Educational Psychology Commons^™

Personal Authenticity For Engagement And Transfer In Introductory Cybersecurity Education, Daniel T. Hickey, Ronald J. Kantor

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

Abstract—This conceptual/theoretical paper explores how personal authenticity might promote generative learning in introductory cybersecurity courses. Generative learning transfers confidently to future educational, professional, personal, and testing situations. This cycle of design-based research addresses the concern that more typical professionally authentic contexts (e.g., hospitals, banks, etc.) may be alien and overwhelming to many students, particularly those in introductory courses and/or from non-professional families and communities. If so, this leads to “inert” knowledge that does not transfer. Personal authenticity is rooted in expansive framing, a modern theory of learning transfer. We reframe expansive framing as personal authenticity to make it …

Correcting And Connecting Character Formation, Dane C. Joseph

Essays in Education

This essay details some assumptions that the author, through his lived experience working in higher education character formation and assessment, has identified as being potentially problematic to institutional endeavors to form character. These assumptions are framed using theoretical perspectives from within the behavioral and social sciences. A few solutions are offered, with the main one being to reframe formation from passive, single events to an activity navigated responsibly by and with all stakeholders, as well as to assess formation via everyday lived experiences both within and outside the classroom.

Improving Bench Work Competence Through Qr Code Based E-Lkpd Featuring Sop Video And K3 Safety Checklist, Firman Muhadi Saputra, Marsono Marsono, Imam Muhtarom, Mingchang Wu

Jurnal Pendidikan: Teori, Penelitian, dan Pengembangan

This study examines the use of a QR Code-based E-LKPD integrated with SOP videos and a K3 safety checklist in improving vocational students’ bench work competence. A pretest–posttest control group design was applied to 63 tenth-grade machining students at SMKN 1 Jenangan Ponorogo in the 2025/2026 academic year selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected using performance assessment observation sheets and written tests. The results show that both groups achieved the competent category, with the experimental class obtaining a slightly higher mean score (80.22) than the control class (77.07), However the independent t-test results indicate that the difference is not …

A Guidance Practice Model: Reframing Prevention, Identification, And Treatment Of Trauma-Impacted Students With Intellectual Disabilities, Mark H. Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The experience and exposure of trauma among youth, especially continuous traumatic experiences, poses considerable risks of long-term effects. Moreover, untreated trauma and subsequently negative mental health outcomes, like anxiety and depressive disorders, can negatively impact the psychosocial and academic functioning of students. One population that is generally overlooked regarding mental health in schools are students with intellectual disabilities (ID). This is problematic as this population is at an increased risk of traumatic experiences, such as maltreatment and social exclusion.

Moreover, the comorbidity of trauma and internalizing disorders among students with ID can exacerbate already existing challenges and deficits with social …

Evidence-Based Autism Assessments: Utility Of A School-Based Autism Evaluation Fidelity Checklist, Melissa Rose

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Research has demonstrated limited use of evidence-based autism assessments in school settings. The use of fidelity checklists for evidence-based interventions for autism are a focus of research; however, there are not any fidelity checklists or tools for measuring evidence-based autism assessments. This study used an exploratory sequential mixed methods design to create and utilize a school-based autism assessment fidelity checklist rubric with a retrospective model. This study began with a focus group to refine the rubric and provide social validity. Then, the rubric was used to measure the fidelity of 52 initial school-based autism assessments across two time periods, one …

Investigating The Direction Of Item Parameter Bias In The Presence Of Rapid Guessing, Sarah Alahmadi

Dissertations, 2020-current

Inadequate examinee test-taking effort is especially concerning when the results of low-stakes tests are used to inform high-stakes policy or psychometric decisions. Although abundant is the literature on the negative impact of low test-taking effort (e.g., Wise & DeMars, 2005) and ways to address it (e.g., Alahmadi & DeMars, 2024; Lau et al., 2009), integrating it into assessment practices has long been in a rudimentary stage. The findings presented in this dissertation serve as a clarion call for testing professionals to reinforce efforts that bridge research and practice. The current study investigated how rapid guessing (RG)—a form of non-effortful test-taking …

The Professional Roles And Functions Of School Psychologists In Alternative Vs Traditional Education, Staci C. Ballard

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Alternative Education Settings (AES) are unique environments that serve students whose educational and/or social-emotional needs are not being met in traditional schools. Students frequently enter AES with a range of mental health diagnoses, previous traumas, and behavioral/academic challenges. AES also serve many students from systemically marginalized and oppressed backgrounds, who are placed in these settings at higher rates than privileged peers. Considering these patterns, it becomes critical that AES provide effective student support, rather than serve simply to contain students based on disciplinary factors and convenience.

School psychologists, with training in mental health and education, are well-positioned to provide these …

Comparing Cognitive Theories Of Learning Transfer To Advance Cybersecurity Instruction, Assessment, And Testing, Daniel T. Hickey Ph.D., Ronald J. Kantor

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

The cybersecurity threat landscape evolves quickly, continually, and consequentially. This means that the transfer of cybersecurity learning is crucial. We compared how different recognized “cognitive” transfer theories might help explain and synergize three aspects of cybersecurity education. These include teaching and training in diverse settings, assessing learning formatively & summatively, and testing & measuring achievement, proficiency, & readiness. We excluded newer sociocultural theories and their implications for inclusion as we explore those theories elsewhere. We first summarized the history of cybersecurity education and proficiency standards considering transfer theories. We then explored each theory and reviewed the most relevant cybersecurity education …

The Value Of Descriptive, Multi-Level Rubrics, Thomas R. Guskey, Mctighe Jay, Susan M. Brookhart

Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology Faculty Publications

Single-point rubrics have become popular in schools, but they may be leading teachers astray.

Development And Initial Validation Of The Mindful Self-Regulated Learning Scale (M-Srls), Sarah Wolff

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Modern mindfulness is a catch-all term. Just exactly what it looks like within the context of education and how it is taught vastly varies. As such, program fidelity and integrity is questioned. Here a definition of mindful self-regulated learning is proposed and the Mindful Self-Regulated Learning Scale (m-SRLS) is developed. This includes item generation and development, systematic testing of item performance, scale dimensionality, convergent and divergent validity, measurement invariance across groups and subgroups, and scale reliability over a series of five pilot studies and five primary studies using independent samples. The resulting m-SRLS is a context specific measurement tool that …

Conceptualizing Lifelong Learning For K-12 Education, Betsy Ng

Journal of Research Initiatives

In this era of rapid evolution, education in the twenty-first century must strive to develop students to be lifelong learners. Students should possess goals and life-ready competencies for continuous learning during formal, non-formal, and informal education. Within a globalizing world, lifelong learning skills enable students to manage difficulties and challenges. Lifelong learning for K-12 education may shape our students’ values and behavior, as well as build resilience in the face of challenges ahead. To date, educational research related to lifelong learning across varied contexts of K-12 education is still in its infancy. The present paper contributes to the conceptualization of …

Exploring How Student Athletes Balance Athletic, Academic, And Personal Needs Through Learned Needs Theory., Michael E. Rutledge Ii

Journal of Research Initiatives

The attempt to balance the requirements of athletic and academic demands prompts extensive research agendas from higher education and athletic stakeholders to examine how extrinsic and socio-environmental factors affect the desired outcomes of student athletes. Reputable motivation literature describes needs as the starting point of motivation and influences behaviors embedded within cultural and systematic structures. Thus, the purpose of this study is to understand how sport participation influences athletic and academic performance through Learned Needs Theory (LNT). This study provides insight to processes of motivation that contribute to knowledge, practical implications, and research that translates to research-based approaches to increase …

Giving Retakes Their Best Chance To Improve Learning., Thomas Data Guskey

Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology Faculty Publications

Assessment retakes can improve student learning if educators clear up a few misconceptions and avoid common missteps.

My First Time Ungrading: Approach Used And Reflections, Heather Leslie

Feminist Pedagogy

A few months ago, I began devouring information about ungrading with a fervent appetite. I started with the book Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What To Do Instead) edited by Susan Blum and listened to just about every podcast where she was interviewed about this topic. I then read other books she recommended like Wad-Ja-Get: The Grading Game in American Education by Howard Kirschenbaum and Punished By Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s, and Praise by Alfie Kohn. Recently, I have become much more dialed into the ungrading movement by reading articles from Teachers Going …

Open-Ended Problems: How Much Time Is Enough Time?, Kaitlyn Solymosi

Honors Projects

The purpose of this action research is to observe and analyze students’ responses to open-ended questions, examine student engagement in assessment, and to gauge a reasonable timetable of how long students are predicted to work through them. A great amount of research has been conducted regarding the benefits and impact of open-ended problems in K-12 classrooms, but very little research has focused on the proper amount of time that should be allotted for them. This action research aims to establish a general rule for determining the proper amount of time allotted for open-ended problems. Implications for mathematics teachers will be …

An Assessment Of Undergraduate Students’ Research Literacy, Milushka M. Elbulok-Charcape

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Research literacy refers to the knowledge and application of statistics and research methods knowledge. Research literacy is important because it enables individuals to become autonomous lifelong learners and informed research consumers. Compared to other types of literacies (e.g., informational, statistical, scientific, etc.), research literacy in the social sciences has received limited attention in psychological theory and research. As a result, assessments of research literacy have notable limitations. Some assessments place undue emphasis on content knowledge of statistics and research methods neglecting the application of knowledge, others present items in a de-contextualized manner, exploring conceptions or attitudes toward research itself rather …

Investigating The Fit Of The Generalized Graded Unfolding Model (Ggum) When Calibrated To Irt Generated Data From Dominance And Ideal Point Models, Abdulla Alzarouni

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

The assessment of model fit in latent trait modelling, better known as item response theory (IRT), is an integral part of model testing if one is to make valid inferences about the estimated parameters and their properties based on the selected IRT model. Though important, the assessment of model fit has been less utilized in IRT research than it should. For example, there have been less research investigating fit for polytomous dominance models such the Graded Response Model (GRM), and to a lesser extent ideal point models such as the Generalized Graded Unfolding Models (GGUM), both in its dichotomous and …

Undoing The Traditions Of Grading And Reporting, Thomas R. Guskey

Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology Faculty Publications

One silver lining from the ongoing public health crisis might be the lasting impact of two modified approaches to grading and reporting of the past year.

Case Conceptualization As An Alternative To Educationally Related Mental Health Assessments, Michael R. Hass, Zack Maupin, Michael Doria

Education Faculty Articles and Research

School psychologists play an essential role in the provision of school-based mental health services yet continue to spend the majority of their time conducting psychoeducational assessments. In California, changes in law regarding the provision of mental health services have increased the tension around the role of school psychologists and led to models for determining the need for mental health services that are inefficient and present a potential barrier to students receiving services in a timely manner. The paper proposes case conceptualization as a more useful and efficient approach, than traditional assessment processes for determining students’ mental needs and writing goals.

Learning From Failures: Lessons From Unsuccessful Grading Reform Initiatives, Thomas R. Guskey

Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology Faculty Publications

This article describes accounts of grading reform initiatives that while well-intentioned, met with staunch opposition and eventually were abandoned. The implementation strategies employed by the leaders of these reform initiative are explored, along with reasons these strategies failed to result in meaningful and enduring change. Alternative grading reform strategies with supporting evidence are offered, justification for their use explained, and new directions for grading reform initiatives recommended.

When You Can’T R.I.O.T., R.I.O.: Tele-Assessment For School Psychologists, Michael R. Hass, Brian P. Leung

Education Faculty Articles and Research

The acronym R.I.O.T., record review, interview, observation, and test, is a well-known tool for conceptualizing a comprehensive assessment. With COVID-19 and the need to provide school psychological services virtually, it is important to reconsider R.I.O.T. in light of the limitations of virtual assessment. We describe the limitations of virtual assessment and argue that in spite of these barriers, the first three elements of R.I.O.T., record review, interviews, and observations, when used systematically, can provide useful comprehensive assessment data. Specific recommendations are provided for implementing assessment virtually.

Estimating School-Level Achievement In Belize, Betty Jean Usher-Tate

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

This dissertation consists of five chapters: introduction, literature review, methodology, results, and discussion with final thoughts. The research design of this dissertation study attended to structures, cultures, and characteristics associated with, and specific to, the Belize education system. The processes for data collection and types of analyses were appropriate, yielded meaningful results, and served as a segue for national application. The Belize Educator Survey was developed to capture the educators’ voices and illuminate their relationship to educational achievement in Belize. The Belize Educator Survey was piloted and revised with direct input from educators and experts who work in the Belize …

Rural High School Principals And The Challenge Of Standards-Based Grading, Tom Buckmiller, Matt Townsley, Robyn Cooper

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to better understand how principals in rural schools are thinking about assessment and grading practices and if they anticipate implementing policy changes in the near future that may require increased support. Principals of schools in rural areas often face challenges that are significantly different from those of their urban and suburban counterparts. The researchers used a mixed-method survey to better understand if progressive grading policies were a part of the vision for principals of rural high schools, if they possessed conceptual underpinnings of such practices, and if they believed they had the capacity within …

A Psychometric Comparison Of Psychological Inflexibility Measures: Discriminant Validity And Item Performance, Clarissa W. Ong, Benjamin G. Pierce, Julie M. Petersen, Jennifer L. Barney, Jeremiah E. Fruge, Michael E. Levin, Michael P. Twohig

Psychology Faculty Publications

Psychological inflexibility is a rigid behavioral pattern that interferes with engagement in personally meaningful activities; it is the hypothesized root of suffering in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). Thus, the quality of its measurement affects the research, theory, and practice of ACT. The current study aimed to evaluate the discriminant validity and item performance of four measures of psychological inflexibility: the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire—II (AAQ-II), a revised version of the AAC-II (AAQ-3), the Brief Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire (BEAQ), and the Comprehensive assessment of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy processes (CompACT). We analyzed data from community (n = 253), student …

Improving Measurement And Expanding Meta-Analytic Knowledge: Social And Emotional Learning In Elementary And Early Childhood, Dana M. Murano

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the last several decades, the development of student social and emotional skills in educational contexts has received much attention, both domestically and internationally. Whereas previous school-based educational practices had primarily focused on the teaching and testing of cognitive skills, we now recognize that there are constituents of academic success beyond the cognitive skills that are traditionally taught and tested, and the field of social and emotional learning (SEL) has emerged as a result. This two-study dissertation attempted to fill existing gaps in the development of SEL practices by exploring new horizons in both intervention and measurement with preschool and …

Effects Of Pre-Tests And Feedback On Performance Outcomes In Massive Open Online Courses:What Works And What Doesn’T?, Maria Janelli

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This experimental study examined the effects of pre-tests and feedback on learning outcomes in a five-week massive open online course (MOOC). The participants (N = 399) were adults from around the world who self-enrolled in the American Museum of Natural History’s (AMNH) climate change MOOC (called Our Earth’s Future) offered on the Coursera platform. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions. Learners in the first treatment group took pre-tests without receiving feedback. Learners in the second treatment group took pre-tests and received basic (correct/incorrect) feedback. Learners in the third treatment group took pre-tests and received elaborate feedback. The …

A Review Of Aaq Variants And Other Context-Specific Measures Of Psychological Flexibility, Clarissa W. Ong, Eric B. Lee, Michael E. Levin, Michael P. Twohig

Psychology Faculty Publications

Psychological flexibility refers to a way of interacting with internal experiences and the external environment that advances one toward chosen values whereas psychological inflexibility reflects rigid adherence to ineffective responses such that valued living is compromised. Psychological flexibility is a critical variable of interest in acceptance and commitment therapy, thus, accurate assessment of this construct is pertinent to professionals in the field. Numerous measures of psychological flexibility for specific conditions exist and the psychometric validation of each of these measures varies in breadth and depth. To orient professionals to the scope of available measures as well as their psychometric properties, …

Measuring Psychological Inflexibility In Adult And Child Hearing Loss., Clarissa W. Ong, John J. Whicker, Karen F. Muñoz, Michael P. Twohig

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective: Hearing loss is a chronic condition that impacts functioning among individuals with hearing loss and caregivers of children with hearing loss. Even though treatments for hearing loss can alleviate functional impairment, psychological factors like psychological inflexibility may interfere with treatment engagement and adherence, undermining the benefits of treatment. Measuring psychological inflexibility may inform care providers’ case conceptualization, improving the quality and precision of audiological interventions. Thus, the current study aimed to develop and validate measures of psychological inflexibility in hearing loss for adults and caregivers of children with hearing loss.

Design: Participants were invited to complete an online survey. …

Childhood And Trauma: The Effects Of Adverse Childhood Experiences On The Brain, Behavior, And Learning In The Elementary School Classroom, Aeryn Aguilar

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

A variety of studies have been conducted on how trauma, caused by emotional, physical, or verbal abuse, impact children’s lives. Many of the studies which involved observations and assessments were done with the preexisting knowledge that these children had been through a traumatic experience. Instead of looking at behavior of known cases, this study’s goal is to find out whether or not children’s observable behaviors can predict cases of trauma. For example, is acting out or defiance a key sign of trauma or is it part of the typical development for the elementary school-age group? This thesis takes into account …

Culturally Responsive Interviewing Practices, Michael Hass, Annmary S. Abdou

Education Faculty Articles and Research

As communities and school populations continue to become more culturally, economically, and linguistically diverse, the need for comprehensive training and explicit guidelines for culturally responsive school mental health practices also grows. School Psychologists are both expected and ethically responsible to competently assess and serve diverse student and family populations, regardless of potential language or cultural barriers. The current article is focused on describing background and rationale for culturally responsive interviewing practices as they pertain to the roles and responsibilities of School Psychologists. Building on the guidelines and principles of the Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI), developed by the American Psychiatric Association, …