Humans have the remarkable ability to solve different tasks by simply reading textual instructions that define the tasks and looking at a few examples. Natural Language Processing (NLP) models built with the conventional machine learning paradigm, however, often struggle to generalize across tasks (e.g., a question-answering system cannot solve…

A critical aspect of reading fluently is the ability to respond to sight words quickly and accurately. Current interventions for sight word fluency include flashcards and taped words (TW). While effective, these interventions require extensive personnel resources and one-on-one implementation. This study evaluates a group-wide intervention, the…

I provide considerations for TPC instructors and programs regarding developing students' IC skills.I start by examining key conversations and found that issues teaching IC arise when frameworks, texts, and/or individuals do not define key terms related to culture and IC. To address this issue and create a strong foundation, I establish some of the…

Chemistry is a highly abstract discipline that is taught and learned with the aid of various models. Among the most challenging, yet a fundamental topic in general chemistry at the high school level, is molecular geometry. This study focused on developing exemplary educative curriculum materials pertaining to the topic of molecular geometry. The…

This multiple case study investigated how teachers utilized C3 Framework-aligned instructional materials created with the Inquiry Design Model in unique contexts. Contextual factors related to how teachers enacted and experienced the C3 Framework were explored, in addition to how they planned, implemented, and assessed C3 Framework-aligned…

The UTeach program, a national model for undergraduate teacher preparation, includes "Perspectives on Science and Mathematics," a class designed to share content about the History of Science (HOS) with preservice teachers. UTeach provides a model curriculum as a sample for instructors teaching "Perspectives." The purpose of…

Although software has been studied with technology adoption and training research, the study of specific software features for professional groups has been limited. To address this gap, I researched the impact of software features of varying complexity on internal audit (IA) professionals. Two studies along with the development of training…

Community colleges are offering online coursework at a rapidly increasing rate; however, the growth of online coursework is not the result of new enrollments, but rather currently enrolled students' shifting from a face-to-face modality to an online modality. This shift presents some challenges because previous studies of college faculty…

This study explores the relationship between specific advanced mathematics courses and college readiness (as determined by ACT score). The ACT organization has found a consistent relationship between taking a minimum core number of mathematics courses and higher ACT scores (mathematics and composite) (ACT, Inc., 2012c). However, the extent to…

This qualitative research study examined how student teachers and novice history teachers learn to teach adolescent bilingual learners (BLs) from coursework to the classroom. The purpose of the study was to investigate to what extent five participants drew upon social justice-oriented pre-service preparation when they taught history to bilingual…

This dissertation investigates the Community Writing and Education Station (CWEST), a community engagement project that partners a community adult basic literacy program with a university writing lab. The author argues that the community and university partners, the Lafayette Adult Resource Academy (LARA) and the Purdue Writing Lab, offer positive…

The rapid advancement in the capabilities of computer technologies has made it easier to design and deploy dynamic visualizations in web-based learning environments; yet, the implementation of these dynamic visuals has been met with mixed results. While many guidelines exist to assist instructional designers in the design and application of…

Research on student achievement indicates the U.S. K-12 education system is not adequately preparing American students to compete in the 21st century global economy in the areas of science and mathematics. Congress has asked the scientific entities of the federal government to help increase K-12 science learning by creating standards-based…