Educational Psychology Commons^™

The Effects Of Executive Function Between Anxiety And Math Achievement In Adolescents, Mckenzie Hall

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Anxiety in Children can develop into pervasive disorders in adulthood if not treated. Research shows dysfunctional Executive Function (EF) and anxiety are both shown to have a negative impact on math achievement in children and adolescents (Trezise & Reeve, 2018; Kalaycioglu, 2015; Owens, Stevenson, Hadwin & Norgate, 2012). Chung, Weyandt, and Swentosky (2014) found biological and neuropsychological support for EF as a unitary and multifaceted processor for regulating our emotional states as well as our daily procedures. Anderson’s (2002) model of Executive Control System (ECS) allows the factors of EF to be examined using a developmental approach towards EF processes. …

Student-Athletes’ Career Adaptability, Academic Motivation And Athletic Motivation, Alexandria N. Petrolia

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Many Division I student-athletes find the transition of graduating college, leaving the athletic arena, and entering the workforce to be extremely challenging to navigate. Due to the high demands of being an elite athlete and the prospect of continuing to compete professionally after graduation, an overwhelming majority of student-athletes expend little to no effort in exploring potential careers and are unlikely to take advantage of the opportunities available to them prior to graduation. This study aimed to examine the relationship between athletic career motivation, athletic motivation, and academic motivation to the skills necessary to navigate work responsibilities in career adaptability. …

An Integrative Variable And Person-Centered Approach To Representing Teachers' Self-Efficacy: A Cross-Cultural Perspective, Ana Paula Santos Loures Elias

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

There has been substantial scholarly attention given to teachers’ functioning over the past two decades. Much of this attention has been precipitated by accounts of increasing teacher burnout and attrition from the profession. Central to this scholarly focus has been the construct of teacher self-efficacy, which has been shown to be a predictor of important teacher outcomes. However, there remain several unresolved issues in the teacher self-efficacy literature that limit the utility of the construct for understanding teachers’ effective functioning. First, there is little clarity about the dimensional structure of teachers’ self-efficacy data. Second, little empirical work has been conducted …

The Experience Of Self-Coherence: Self-Coherence As The Hub Of All Needs, April Ursula Fox

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Self-coherence as the hub of all needs is a novel proposition made by Carol Dweck (2017), and not yet further explored. While supporting self-coherence with a comprehensive review of its presence within behavioral sciences, Dweck does not dive deeper into it, and offers an invitation for further research of its workings. In this study I respond to that invitation. I design a continuation to her theory. I also expand her theory to include what I have found to be missing, but essential, additional components that cannot be ignored within the context of self-coherence as a master sensor of needs. Finally, …

Autism Spectrum Disorder And Remote Learning: Parents’ Perspectives On Their Child’S Learning At Home, Stephanie Hernandez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The global COVID-19 pandemic led to the universal restricted access of school grounds and caused students to transition to a remote learning environment. Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are eligible for special educational services and are normally provided additional support during school. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, delivery of multiple support resources became limited, and parents needed to consider how their child’s education and support would be incorporated in their new educational environment.

During the pandemic, parents had the opportunity to provide various instructional assistance and support at home. Scaffolding, a type of guidance used when a child is …

Influence Of Curricular Organization On Cognitive Load And Student Performance In Online Learning Environments, Michael Wilder

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of curricular organization on student cognitive load and student performance in online learning environments. The findings of this study contribute to the development of usable instruction design principles for online education.

This research study used the lens of cognitive load theory to examine how online course organization affects student learning. A review of the literature included the elements of cognitive architecture that have been measured in prior studies, various methods in which cognitive load has been measured, and the basic requirements for measurement of cognitive load in instructional research.

A …

Thinking About Thinking: Children’S Awareness And Development Of Metacognitive Emotion Regulation, Reilly Rowland

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Metacognitive emotion regulation is a complex system of our underlying thinking that contributes to the emotions that we endure. By gaining an understanding of this concept, young children can learn various strategies, e.g. cognitive reappraisal, problem solving, and delayed gratification, to help alter their thoughts and/or goals to alleviate negative emotion. Thus, they are able to increase their confidence in their own metacognitive emotion regulation abilities and awareness. This study explored the awareness of young children and their metacognitive emotion regulation abilities, the strategies that young children take part in to try and control negative emotion, and the learning strategies …

Resilience And The Mental Health Of Bullying Victims: The Role Of Peer Relationships On The Relation Between Bullying Victimization And Social Anxiety, Michelle Catherine Zochowski

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Bullying is a pervasive issue in today’s schools that has a significant impact on the mental health of students. Resilience has a positive impact on the outcomes related to facing adversity including bullying. The following dissertation study asks whether the relation between bullying victimization and social anxiety differs as a function of resilience and gender. It was hypothesized that bullying victims with increased resilience would show lower levels of social anxiety, as would students that report their gender as female. Chapter one discusses the significance of the problem, defines relevant constructs, and introduces the problem statement. Chapter two outlines the …

A Chc Theoretical Approach To Examining Cognitive And Academic Deficits Among Students With Adhd Using A Three-Battery Approach, Jacqueline Scott Hart

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Current research into ADHD and Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) factor scores has been examined (Rowland, 2013; Sjöwall, Roth, Lindqvist, & Thorell, 2013), but few studies have evaluated the discrepancies in CHC factor scores of students diagnosed with ADHD compared to healthy controls using the updated Woodcock-Johnson ® IV (WJ IV™) three-battery configuration. With little research on the WJ-IV three-battery configuration, this study expands on the limited research into the discrepancies among students with ADHD compared to healthy controls using CHC factor scores.

Subjects for this study were obtained from 12 schools in a large urban district in northwestern Arizona and standardization data …

Coping On The Fly: School Psychologists' Perceptions Of Cultural Competence, Jennifer Wynn

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The goal of this qualitative ethnographic study is to explore how school psychologists demonstrate multicultural competence (MC) when testing students for K-12 special education. As the population of the United States (US) becomes increasingly diverse, mental health professionals are encouraged to become culturally competent. Cultural competence is the ability to work with culturally and linguistically diverse populations; and being aware of stereotypes, biases and microaggressions. Cultural competence is taught within some psychology preparation programs; however, courses are often limited. Although cross-cultural competencies have been explored in clinical and counseling psychology, they have yet to be explored in the field of …

Motivational Predictors Of Academic Risk-Taking, Danette Dee Barber

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Students benefit when they are willing to engage in optimal challenges (Clifford, 1991). Engagement in challenges, however, comes with academic risks, as failure may be a result. This study investigated motivational factors, including expectancy, subjective task value, mastery goal orientation, and performance avoidance goal orientation as predictors of achievement-related outcomes, including course grade and academic risk-taking. Data were collected from 317 university students enrolled in education classes. Students were given a reading passage and asked to choose questions to answer based on the passage. Students who chose harder questions were categorized as taking more risk. Students also answered questions about …

The Teacher Attrition Phenomenon: The Role Of Teacher Collaboration And Motivation, Brenda Anne Pearson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

High quality data that clearly illustrates the dynamic and socially embedded nature of teachers’ roles is critical to the development and implementation of educational policy addressing teacher attrition issues. Study participants are comprised of 161 full-time teachers serving in three elementary schools in a large, urban school district in the southwestern United States. The purpose of the current study is to explore the extent to which the formation of teacher collaboration networks interacts with individual perceptions of motivation. Additionally, collaboration networks are examined across time, specifically at two time points across an academic semester.

This study embeds teachers’ individual behaviors …

Generality And Specificity In Subjective Task Value: Implications For Expectancy-Value Theory, Rachel Part

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation is composed of three studies designed to explore the dimensionality of subjective task value and relations among subjective task value dimensions with theoretically-posited outcomes. In particular, these studies aim to clarify issues regarding the dimensionality of subjective task value as a way forward to investigate the short-term longitudinal effects among general and specific subjective task value components with achievement-related outcomes, including both academic performance and students’ engagement choices.

Expectancy-value researchers have described the components of subjective task value in multiple ways, leading to multiple competing structural representations of subjective task value data. The purpose of the first study …

Interwoven Worlds? A Mixed Methods Study Of Student Engagement And Student Belonging Within The University Classroom When Courses Use Social Networking Sites, Christie Gardner

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The recent decade of technological advancements has shaped an increasingly digital experience in the everyday lives of people around the globe. One popular digital landscape for people is social networking sites (SNSs). Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram in particular, have a large following of users from the adolescent and college-age demographic (Pew Research Center, 2019). In response, educators are integrating SNSs into classrooms to increase student engagement (Carpenter & Krutka, 2014). This raises concerns from all involved stakeholders as the social and psychological impacts of SNSs are still largely debated (Verduyn et al., 2017). This study confronts research lacunae across …

Consequences Of Math Anxiety And Stereotype Threat: An Intersectional Perspective, Jennifer E. John Buck

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Individuals with science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills are highly valued for their contribution to the U.S. workforce and society. However, women and some people of color enter STEM fields at lesser rates than do White men. Math anxiety and stereotype threat have been found to cause math performance decrements for women and some people of color. Presently, it is not clear how math anxiety and stereotype threat might work together to dually influence math performance and subsequent STEM participation. The current study focuses on a diverse sample of 295 undergraduate students who were randomly assigned to one of …

Improving Community College Students' Interest, Utility-Value, And Performance: How Does Future Time Persective Influence A Utility-Value Intervention?, Elsa Maria Mason

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The economic benefits of academic success and completion are long-lasting. Students who attend community colleges can stand to benefit a great deal by completing a 4-year degree or even a 2-year degree. Unfortunately, these students often begin their higher education journey not fully prepared for college-level coursework. Students often fail to see how their college coursework relates to their lives and in turn, don’t hold interest or perceive value for the course and consequently do not perform well. Using Eccles et al. (1983) expectancy-value theory this study tested how community college students would respond to a utility-value intervention in which …

The Effects Of Background, Classroom Assessment Competence, Self-Efficacy, And Self-Perceived Assessment Skills On Classroom Assessment Practices Of Teachers In India, Manognya Murukutla

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Teacher-conducted assessments are necessary to gather important information to facilitate student learning and academic success. Unfortunately, there is an inconsistency in teacher knowledge of assessment and assessment practices. While previous research identified a gap in teacher competence and teacher perceptions of their competence, and this affects classroom assessment practices that then impact student learning, the research is limited, outdated, and not grounded in any theoretical framework. This study addresses gaps in literature and establishes self-efficacy as a theoretical framework in which classroom assessment can be studied. Data were collected in India, and a path analysis and a Kruskal Wallis non-parametric …

Effects Of Creativity Instruction In Science On Creative Thinking And Science Achievement In Chinese Students, Yun Peng

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study investigated the effectiveness of the 3eT instructional model designed by Hong (Hong, 2012a; Hong, O'Neil, Drobick, & Beisel, 2013) that focused on increasing students' creative-thinking ability. 120 seventh-graders in China participated in the study. Participants were randomly assigned to the experimental or the control group. They learned a segment of a science curriculum unit with instructional materials developed based on the 3eT model which aimed to encourage students to use creative thinking techniques.

Patterns of students' perceptions of a creative person were compared between the experimental group and the control group. Content analyses of students' narrative responses elicited …

Animal Assisted Therapy And Support Animals, What Mental Health Professionals Know And Understand, Alexandro H. Velez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Animal-assisted therapy can greatly benefit mental health professionals with clients in and out of the school settings in many ways. It is believed mental health professionals are successfully implementing Animal Assisted Therapy, even though some are not. Mental health professionals who are not using Animal Assisted Therapy are not doing so as the result of various variables, such as lack of information, knowledge, training, certification and policies, which prevents them from using Animals Assisted Therapy with clients and the community. It is also believed some mental health professionals are using animals as part of therapeutic interventions without proper training. The …

Exploring The Utility Of Mindfulness In The Elementary School Classroom, Sarah M. Wells

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Current evidence supporting the efficacy of mindfulness training in the K-12 setting is quite limited. In addition there is a lack of theory that is committed explicitly to explaining how a direct mindfulness-achievement effect might appear. This study builds a promising foundation for helping address this gap in the existing literature. Framed within the context of a limited source model of self-regulation, academic achievement and perceptions of third, fourth, and, fifth graders participating in a 3-week mindfulness training program were examined across variables of executive control, and emotional regulation. Mindfulness training produced observed emotional and cognitive benefits, including increased executive …

Motivation And Online Information Literacy Instruction: A Self-Determination Theory Approach, Francesca Marineo

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Information literacy skills, including critical thinking and problem-solving skills, are imperative for academic, personal, and professional success. Unfortunately, many students graduate only to be more daunted than ever by the vast amount of information available to them and increasingly rely on convenience over quality in their information-seeking behaviors. This study hoped to address this by increasing students’ motivation for engaging in an online information literacy module. Using self-determination theory (SDT) from the field of motivation, motivationally-supportive modules were designed to support students’ feelings of autonomy and competence and ultimately grades on their final research assignment. Experimental conditions included providing relevance, …

The Experience Of Students With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder During The Transition To Middle School, Hannah M. Berry

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The transition to the middle school setting from elementary school has been the subject of research for decades as data shows a decline in academic success, socio-emotional health and motivation for students. There is a lack of research based transitional programs to support the needs of students at this time, specifically those with special needs. Though the name and specific criteria for students with ADHD has shifted, the impact this neurological disability has on students and learning is comprehensive. Symptoms of this disorder reach and affect each part of the student and their school experience, as well as those around …

Motivation And Gesture In Foreign And Second Language Development: A Sociocultural Study Of Chinese Learners Of English, Lixian Tian

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation study investigated motivation as related to goal-directed activity and gesture awareness as well as their interplay in second and foreign language development in different English as a foreign language (EFL) and English as a second language (ESL) contexts. This study included four groups of Chinese learners of English. The first EFL group consisted of college students in China learning English without intention of studying abroad (G1) and the second EFL group in China included Chinese learners of English who were learning English to prepare to study abroad (G2). Participants in the first ESL group were living and studying …

A Qualitative Study Of School Psychologists' Perception And Interpretation Of Their Professional Identity, Elizabeth A. Sanders

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The primary focus or aim of this qualitative multiple-case study was to increase understanding of how experienced school psychologists define themselves as professionals within the field, taking into consideration the profession’s collective or organizational identity, the parameters established by the organization, and the actual performance of the job within the educational setting. Specifically, this study examined how the individuals’ definitions had changed over time and what lived experiences led to development and change in professional identity. Six school psychologists with 10 or more years of experience from a large urban Southwestern school district’s school psychology department were invited to participate. …

Personality Patterns Of Students Who Make A Threat Of Targeted School Violence, Tawnya Michelle Ayim

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Although school shootings date back to the 1760’s (Dixon, 2005), recent attacks at schools in our country have raised awareness of school violence. This study investigates how students from one large school district responded to the personality pattern items on the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory, Second Edition after having made a threat to harm another student or staff member. Personality patterns were investigated in the overall sample, as well as within groups designated to be at a Low/Moderate risk level and High/Imminent risk level following a threat assessment. The minimal Differences between the sample for the current study and the …

Exploring Relations Between Motivation, Metacognition, And Academic Achievement Through Variable-Centered, Person-Centered And Learning Analytic Methodologies, Wonjoon Hong

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The three studies that comprise this dissertation examine relations between student characteristics, motivations, metacognitive learning processes, and academic achievement. Methodologically, the dissertation demonstrated the potential of multiple types of approaches

and data resource types. By employing multiple approaches including variable-centered, person-centered, and learning analytics, researchers can understand learning processes from various angles. In addition, through this triangulation by multiple types of methodological approaches, educational theories could be more thoroughly verified and supported by various empirical findings. Multiple types of data resources are related to analytical methods.

The purpose of the first paper was to examine relations between achievement goals and …

The Roles Of Biophilic Attitudes And Auditory Stimuli Within Attention Restoration Theory, Jason B. Boggs

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Attention Restoration Theory indicates that interacting with nature allows one’s fatigued, directed attention to be restored. This effect has been documented and produced through directed interaction with nature, such as a walk in the park, as well as through indirect interactions (e.g., photographs). The current dissertation was designed to: 1) investigate whether and how biophilic attitudes affect the attention-restoring effects incurred from interactions with nature, and 2) extend the research on ART by assessing the impact of nature-related audio stimuli. A total of 184 participants completed an assessment of biophilic attitudes, engaged in attention fatiguing exercises, and participated in one …

Conversational Movement Dynamics And Nonverbal Indicators Of Second Language Development: A Microgenetic Approach, Kristine Marie Bragg

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation study extends on current understandings of gesture and embodied interaction with the eco-social environment in second language development (SLD) while introducing new aspects of movement analysis through dynamical modeling. To understand the role of embodiment during learning activities, a second language learning task has been selected. Dyads consisting of a non-native English-speaking student and a native English-speaking tutor were video recorded during writing consultations centered on class assignments provided by the student. Cross-recurrence quantification analysis was used to measure interactional movement synchrony between the members of each dyad. Results indicate that students with varied English proficiency levels synchronize …

Mental Health Research Productivity Of Nasp-Approved School Psychology Programs: 2010-2015, Mala Nash

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

With the evident need for mental health support of children and adolescents, there are identified professionals prepared to provide services within the school setting. The school psychologist is considered a key resource for providing mental health services such as preventive and crisis response (Dwyer, 2004; Armistead, 2008). Based on our country’s mental health needs and the significant role that schools can make in meeting those needs, it is pertinent to take a closer look at the literature specifically related to mental health. This review focused specifically on the field of school psychology’s contribution to mental health literature and established a …

Malingering Undetected Successfully: Does Extrinsic Motivation And Coaching Have A Significant Impact?, Jennifer Golanics

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The present study examined the effectiveness of a Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) coaching (i.e., providing information about mTBI symptoms) and motivational incentive (i.e., a $50 gift card lottery) on the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics (ANAM) test performance. The sample included a total of 162 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in an introductory educational psychology course. Participants were randomly assigned to one of six conditions: coached plus warning instruction and motivation incentive, coached instruction and motivation incentive, uncoached instruction and motivation incentive, coached plus warning instruction and no motivation incentive, coached instruction and no motivation incentive, and uncoached instruction and …