Psychology Commons^™

The Power Of Discomfort In Learning Abroad, Alexis Barge

Capstone Collection

Currently, the majority of students who study abroad do so through short-term programs. In fact, in 2015 over 60% of students who studied abroad chose short-term programs lasting eight weeks or less (IIE, 2016). It has long been the belief that study abroad has the potential to be a life-changing and transformative experience, not just academically but also for personal growth and development. Many professionals agree that the students who go abroad on short-term study abroad programs are significantly less likely to experience meaningful learning outside of the subject matter they are studying, and are less likely to experience personal …

Conquering Math Anxiety, Kendra Ellett

Ursidae: The Undergraduate Research Journal at the University of Northern Colorado

Mathematics is often perceived as a vigorous and demanding subject, and many students treat it as such, developing high affective filters which inhibit the process of learning math. Much of the research on math anxiety suggests low test scores and feelings of disenchantment are direct consequences of math anxiety, and other literature goes further in asserting math anxiety puts students’ futures and academic experiences on the line. A review of the literature indicates a variety of math pedagogical methods which have been specifically designed to assuage the symptoms of math anxiety: subject integration, creative methods, visual/kinesthetic models and real life …

The Developmental-Interaction Approach To Education: Retrospect And Prospect, Nancy Nager, Edna K. Shapiro

Occasional Paper Series

This paper analyzes the past, present, and future of the developmental-interaction approach to education: human development and the interaction between thought and emotion as well as the interaction between learners and their environment. Shapiro and Nager review the history of the developmental-interaction approach, outlining its essential features and tracing Bank Street College's distinctive role in its evolution. They then reassess key assumptions, address criticisms of developmental theory and its place in education, and suggest possible new directions.

Tlc : Creating A Culturally Responsive School Through Effective Teaching, Leadership, And Climate., Jessika Berry English, Joseph Ellison Iii

College of Education & Human Development Capstone Projects

Educators in today’s global community are held accountable for teaching to develop the whole child. This requires providing instruction and support to equip students both academically, socially and emotionally to prepare for real world experiences. Competencies such as self-awareness, decision-making and relationship building have proven to be essential to create student outcomes associated with prosocial behavior, mental health and smooth transition to college or career. Acquisition of these skills occur as a result of social emotional learning. In order for social emotional skills to develop and promote these outcomes key features of programs, quality of implementation and support of school …

The Efficacy Of A Goal-Based Study Skills Course For Academically At-Risk, First-Generation, African American, Female Students, Sarah Beth Garrison

Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to identify effective intervention strategies used in a goal-based study skills course for academically at-risk, first-generation, African-American, female students. Based on the theoretical framework from goal, motivation and achievement theories (Covington, 2000; Kuh, 2007; Nicholls, 1984), this study provided an analysis of research regarding the academic success and persistence of at-risk students. An explanatory mixed-method design was employed that consisted of two phases. The first phase of the study used quantitative data to test for difference in GPA and academic status between the control and treatment group. Quantitative data was also used to identify …

Examining The Perceived Influence Of A Comprehensive Youth Development Program For Promoting Black Male High School Persistence, Richard Gray Walker

Dissertations

Black male youth in the United States drop out of high school at a rate consistently higher than their White counterparts. A lack of academic persistence contributes to lower workforce participation rates among Black Americans, which leads to lower national productivity and unrealized personal prosperity. Youth development research has developed an extensive body of knowledge regarding possible causes and contributing factors of minority high school dropout. Literature shows youth experience higher dropout rates when they grow up in adversity. Adversity risks such as dysfunctional families, cultural discontinuity between home and school, dysfunctional neighborhoods, or low-expectations from teachers contribute to graduation …

Understanding Parents’ Attitudes Towards Complexity In Children's Books, Dorit Aram, Deborah Bergman Deitcher, Gali Adar

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Experts in children's literature and child development value complexity in the language, socio-emotional content, and structure of books, yet little is known regarding parents’ attitudes towards these aspects. The study thus examined how parents’ gender, education, and profession, children's age and gender, and frequency of parent-child reading interactions predict parents’ support for complexity in children’s books. Participants were 104 parents to children aged 4-7. Parents completed questionnaires measuring frequency of shared book reading and levels of support for complexity of children’s narrative books in three areas: language, socio-emotional content, and structure. Results showed that parents supported complexity of socio-emotional content, …

A Comparison Of Traditional, Trial-Based, And Synthesized Contingency Trial-Based Functional Analyses, Kaitlin S. Curtis

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Researchers have developed functional analyses (FAs) to improve efficiency and correspondence that still use core components of the traditional format. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the correspondence between the trial-based FA and the traditional FA. I also evaluated the correspondence between the synthesized-contingency trial-based FA and the traditional FA. Within this study, I determined that by combining methods, I was able to reduce false negatives for escape found within the trial-based FAs and false-positives found within the synthesized contingency FAs.

Comparison Of Trial-Based, Synthesized Trial-Based, And Traditional Functional Analyses, Kara Leigh Forck

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

I evaluated a synthesized trial-based functional analysis with two students who engaged in problem behavior by combining the methods from the trial-based functional analysis and synthesized contingency functional analysis. Multiple test conditions were combined into one test condition and were evaluated in 2-min trials. The purpose of this study was to compare the degree of correspondence of the results between the trial-based, synthesized trial-based, and traditional function analyses. One participant showed exact correspondence between the three functional analyses, while the other participant showed partial correspondence.

Behavioral Intervention Teams: An Exploration Of Team Member Perceptions At Oklahoma Regional Universities, Sheila J. Self

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this study was to examine Behavioral Intervention Teams from the perspective of twelve team members at four regional universities in Oklahoma. This study strengthened the knowledge base regarding team-member perceptions of Behavioral Intervention Team effectiveness, functioning, resources, needs, state factors, and campus impacts, and added qualitative data to the existing body of literature. Behavioral Intervention Teams were designed to be a tool for preventing campus violence and addressing behaviors of concern through information gathering, analysis, and intervention. While it may never be known how many acts of violence, suicides, or other student issues have been prevented or …

Teaching Students Who Have Difficulty Mastering Lmitation, Jennifer Mrljak

Dissertations

Some children with autism are unable to acquire imitation despite receiving early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) meant to teach that and other important skills. Many EIBI programs use physical-prompting hierarchies either as a component of the discriminative stimulus or the correction procedure following an error (Lovaas, 1981; Maurice, Green, & Luce, 1996). But even after lengthy exposure to these teaching techniques, some children still do not acquire imitative repertoires. In the present study, working with students who were not acquiring imitative repertoires, we started with shaping the initial imitative responses as a method to gain stimulus control and then introduced …

Digitally Segregated Understanding Technology Readiness In Preparation For Higher Education Success, Gloria D. Mullons

Dissertations

The Digital Divide is the gulf between those that have access and use of technology and those that do not. The Digital Divide is a multilayered issue impacting low-income persons, low literacy persons, seniors, and persons with disabilities. The new emphasis is on whether people know how to use technological devices and the Internet for multiple purposes, especially to function and progress in daily society. This dissertation study focuses on technology readiness in preparation for higher education, specifically examining: 1) experiences students had prior to attending the HP3 program, 2) factors that influenced student preparedness for engaging in college-level technology …

Growing In Favor With God And Man: Attachment To God And Psychological Separation Of Christian, Millennial College Students, David Allen Gregory

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative, correlational study was to examine whether Christian, Millennial college students’ secure attachment to God relationship could contribute to their psychological separation. This question was addressed by examining (a) the correlation between attachment to parents and psychological separation, (b) the correlation between attachment to parents and attachment to God, and (b) the correlation between attachment to God and psychological separation. Bowlby’s (1969, 1973, 1982) attachment theory was used as the theoretical foundation to explore both the students’ relationships with parents and God. Attachment to parents of Christian, Millennial college students attending a Southern Christian college was …

Murphy's "Lisa Murphy On Play: The Foundation Of Children's Learning" (Book Review), Rebekah Phillips

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

Elements Of Moral Functioning In Sport And School, Christopher Funk

Dissertations

Moral functioning is complex and implicates numerous cognitive and affective processes. Drawing upon Rest’s four-component model of moral functioning and more recent dual-process accounts of cognition, the current study examined a model of moral functioning in both sport and school contexts. Specifically, drawing upon the empirical record, a model of moral functioning was proposed and tested wherein moral identity influenced the adoption of specific contesting orientations, which, in turn, influenced prosocial and antisocial behaviors, both directly and indirectly via moral foundations and moral disengagement. Fit of the model was moderately strong in both contexts, though significant contextual differences emerged, both …

Technology, Power, And Leadership: Recommendations For Preserving Faculty Autonomy In The 21st Century, Leslie Pourreau

The Siegel Institute Journal of Applied Ethics

Today’s institutions of higher education dedicate significant time and effort to outfitting facilities with the latest technology equipment and packages and to providing faculty with training and support. Conversely, literature on technology implementation in higher educational settings typically focuses on procedures and timelines and makes little mention of how faculty perceive technology as a challenge or threat to their autonomy and professional identity. This literature review uses the terms “power”, “empowerment” and “technology” according to Foucault, Kanter, Rowlands, and others as the lens to examine connections between technology and faculty’s real or perceived loss of identity and autonomy. Instructional technology …

Diversity Of Diagnoses And Student Learning Experiences In An On-Campus School Psychology Assessment Center: Future Directions And Focus, Nina M. Ellis-Hervey Ph.D., N.C.S.P., L.S.S.P., P.L.P., Ashley Doss B.S., Maio-Cert, Deshae Davis-Gatti M.A., Juliet Aura Bs/P

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

School Psychology Assessment Centers (SPAC) developed at the University-level are crucial in developing competent school psychologists. While many models on how to develop mental health centers are in existence, a new model exists for creating a SPAC on a University campus that is specifically designed to serve the diverse surrounding community and postsecondary students (see Ellis-Hervey et al., 2016). The community’s needs were reviewed, including missing service links in the region, and identification of potential clients who would benefit most from services provided. Senior students who work with clients in the SPAC gain assessment skills and build supervision skills through …

Discovering Psychological Components Of A Ph.D.; The Road To Success, Kathryn L. Bode 4803290

Organization, Information and Learning Sciences ETDs

This was a descriptive study which examined the psychological components involved in the completion of a Ph.D. journey. I used a phenomenological approach to investigate doctoral program experiences (n=23), seeking to identify strategies, skills, and experiences commonly shared by successful Ph.D. students through a lens of Transformational Learning, Psychological Capital (PsyCap), and Emotional Intelligence (EI). Assessment measures included interviews, questionnaires, and the administration of both the Emotional Intelligence Appraisal (EIA) and Psychological Capital Questionnaires (PCQ). Findings revealed the presence of Grit, adequate support systems, balance, positive self-talk, and a moderately high level of PsyCap. A correlational analysis indicated a moderately …

Disproportionality In Discipline Practices: Assessing The Impact Of Unique Contextual Factors Resulting From School Reforms On Discipline, Stephanie Marie Grant

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

With the implementation of the No Child Left Behind act (NCLB, 2001) sweeping school accountability reforms were instituted across the country. Failure to meet the accountability expectations set forth in the law resulted in punitive measures including school closure, restructuring, and chartering. The impact of the NCLB school reforms on student discipline outcomes at the school level, were assessed. Schools in the state of Louisiana were compared along two dimensions of reform, school type, (Charter vs Traditional) and school governance (Local vs State Run). Analyses indicated differences in student discipline outcomes based on reform variables.

School reforms impacted student outcomes, …

The Nyc Board Of Education Mandates Pledging Allegiance [Poem], Kate Abell

Occasional Paper Series

Kate Abell shares a poem following September 11. It is a criticism of the requirement of pledging allegiance to the flag in school.

Principles For Responding To Children In A Traumatic Time, Sal Vascellaro

Occasional Paper Series

A list of principles that aim to help educators in their struggle to respond to the range of traumatic experiences many children have to live with—the death of a loved one, serious illness, violence, drug addiction, homelessness. This list offers something tangible to use as they respond to the children in their care.

The Children Keep Reminding Us: One School's Experience After 9/11, Kate Delacorte

Occasional Paper Series

This essay reflects on the experience of a new preschool that was located a few blocks away from the World Trade Center and had not yet opened at the time of September 11. After the event, the school held meetings with teachers, parents, and their children. The conversations highlighted the overwhelming difference between the needs of the parents and the needs of the children. Through sharing of fears, experiences, and emotions, the new community grew closer.

"Building Up": Block Play After September 11, Lisa Edstrom

Occasional Paper Series

Like most people in New York City, the children in Edstrom's class were affected by the events of September 11. However, not until five weeks later did these particular five- and six year-olds begin to make sense of what happened. Through the use of block play, they were able to explore the difficult emotions and questions we all had about the World Trade Center attack

A Story To Tell, Megan Rose

Occasional Paper Series

Rose recounts her experience on September 11 while being the teacher of an eleventh grade class. This essay demonstrates a teacher's need to be a leader and caregiver in the face of disaster, and subsequently allow for reflection and processing of emotions. Initially, her job stifled her own emotional response to the attack, but she was eventually able to use curriculum and creativity in the classroom to help herself and her students engage and reflect on their experiences.

Introduction: Teaching Through A Crisis: September 11 And Beyond, Alison Mckersie

Occasional Paper Series

An introduction to a volume of essays that provided a vehicle through which educators could share their experiences following September 11. This includes how teachers were addressing the troubling questions that the tragedy raised: What kinds of conversations had been sparked among children, teachers, and parents? How had curriculum shifted in response to this heretofore unimaginable event?

Student Engagement: An Assessment Of Motivation Processes During Late Elementary School, Christine A. Akagi

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Based in Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and Effectance Theories, this correlational study of student engagement assessed the impacts of basic psychological need satisfaction upon engagement in the context of prior achievement during late elementary school. The purpose of the study is to offer another tool for educators to use as they continue personalizing interventions. Multiple regression analyses assessed the predictive value of prior achievement levels alongside present satisfaction levels of each basic psychological need – autonomy, competence, and relatedness – upon engagement. In post-hoc analyses, The Johnson-Neyman technique was also used for the purpose of determining regions of significance across the …

Pursuing A Common Goal: Measuring The Comfort Level Of Educational Diagnosticians To Manage A Caseload Of Students With Visual Impairments, Jerry Mullins M.Ed., Michael P. Munro M.Ed.

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

This study was conducted to measure the level of comfort and knowledge that educational diagnosticians possess regarding the unique learning needs, assistive technology, special accommodations, agencies, required visual impairment related Individual Educational Plan documents, and special evaluation considerations appropriate for students with a vision loss. Teachers of students with visual impairments were surveyed to gauge their perception of educational diagnosticians’ knowledge of the field of visual impairment and diagnosticians were also surveyed to determine their comfort level in the management of a caseload of students with visual impairments. Research question were based on how TVIs rated the comfort level and …

Housing Diversity In Children’S Literature, Carla Earhart

Charleston Library Conference

Previous studies have examined diversity in children’s literature: Gender diversity, racial diversity, religious diversity, and diversity in family composition. This project examines an often overlooked diversity issue in children’s literature: Housing diversity. In the stories they read and the accompanying images, children need to see a variety of housing environments and need to see the settings and the people portrayed in a positive manner.

Renting an apartment is an increasingly popular housing option for many families. However, many children’s books glamorize living in a traditional house. Using a rubric designed by the course instructor, students in a university immersive learning …

The Need To Be Apart In An Inclusive Educational Setting, Zenaida Muslin

Occasional Paper Series

This paper illustrates the need for direct acknowledgement and support of children and faculty of color in inclusive educational settings. Muslin recounts her experiences at many different schools and how each offered a new perspective on diversity. The most profound impacts she has made in her community stem from her work at Bank Street School for Children, where she and her fellow faculty recognized the importance of having separate meetings and focus groups devoted to the concerns of people of color within the institution.

Conversations With Children About Death, Molly Sexton-Reade

Occasional Paper Series

This paper emphasizes the need for conversations around death in the classroom. Today's children are exposed to information about death through a wide variety of media. Teachers have a responsibility to provide opportunities for children to process this information in ways that are developmentally appropriate - acknowledging children's "magical thinking" as well as experiences children may have surrounding death.