Learning mathematics involves abstract thinking and the use of symbols. To be successful in a mathematics classroom, students must master what symbols mean and how they work. Much prior work has focused on the nature of the external representations used in mathematics instruction, including manipulatives and symbolic representations. In this work,…

As an educational accommodation, extended time on standardized tests has long been regarded as the gold standard in many elementary, middle, high school, and even college settings. However, research suggests that extended time may have little effect on students' overall performance on standardized tests. Although many researchers have reported…

This study aimed to determine if metacognitive strategies help increase reading comprehension in fifth grade students. Participants included a control group of 31 fifth grade students who were not taught metacognition reading strategies, and a comparable treatment groups of 43 fifth grade students who were taught metacognition reading strategies.…

Simulation-based medical education (SBME) is a proven instructional method for increasing knowledge gains in medical learners. However, it is difficulty to implement because of cost, technical considerations, and issues of accessibility. This experimental, mixed-methods study of senior-level nursing students sought to understand what impact an…

Intentional learning is the process of acquiring skills and attributes that facilitate knowledge attainment and application, and this process may foster learning skills and attributes in nursing students so they may thrive in student-centered nursing curricula and competently practice in today's dynamic and complex healthcare system. The purposes…

With the increasing cost of attendance and concerns regarding incoming student preparedness (Jackson & Kurlaender, 2013), administrators of U.S. colleges and universities are seeking ways to help more students be successful and persist to graduation. Although research has demonstrated the contribution of psychosocial factors to student success…

I conducted 2 experiments to analyze the effects of a reading curriculum, "Corrective Reading," which has a sequence that trains derived relations, on the emission of (a) derived relations defined as combinatorial entailment in Relational Frame Theory and (b) metaphors with first grade students. In Experiment 1, I compared the…

The present study examined the effects of a classroom intervention on students' metacognitive monitoring of retrieval practice performance feedback and metacognitive control of future study decisions. The sample included 103 undergraduate students enrolled in five sections of an introductory educational psychology course. A true experimental…

For nearly four decades, research has documented positive correlations between metacognitive abilities and student growth. Teachers who wish to cultivate metacognitive thinking should encourage their students to plan, investigate, and expand on the concepts they learn in class (Fisher, Frey, & Hattie, 2016; Flavell, 1979). This mixed-methods…

The primary question for this dissertation was: Does online professional development increase novice itinerant Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments' (TVI) efficacy for assessing learning and literacy media for students with multiple disabilities including visual impairments? The literature suggested novice TVIs might experience low…

The significance of agriculture to future generations is unparalleled. The United Nations projects the global population to swell to 9.75 billion people by 2050, and to proliferate to 11.2 billion by 2100. The non-agricultural population has little to no understanding or comprehension of the complexities of sustaining a viable agricultural system.…

This quasi-experimental pretest/posttest control group study design evaluated the effects of a multi-component educational intervention on the well-being of older adults. Participants were members of a senior community center in the Midwestern United States. The sample consisted of 45 participants assigned to either a treatment or control group.…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the effect of a 4-week, school-based, Sosh iPad application intervention on the social skills inventory of participants diagnosed with High Functioning Autism (HFA). The intervention implementation took place during a 4-week period at two separate public school districts within the…

This dissertation examined the effects of the inferencing reading strategy using a emotionally charged instruction for students from countries who do not speak English as their first language. A quasi-experimental study applying quantitative research methods to collect data from the two sections of Level four Reading classes during a ten week…

This study's purpose was to determine whether instruction in growth math mindset led to change in perceptions of 18-22-year-old at-risk students in math mindset, math anxiety, and view of math. The experimental curriculum was created by the researcher with the guidance of experts in mathematics and education and focused on the impact of brain…