Oppressive social systems are structures and institutions within society that systematically and unjustly restrict the rights, opportunities, and overall well-being of certain groups (Bonilla-Silva, 1997; Feagin, 2013). The current program of research aims to investigate how oppressive social systems impact individuals and explore strategies to…

The present dissertation is a synthesis and meta-analysis of the 15-year-old research domain of the L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS) model initiated by Dornyei (2005). The study is based on data from 100 studies involving 144 unique samples and 51,905 participants, and it addresses the inter-relationships of L2MSS elements (i.e., the Ideal L2…

The purpose of this qualitative meta-synthesis is to investigate the demotivation and remotivation of Asian university students in the EFL context and the interplay with sociocultural factors. This meta-synthesis was designed to address three research questions:1. What are the demotivating factors of Asian university students who are learning…

I conducted a set of four studies to catalogue and examine course elements, including active learning strategies and evidence-based teaching practices, and their influence on student experiences and performance in college biology classes. In the first study, I defined the term "active learning" and catalogued the 300[plus] strategies…

The purpose of this study was to examine the validity of two widely used Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) in reading--oral reading and maze task--in relation to reading comprehension on state tests using a meta-analysis. A total of 61 studies (132 correlations) were identified across Grades 1 to 10. A random-effects meta-analysis was conducted…

A quantitative meta-analysis research study was undertaken to analyze literature on teacher perceptions regarding the use of technology integration from 2002 to 2012. During this time period, technology applications were developing at a fast pace and skills in technology use were increasingly required in the workplace. In response, schools began…

Intelligence tests and adaptive behavior scales measure vital aspects of the multidimensional nature of human functioning. Assessment of each is a required component in the diagnosis or identification of intellectual disability, and both are frequently used conjointly in the assessment and identification of other developmental disabilities. The…

How parents interact with their children impacts many crucial facets of children's lives. Over the last 4 decades, researchers have identified four different parenting styles: authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and disengaged. Hundreds of studies conducted all over the world, have identified correlations between parenting style and many…

Understanding mathematics is an essential part of everyday life and can range from simple tasks such as using basic math skills to more complex tasks. Success in mathematics is a requirement for success in today's modern world. A gap in developing mathematical skills can create complications and interfere with job opportunities. Another basic…

The first step in developing or updating a licensure or certification examination is to conduct a job or task analysis. Following completion of the job analysis, a survey validation study is performed to validate the results of the job analysis and to obtain task ratings so that an examination blueprint may be created. Psychometricians and job…

Although spoken word recognition is more fundamental to human communication than text recognition, knowledge of word-processing in auditory cortex is comparatively impoverished. This dissertation synthesizes current models of auditory cortex, models of cortical pattern recognition, models of single-word reading, results in phonetics and results in…

Meta-analytic Structural Equation Modeling (MASEM) has drawn interest from many researchers recently. In doing MASEM, researchers usually first synthesize correlation matrices across studies using meta-analysis techniques and then analyze the pooled correlation matrix using structural equation modeling techniques. Several multivariate methods of…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of specific cognitive abilities and reading comprehension across a variety of norm referenced tests that align with Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory of cognitive abilities and integrative models of reading. Data from existing studies was analyzed by comparing the relationships of four…

The focus of the study, a replicative meta-analysis, was to provide educators and policymakers with an analysis of extant data collected from current research, 1996 to pre-"Race to the Top" (RttP) and "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act" of 2009 (ARRA), concerning the question of whether or not a positive or negative effect…

Since the National Reading Panel report and passage of No Child Left Behind, one particular reading instrument, "Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills" (DIBELS), has gained nationwide attention. As a result, DIBELS has been used in thousands of schools across the nation as a means of early identification, intervention, and…