Learners frequently experience phonologically inconsistent input, such as exposure to multiple accents. Yet, little is known about the consequences of phonological inconsistency for language learning. The current study examines vocabulary acquisition with different degrees of phonological inconsistency, ranging from no inconsistency (e.g., both…

Objective: A posttest-only experimental design was used to examine the effectiveness of curriculum infusion (CI) in reducing alcohol consumption and associated negative consequences among college students. Methods: Faculty teaching 2 identical courses during the same quarter were recruited; both classes were randomly assigned to either a treatment…

Do students really enroll in Introductory Geology because they think it is "rocks for jocks"? In this study, we examine the widely held assumption that students view geology as a qualitative and remedial option for fulfilling a general education requirement. We present the first quantitative characterization of a large number of…

There are numerous technology tools that educators utilize to support student learning. Often, technology is mandated from the top down with school administrators' responsible for overseeing the implementation. Innovative technological approaches to learning often meet resistance within schools. The pervasive culture in education is counteractive…

Over the past five years, California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB) recruited 39 Noyce Scholars for STEM teacher preparation in high-needs schools. As of April 1, 2014, the program has saved approximate $150,000 of NSF funding for this grant. In this summative report, program effectiveness has been examined in three aspects, "Noyce…

This study examined how participation of Latino students in two-way dual immersion versus mainstream programs might have impacted students' relationships with Spanish-speaking adults, thus affecting contexts for students to develop resiliency. Participants were parents of 90 fifth- and sixth-grade students (initially English proficient [EP] as…

Responses of urban school teachers to the Pupil Control Ideology questionnaire were studied using Latent Class Analysis. The results of the analysis suggest that the best fitting model to the data is a two-cluster solution. In particular, the pupil control ideology of the sample delineates into two clusters of teachers, those with humanistic and…

The nutrition environment in schools can influence the risk for childhood overweight and obesity, which in turn can have life-long implications for risk of chronic disease. This dissertation aimed to examine the nutrition environment in primary public schools in California with regards to the amount of nutrition education provided in the…

Purpose: Ear infections are prevalent in kindergarten through 3rd-grade (K-3rd) children and can affect their performance at school. Chewing gum, when administered by parents and teachers, can help prevent ear infections in children. This pilot study surveyed K-3rd-grade teachers in the Santa Barbara School Districts to assess their knowledge…

This study was conducted in order to understand the factors that contribute to the identity development of Punjabi American women in college. The identified factors are useful for enhancing the educational and psychological development of Punjabi American women in college. A qualitative phenomenological design was implemented to collect data from…

This study reports initial results of a program designed to train California corrections staff (n = 576) in motivational interviewing (MI), a method of communication that is based on a client-centered, collaborative style. After three days of training, participants made significant gains in terms of knowledge of MI principles and reflective…

Since the inception of a "Nation at Risk" (1983) and the gradual growth of the school reform movement over the following several decades, the social and political milieu that exist today under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) can be best described as an era in which public education is fending itself from extinction and takeover, often from…

The development of imitation during the second year of life plays an important role in domains of sociocognitive development such as language and social learning. Deficits in imitation ability in persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from toddlerhood into adulthood have also been repeatedly documented, raising the possibility that early…

Professional graduate program curricula are consistently evaluated for their efficacy as they relate students' needs and achievement. Particularly, teachers in the TESOL field are challenged to become effective in their profession by adapting and developing learning materials and designing successful curriculum that imparts all relevant concepts…

Three experiments examined how bottom-up and top-down processes interact when people view and make inferences from complex visual displays (weather maps). Bottom-up effects of display design were investigated by manipulating the relative visual salience of task-relevant and task-irrelevant information across different maps. Top-down effects of…