and gives away open source textbooks in a way they believe to be financially sustainable. This article reports an initial study of the financial sustainability of the Flat World Knowledge open source textbook model.

Anxiety In The Math Classroom, Jean Benner

Mathematics Graduate Theses

Math anxiety is a learned response that inhibits cognitive performance in the math classroom. It is widespread among students from elementary age through college. Students suffering from math anxiety have difficulty performing calculations and maintaining a positive outlook on mathematics. Math anxiety is the result of a cycle of math avoidance that begins with negative experiences regarding mathematics. Facts pertaining to math anxiety are discussed and strategies are suggested to assist teachers in helping students to overcome math anxiety or avoid the phenomenon altogether.

An Investigation Of Interpersonal Disruptions And Secondary Traumatic Stress Among Mental Health Therapists, Rachael Ann Robinson-Keilig

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

Mental health therapists who work with victims of trauma are often exposed to vivid descriptions of traumatic events and strong emotional expressions from their clients. Research within the last fifteen years has started to explore the impact of this indirect form of trauma exposure on therapists who treat trauma clients.

The purpose of this study was to explore the prevalence of interpersonal and sexual disruptions as symptoms of secondary traumatic stress/vicarious trauma among practicing mental health therapists, to understand how various therapist characteristics predict interpersonal and sexual disruptions, and to explore the role that gender and prior trauma history play …

Medical Students' Attitudes Toward The Medical College Admission Test, Cassie J. Connealy

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

The following study analyzed the attitudes held by pre-clinical medical students about the Medical College Admission Test or MCAT. One hundred and eighty first-year and second-year medical students at a public Midwestern medical university participated in this study. Participants completed the “Medical Students Attitudes toward the Medical College Admission Test” survey during their morning lectures near the end of their spring semester. A composite scale score of the Likert items of the survey was computed and the proportion of students with attitudes ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree was calculated. For six of the twelve Likert items the largest …

Predictors Of Treatment Retention Among Homeless Men With Substance Use Disorders, Walter Matthew Drymalski

Dissertations (1934 -)

Homelessness is a significant problem in the United States. Recent estimates suggest that nearly three million people experience homelessness over the course of a year. Further, the rates of substance abuse are considerably higher among the homeless than in the general population. Substance abuse treatment has been found to be effective in reducing substance use among those persons with substance use disorders, as well as ameliorating other consequences of substance abuse (e.g., reducing rates of crime associated with substance abuse and dependence). One of the more robust predictors of positive outcomes for substance abuse treatment is retention, which is defined …

Bullying And Gender: The Social/Emotional, Psychological, And Physical Effects On Middle School Students In South Mississippi, Cassundra Peyton-Brown

Dissertations

Bullying is a great concern in schools today. When bullying occurs, it hinders school success and academic performance. During the late 1980s and 1990s, school violence was prevalent in middle school characterized by events such as the Columbine shooting. This forced both students and school personnel to deal with school shootings, gang activities and other violent acts. According to subsequent investigations, some of these incidents occurred because students were bullied and teased. This supports the maxim that students can only be successful academically in a safe and orderly environment.

The first interest of this study was to assess the effects …

Implications Of Napping Into And Beyond Kindergarten On Sleep, Diet, And The Awakening Cortisol Response, Alyssa Anne Cairns

Dissertations

This study is an examination of sleep distribution, dietary intake, and endocrine function of caregiver-reported Nap and Non-Nap Groups of children before and after they transition to an all-day kindergarten where napping is reduced or eliminated. Measures were assessed the summer prior to kindergarten, within two weeks, and after a month of the transition to kindergarten. The study revealed that the transition to kindergarten was associated with changes in sleep and dietary intake. Endocrine function remained stable as children transitioned to kindergarten. On average, Nap and Non-Nap Groups equally lost total sleep time as they transitioned to kindergarten. However, the …

The Relationship Between Principal Effectiveness And The Use Of Counseling Skills, Valerie Suzanne Hodge Cleckler

Dissertations

In most educational leadership programs, the working relationship of the principal with teachers, parents, and the community is discussed, but the relationship of the principal and counselor is typically not given much, if any, attention. Principals are not trained in the use of counseling skills in educational leadership programs at Mississippi universities (Delta State University, 2008; Jackson State University, 2007; Mississippi State University, 2008; Mississippi University for Women, 2008, 2009; The University Southern Mississippi, 2009; University of Mississippi, 2007). The leadership training provided to school administrators is very important because of the role they play in the success of the …

Stereotype Threat’S Effect On Women’S Achievement In Chemistry: The Interaction Of Achievement Goal Orientation For Women In Science Majors, Janice M. Conway-Klaassen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

"Stereotype threat is being at risk of confirming, as a self-characteristic, a negative stereotype about one's group" (C. M. Steele & Aronson, 1995, p. 797). A stereotype threat effect then is described as the detrimental impact on a person's performance or achievement measurements when they are placed in a stereotype threat environment.

For women, the negative stereotype that exists in our culture states that women are typically not as capable as men in mathematics or science subjects. This study specifically explored the potential impact of stereotype threat on women who have chosen a science-based college major. They were tested in …

Academic Dishonesty In Online Education, Wren Allen Mills

Dissertations

This dissertation examined cheating attitudes and behaviors of undergraduates, especially those enrolled in online courses. While cheating is an established problem within the academy, it is also an issue on the job and has been in the spotlight in recent years, with ethics scandals in corporate America and plagiarism in the media. With this in mind, and the foundational philosophy of the Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education (Bureau of Education, 1928) and the American Council on Education’s (1937) Student Personnel Point of View, this study sought insight into students’ attitudes about cheating behaviors and practices of them in online courses …

Student Leader Lmx Relationships As Moderated By Constructive-Developmental Theory, Shelly Mumma

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study examined how the quality of Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) relationships was moderated by the Constructive-Developmental stage or Order of Consciousness of both leader and follower. Using student organization presidents and officers on a small, private, liberal arts college campus in the Midwest, the researcher used a sample of 37 students to study the impact developmental stage had on the leadership relationship. Using the Leader Member Exchange-Multi-Dimensional Measure (LMX-MDM), four dimensions of LMX were examined. The four dimensions were Affect, Contribution, Loyalty and Professional Respect. There was no significant relationship between Order of Consciousness and quality of LMX relationship. While …

Investigating The Reliability And Construct Validity Of A Measure Of Preservice Teachers' Self-Efficacy For Tpack, Nicolette Michelle Smith

Theses and Dissertations

The TPACK framework is becoming increasingly pervasive in teacher education. Researchers and practitioners have been seeking reliable and valid ways to measure the constructs associated with the TPACK framework. This study describes the results of both an item review and the reliability and construct validity investigation of the scores from an instrument measuring self-efficacy for the constructs in the TPACK framework. Content-matter experts and the literature were used in order to perform the item review, while both an exploratory and a confirmatory factor analysis were performed in order to assess construct validity. Cronbach's alpha and Raykov's rho were used to …

Estimating The Reliability Of Concept Map Ratings Using A Scoring Rubric Based On Three Attributes, Laura Jimenez

Theses and Dissertations

Concept maps provide a way to assess how well students have developed an organized understanding of how the concepts taught in a unit are interrelated and fit together. However, concept maps are challenging to score because of the idiosyncratic ways in which students organize their knowledge (McClure, Sonak, & Suen, 1999). The construct a map or C-mapping" task has been shown to capture students' organized understanding. This "C-mapping" task involves giving students a list of concepts and asking them to produce a map showing how these concepts are interrelated. The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to determine to …

Byu Vocal Performance Database, Jana Lynn Chapman

Theses and Dissertations

The vocal performance database is a tool by which BYU vocal performance faculty and students may practice, assess, and review vocal performances, including practice juries, recitals, and end-of-semester juries. This document describes the process and results of designing, developing, implementing, and evaluating the vocal performance database. By using this tool, vocal performance professors are able to give faster, more quality feedback to students following the jury. Students are able to receive legible feedback from their professors in a timely manner.

A Simulation-Based Approach To Educational Psychology, Julie Ann Burningham

Theses and Dissertations

This paper summarizes a design project entitled "Choose Your Own Teaching Adventure" completed for the Instructional Psychology and Technology Department at Brigham Young University. The purpose of the design project was to prototype a learning tool that instructs beginning pre-service teachers in the classroom application of the principles of behaviorism. Originally, the project was designed to be a static learning object that would be combined with other similar learning modules for additional topics of an Educational Psychology course. At the conclusion of the first prototyping round, however, the project was generalized to become a testing ground for a simulation builder …

The Influence Of Video Analysis On Teaching, Tonya R. Tripp

Theses and Dissertations

As video has become more accessible, there has been an increase in the use of video for teacher reflection. Although past studies have investigated the use of video for teacher reflection, there is not a review of practices and processes for effective use of video analysis. The first article in this dissertation reviews 52 studies where teachers used video to reflect on their teaching. Most studies included in the review reported that video was a beneficial feedback method for teachers. However, few studies discussed how video encourages teachers to change their practices. The second article in this dissertations investigates the …

Improving Irt Parameter Estimates With Small Sample Sizes: Evaluating The Efficacy Of A New Data Augmentation Technique, Brett P. Foley

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

The 3PL model is a flexible and widely used tool in assessment. However, it suffers from limitations due to its need for large sample sizes. This study introduces and evaluates the efficacy of a new sample size augmentation technique called Duplicate, Erase, and Replace (DupER) Augmentation through a simulation study. Data are augmented using several variations of DupER Augmentation (based on different imputation methodologies, deletion rates, and duplication rates), analyzed in BILOG-MG 3, and results are compared to those obtained from analyzing the raw data. Additional manipulated variables include test length and sample size. Estimates are compared using seven different …

Openness As Catalyst For An Educational Reformation, David Wiley

Faculty Publications

The word open is receiving a lot of attention in education circles. Openness in higher education has been discussed recently by writers in the Chronicle of Higher Education, the New York Times, EDUCAUSE Review, and EQ, among other publications. In January 2010, The Horizon Report, produced by the New Media Consortium (NMC) and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI), declared that open content will “reach mainstream use” in higher education within the next twelve months. But what does that mean? What is this open we keep hearing about?

Cooperation &Collaboration: Interactive Ways Of Learning, Tatiana Garasyuta

Sandanona

The presenter will investigate the efficacy of cooperation to facilitate learning in the EFL classroom. She will share the findings of the Russian educators working in this field. The presentation will highlight several interactive activities, which can be used to capitalize on cooperative learning.

From Active Learning To Activity: Getting Beyond Busy Work And Into Deep Learning, Wendy Holliday

Library Faculty & Staff Presentations

This session will report on an ethnographic study of an English composition class. The researcher observed the class for an entire semester and conducted focus groups and interviews with students and the instructor. The session will describe key activities from the class, including reflections on motivation and learning by both instructors and students. It will conclude with a discussion of how the research findings can help librarians design instruction that engages learners more deeply.