Individuals differ in their ability to perceive and learn unfamiliar speech sounds, but we lack a comprehensive theoretical account that predicts individual differences in this skill. Predominant theories largely attribute difficulties of non-native speech perception to the relationships between non-native speech sounds/contrasts and…

This study investigated the prevalence of increasingly popular animal-assisted stress relief programs at higher education institutions across the United States. Although research on animal-assisted programs is increasing, there is still a lack of information documenting implementation of these programs. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to…

This article examines undocumented/DACAmented status competency (UDSC) centered on the awareness, knowledge, and skills necessary for higher education institutional agents to support undocumented and DACAmented students. Forty-five community college professionals from four states (California, Connecticut, Georgia, and Wisconsin) were interviewed…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze how faculty, staff and students at one American University define the term sustainability. Design/methodology/approach: The authors analyze student, staff and faculty definitions by comparing word frequency counts to a list of the 25 most frequently found words in over 100 definitions of…

Games in science education is emerging as a popular topic of scholarly inquiry. The National Research Council recently published a report detailing a research agenda for games and science education entitled "Learning Science Through Computer Games and Simulations" (2011). The report recommends moving beyond typical proof-of-concept…

This exploratory study examined the influences of student, teacher, and setting characteristics on kindergarteners' early reading outcomes and investigated whether those relations were moderated by type of intervention. Participants included 206 kindergarteners identified as at risk for reading difficulties and randomly assigned to one of two…

Developmentally appropriate, psychometrically sound instruments are needed to assess young children and evaluate learning programs. In the United States, little guidance exists on the development and use of large-scale assessments that cover the broad range of skills that encompass young children's development. In 2005 and 2006, the State of…

The purpose of the qualitative study was to explore the strategies teachers from the third, fourth, and fifth grades are employing to engage students and provide an in-service training where identified needs are not being met in a school district in Connecticut. No empirical studies have been conducted to explore what strategies teachers in the…

This study's focus was to examine the impact of learning style on learning outcomes in an Interactive Multimedia Instruction program (IMI). The literature review emphasizes that incorporating technology alone does not ensure positive gains in an educational initiative. It also identified a number of factors that may influence how students will…

This study investigated how lexical access in naming tasks (picture naming, naming to open-ended sentences, and naming to category exemplars) might be influenced by different lexical factors during adolescence and adulthood. Participants included 1075 individuals, ranging in age from 12 to 83 years. Lexical factors examined included word frequency…