Education Commons^™

The Lived Experience Of Counseling Students In Natural Disaster, Amy M. Sirocky-Meck

Dissertations, 2020-current

After natural disaster, survivors may experience moderate to severe signs and symptoms of emotional distress which may subside or worsen as time passes (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2022). Adults pursuing higher education when natural disaster strikes experience an additional array of unique issues which may exacerbate symptoms of emotional distress (Wilkinson et al.,2013). To create and improve curricular and co-curricular structures that meet the needs of their students, educators in many health and mental health disciplines can draw from a variety of quantitative and qualitative studies, particularly those focused on how their disciplines’ students navigate the experience …

Analyzing Motivation And Sense Of Belonging Belonging In Cs1 Review Sessions, Cory Longenecker

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

The Computer Science Department at James Madison University has a Teaching Assistant program which aims to help students succeed in early-level Computer Science courses. Part of this program is a review session, the Fourth Hour, which provides students extra help on the concepts taught each week in class. Historically, attendance at this review session has been low. Because of this, the study aimed to increase attendance by motivating students through interventions, primarily offering quiz retakes to students who attended. Additionally, this study looked at the reported sense of belonging for participants who attended.

We made three conclusions from survey data …

A Survey Of School Psychologists To Promote Support For Developing Self-Advocacy Skills In Students With Disabilities, Kiarra K. Steer

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

Self-advocacy is a critical skill for effective communication and for individual assertion of interests, needs, and rights (Hengen & Weaver, 2018). It is especially important for people with disabilities to be able to self-advocate, which includes understanding their own abilities and rights and being able to voice when they need assistance or when their rights are being violated (Hengen & Weaver, 2018).

Even though self-advocacy has been determined to be a necessary skill for students with disabilities to develop, research indicates that self-advocacy instruction is often not provided to students with disabilities. Furthermore, while researchers have shown that teaching students …

Getting Caught-Up In The Process: Does It Really Matter?, Nikole Gregg

Dissertations, 2020-current

Likert items are the most commonly used item-type for measuring attitudes and beliefs. However, responses from Likert items are often plagued with construct-irrelevant variance due to response style behavior. In other words, variability from Likert-item scores can be parsed into: 1) variance pertinent to the construct or trait of interest, and 2) variance irrelevant to the construct or trait of interest. Multidimensional Item Response Theory (MIRT) is an increasingly common modeling approach to parse out information regarding the response style traits and the trait of interest. These MIRT approaches are categorized into threshold-based approaches and response process approaches. An increasingly …

Assessing Perceptions Of Group Work Using Team-Based Learning, Lauren Ferry, Phillip J. Wong, Kathryn Hogan

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

Group work is frequently incorporated into courses; however, student perceptions of their experiences and the benefits of group work might differ based on the structure of course. In this study, we examined student perceptions of group work in a team-based learning (TBL) course. Undergraduate students completed pre- and post-surveys on their team work experiences over a semester. Students had lower agreement with the statement “working in groups usually ends up with one person doing all of the work” and higher agreement with “working in a group makes me feel as though I am part of a learning community” at post-test. …

Lgbtq+ Survey For School Psychologists And School Counselors, Stacey Davidson

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

School counselors and school psychologists were surveyed regarding their perceptions and experiences working with school aged students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ+) their sexual orientation or gender. Findings indicated that many of those surveyed believe that professional development and experience with the LGBTQ+ population will benefit them the most in ensuring that they can provide for the student’s needs. Perceptions of school support for the LGBTQ+ community were reported as relatively positive. A list of resources are included in the recommendations section.

Threshold Concepts And Transfer: A Curriculum Mapping Tool For First-Year Writing, Kerry Smith

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Writing scholars Adler-Kassner and Wardle, Beaufort, and Devet have placed pragmatic learning goals of transfer at the core of education’s purpose. This thesis shares the assumption of pragmatic learning goals for education and examines these goals for transfer through Meyer and Land’s theory of threshold concepts in the context of first-year composition courses. Covering Meyer and Land’s foundational work on threshold concepts and Thorndike and Woodworth’s groundbreaking research that later informed Perkins and Salomon’s work in transfer, this thesis aims to contextualize this literature within and operationalize it for first-year writing programs’ curriculum course design through the creation and testing …

Navigating "Technoference" In The Family System, Kathlynn Sergent

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

This integrative literature review explores the increase of technology use in families, with a focus on how technology is disrupting in-person social interactions within the family system. Many studies have been conducted on how technology impacts a couple’s romantic relationship, and only a few have examined the relationship between the parent and child. This review is one of the first to examine how technology may affect the entire family unit from before children to raising adolescents. Each section of the family unit is examined, beginning with before children, followed by the early bonding and attachment associated with infant/childhood, and then …

Test Emotions, Value, And Self-Efficacy: A Longitudinal Model Predicting Examinee Effort And Performance On A Low-Stakes Test, Paulius Satkus

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

The validity of scores from low-stakes tests may be compromised by examinee motivation. Expectancy-Value theory (EV) has been used to frame the antecedents of examinee motivation in low-stakes testing contexts. According to EV theory, the perceived value of the test and the expectancy to succeed on the test directly affect examinee effort, which then affects test performance. Cross-sectional research studies in low-stakes testing contexts offer some support of EV theory. Control-Value theory (CV) serves as another theory to understand motivation toward a task. CV theory encompasses the constructs of expectancy and value from EV theory, but incorporates test emotions as …

Development Of A School Boredom Proneness Scale For Children, Taylor Carrington

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

One common phrase heard from students is, “I’m bored.” However, there is no real understanding of what this actually means. In this study, elementary-age students were asked to respond to a newly developed School Boredom Proneness Scale (SBPS) including questions relating to a five-factor model of boredom. Students were also asked to rate how often they become bored at school and how bored they seem compared to classmates. In addition to student responses, parents and teachers were asked to rate how bored they thought the student was, and teachers were additionally asked to rate students’ level of work completion. The …

An Initial Development Of A Hardiness Scale For Elementary School Students, Stephen Ferrara

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

There are limited studies that have investigated levels of hardiness in children. There is even less information on finding hardiness scales that have been normed on children in elementary school. The purpose of this study was to test the validity and reliability of the Hardiness Scale for Children (HSC), which assesses the three subscales of hardiness: Challenge, Control, and Commitment. 121 elementary school students (2^nd-5^th grade) were selected to complete the HSC. Their parents were also asked to complete a three-item scale to measure their child’s hardiness. The results indicated that older children tended to give themselves …

Building Teachers’ Emotional Competence: A Transactional Training Model, Caroline Fulton

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Classrooms are complex entities, where the emotions of students and teachers interact to influence learning, relationships, and students’ social emotional development. Teachers’ understanding of emotional processes within the classroom is critical to effective teaching, promotion of healthy child development, and attaining desired learning outcomes. Further, emotions have powerful consequences for teachers themselves. They affect teachers’ well-being, self-efficacy, and ultimately whether teachers remain in the profession or not. Therefore, teachers need skills to recognize and respond to emotional experiences in the classroom. In the present research project a set of emotional competences relevant to educational practices were developed. These competencies include …

Effects Of Mental Health Campaigns, Susan Schott

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This project examines the effects of a mental health campaign on college students. This is important to research because universities and colleges alike need to understand the effects that campaigns about mental health on campus can have on students. I researched this by conducting an online experimental study on a sample of 511 students at a university in the Mid-Atlantic region. Qualtrics randomly assigned the participants into two groups, where one group viewed an experimental campaign and the other a control ad. The participants were measured using a post- test questionnaire which tested their self-perceptions of anxiety and level of …

Diverse Students’ Perceptions Of The Proactive Circle Process In A Restorative Practice Intervention, Shana M. Little

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Restorative practices have been introduced as a school wide intervention to reduce the cultural disparity in school discipline. The purpose of this intervention is to promote healthy student-teacher relationships. The research on restorative practices as an intervention for minority students has shown to be effective, through school discipline data and teacher report. The current study used individual interviews with high school students to explore their perception of restorative practices, specifically proactive circles, and its effectiveness. Results showed cultural differences in student’s understanding or perception of proactive circles. Additionally, participants believed proactive circles helped or improved their communication skills and social …

The Application Of The Specific Learning Disability Exclusionary Clause As Practiced By Virginia School Psychologists, Kaitlynn Carter

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

When special education eligibility is being determined under Specific Learning Disability, the exclusionary clause needs to be carefully considered. The current study was concerned with the exclusions of cultural factors, environmental or economic disadvantage, and limited English proficiency. The study used a semi-structured interview to explore when and how the exclusionary clause is considered by school psychologists in Virginia and what type of impact it has on eligibility decisions. Ten school psychologists were contacted via the email database of the Virginia Department of Education and completed a phone interview. Grounded theory was used to investigate the themes and ideas regarding …

Understanding Truancy As A Precursor To Dropout In A Rural Environment, Katelyn Hughes

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Truancy is the most predictive factor of dropout when controlling for low expectations and poor grades (Whelage & Rutter, 1986). Previous studies have found that students who participate in truancy have fewer positive relationships in the school, with both peers and teachers, (Lund, 2014), have less guardian involvement (Lund, 2014; Studsrod & Bru, 2011), and have less of ability regulating their emotions (Kim & Page, 2012). It has also been identified that the transition from middle school to high school is a tipping point for truancy and dropout behavior (Mizelle & Irvin, 2000). Very few studies have specifically focused on …

Developing Conversation Skills For Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Kimberley Muldoon

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

The purpose of this study is to explore and expand the literature on strategies to use to develop conversational skills for individuals with ASD. Children with ASD have difficulties creating and maintaining conversations and to participate in the community and its members, conversational skills are necessary to succeed. This study attempts to answer whether video modeling is an effective strategy alone for teaching social conversation skills; if video modeling is effective for increasing the length of conversation units; if external reinforcers are necessary to maintain social conversation skills; and if participants are able to generalize responses to novel topics during …

A New Paradigm For Improvement: Student-Faculty Partnership In Learning Outcomes Assessment, Nicholas A. Curtis

Dissertations, 2014-2019

In the United States, higher education institutions assess the impact of program-level educational experiences through the process of program-level student learning outcomes assessment. The final step of the assessment cycle is to use assessment interpretations to make changes to educational programming. Nevertheless, few programs can demonstrate the use of assessment results in this way. Perhaps assessment work is missing a key perspective: that of the students it assesses. Cook-Sather, Bovill, and Felton (2014) define student-faculty partnership as “a collaborative, reciprocal process through which all participants have the opportunity to contribute equally, although not necessarily in the same ways, to curricular …

Critical Thinking Skills Across The Semester In Lecture- And Team-Based Learning Classes, Zachary Buchin

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

Team-based learning (TBL) classes utilize techniques believed to foster increases in critical and higher-order thinking skills when compared to lecture classes. This study compares increases in critical and higher-order thinking skills in a TBL class and a lecture class covering identical subject matter and taught by the same professor during a single semester. Raw score changes on the the Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment S2 (HCTA S2) were used to measure critical thinking skill changes and Bloom’s Taxonomy was used to differentiate higher-order questions on the final exam. No significant difference was found between the two classes when comparing raw score …

Girls Are Us: A Collection Of Oral Histories From The Jmu Community, Anne M. Sherman

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

On a campus where women make up a majority of the student population, it is especially important that female voices are heard and given a platform on which they can control their own narrative. I wanted to give those female-identifying voices that platform. I conducted a series of interviews to examine how college-aged female-identifying students feel about their identity and how they construct that identity within the climate of the JMU community. I was particularly interested in the intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexual preference, and ability. I asked each person to share their stories of times when they …

You Only Live Up To The Standards You Set: An Evaluation Of Different Approaches To Standard Setting, Scott N. Strickman

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Interpretation of performance in reference to a standard can provide nuanced, finely-tuned information regarding examinee abilities beyond that of just a total score. However, there is a multitude of ways to set performance standards yet little guidance regarding which method operates best and under what circumstances. Traditional methods are the most common approach adopted in practice and heavily involve subject matter experts (SMEs). Two other approaches have been suggested in the literature as alternative ways to set performance standards, although they have yet to be implemented in practice. Data-driven approaches do not involve SMEs but rather rely solely upon statistical …

The Effect Of A Font Intervention For 4th And 5th Graders With Dyslexia, Steven L. Powell

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Dyslexie is a font developed by Christian Boer specifically to enhance reading fluency in students with dyslexia. The present study examined its potential impact on the performance of 36 4^th and 5^th grade students with SLD on story reading. We found that Dyslexie, when compared to other common fonts that have been adjusted to control for Dyslexie’s large size and spacing, appears to have no effect on readers’ ability to read text correctly, comprehend text, or read faster.

The Effect Of Educational Modules On Attitudes Towards Disabilities, Hunter W. Greer

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

The researchers in this study were interested in the effect of educational modules on student’s ratings of appropriateness and fairness of 10 different accommodations offered at the college level. Researchers were also interested in investigating if these modules would affect individual’s scores on the Social Distance Scale to evaluate levels of stigma towards mental health. Researchers surveyed 150 college students at a large South Eastern University and found that individuals rated accommodations as higher than neutral in fairness and appropriateness overall, but did not find a difference in students who read the modules and students who did not. Researchers also …

The Effect Of Font Type On Sight Word Reading Performance Of 4th And 5th Grade Students With Reading Disabilities, Denton S. Warburton

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Reading interventions are a crucial component to combat barriers associated with reading difficulties. Within the education realm, nearly 50% of students who receive special education supports have a Specific Learning Disability (Gargiulo, 2006). As a result, the development and implementation of effective and targeted interventions is critical. Christian Boer developed a font called Dyslexie to help remediate reading difficulties of individuals with Dyslexia (Boer, 2011). However, studies by de Leeuw (2010) and Pjipker (2013) provide inconsistent supportive evidence, regarding the effectiveness of Dyslexie. The current study sought to examine the effectiveness of Dyslexie as compared to Arial on sight word …

The Achievement Gap And Students Living In Poverty: The Role Of Core Self-Evaluation And Transformational Leadership In Teachers, India Harris

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Research has shown that the combination of locus of control, self-efficacy, self-confidence, and emotional stability is a good predictor of life success. Until now, this second order factor, called core self-evaluations (CSE) has only been studied in adults. Findings from this study, showed levels of CSE were significantly and positively connected with academic achievement for middle and elementary aged students. CSE appears to play to a similar role between students and academic achievement as it plays with adults and job performance. In this study, the dimensions of transformational leadership were applied to teacher behaviors and students were grouped based on …

The Experience Of Reading: What Elementary Children Think Of Reading, Francesca Simpson

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

As students with disabilities prepare to move from high school to vocations or post-secondary schooling it is essential they be able to self-advocate for their needed services. During their public school years, school psychologists, counselors, and other school administrative personnel are responsible for ensuring they are provided with an “appropriate,” barrier-free education under federal law. But upon graduation from high school, that responsibility shifts entirely onto the individual. In order to self-advocate successfully a student with a disability must know about their cognitive strengths and weaknesses. In regards to learning the student must be able to describe them to others …

Analysis Of African American And White American Cognitive Profiles For Language And Cultural Influences, Nicole Jones

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Abstract

One of the most concerning aspects of special education is the overrepresentation of African American minority youth receiving special education services. Samuel Ortiz and colleagues considered the issue of the representation of the Latino, English Language Learner (ELL) population in special education services based on cognitive performance in relation to the mainstream population. To target this concern they determined an estimated level of expected cognitive performance of ELL’s and impact of language and cultural differences to help eligibility teams more appropriately interpret and place students with the aid of the Culture-Language Interpretive Matrix (C-LIM) model they developed. The current …

Case Study: Provider For Program To Prevent The Revictimization Of Persons Trafficked For Sex, Janis G. Arlow

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

This case study seeks to identify behavior, skills, and attitudes of a professional providing an effective reintegration program for persons trafficked for sex. New demands on medical and social services were created over the past two decades by legislative changes. Initial research focuses on rescue and unmet primary needs. The service program selected for this study has stepped beyond awareness and rescue efforts to the rehabilitation and prevention of revictimization of trafficked persons. A literature review covers the history of sex trafficking in the United States; the recovery environment; materials, trainings and programs available for professionals seeking knowledge to serve …

Exploring The Effects Of Positive Behavioral Supports On Disciplinary Practices In Schools And It's Potential To Mitigate Disproportionality In Disciplinary Outcomes For African American Students, E'Lexus Emily King

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Disproportionality in special education and school discipline in the U.S. Education system has been a crucial and complex issue. Research has shown that evidence-based interventions that lie within the positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) framework has been effective in improving educational outcomes for all students. In this study, the author investigated the impact of the School-Wide Benchmarks of Quality, a PBIS fidelity measure, on student disciplinary outcomes. 380 schools presented four years of disciplinary outcome data. Results showed that the PBIS fidelity measure had a modest effect on the overall student disciplinary outcomes but did not address the disproportionate …

The Evaluation Of Family-School Collaboration With Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Families, Samantha Silver

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Research has demonstrated that when parents are involved in their children’s academic and school life, children experience improved language achievement, overall behavior, grades, test scores, have improved attendance, and a lower chance of dropping out of school (Friend and Cook, 2007). Despite the growing diversity of U.S. schools, there is a still a systemic lack of effort to include parents of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. This research study sought to examine barriers to establishing a successful collaborative relationship with these families from the perspective of elementary, middle, and high school teachers using an online survey. A total of 39 …