The main part of this dissertation study consists of a survey of the types of articles (e.g., articles based on qualitative research, articles based on quantitative research, theoretical articles, etc.) that appear between 2016 and 2021 in five of the leading mathematics education journals (N = 1,317). In addition, for the articles that carry out…

This dissertation is about a particular style of research. The philosophy of this style is that in order to scientifically understand deep learning, it is fruitful to investigate what happens when neural networks are trained on simple, mathematically well-defined tasks. Even though the training data is simple, the training algorithm can end up…

Community colleges are institutions that provide access to higher education to anyone with a high school diploma or GED (Kim & Dolan, 2015). The student body is highly diverse and may not be prepared for academic coursework (Cohen et al., 2014). These challenges may be supplemented through embedding services directly into college courses. The…

Piecewise latent growth modeling (PLGM) is a class of longitudinal models using a structural equation modeling framework to describe stage-like, discontinuous change of individuals over time. PLGM breaks the overall time window into non-overlapped segments where separate functions can be fitted to represent differential growth patterns for each…

Social validity of interventions is often conceptualized as a triad of the social significance of goals, the acceptability of procedures, and the importance of intervention outcomes (Wolf, 1978). Social validity measurement is considered an essential part of quality single-case design studies. Yet, the practice has been inconsistently reflected in…

Reading is a complex, uniquely human invention for communication through print. It is a critical ability for making progress in education. Students with reading difficulties, the most common learning disability, struggle with reading fluency and accuracy. Skilled reading is enabled by the coordination of a network of brain regions interconnected…

Methods to estimate the causal effects of interventions are increasingly used in clinical medicine, public policy and social science. Using observational data, researchers can obtain causal treatment effect estimates without the ethical risks and time constraints that typically burden randomized experiments. The three studies in this dissertation…

Once research questions are posed, researchers must answer many a priori questions regarding research design before analysis can be performed and any conclusions can be made, including sample selection criteria, data collection method, model specification, analysis and estimation technique. The choices made by researchers along this forking path…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of four different models (bifactor, CTC(M-1), CTCU and unidimensional) as to optimal model selection when the wording effect associated with negatively worded items was present. A Monte Carlo simulation study was conducted to compare model-data fit and accuracy in parameter estimates…

This dissertation features three pieces of scholarship which showcase and demonstrate an ethic of queerness for engineering education research (EER). The concept of an ethic of queerness is introduced and constructed in Chapter 1 using tenets from the philosophy of pragmatism, systems thinking, critical theory, and the personal and collective…

While enrolling in a college for a degree is still considered to be more of the expectation than the rule in households across the United States it is facing public criticism regarding its overall cost versus long-term benefits. This has prompted researchers to reevaluate practices in higher education to determine ways in which post-secondary…

The field of science education has long advocated for students to leave K-12 education with an appreciation for the diversity of research methods scientists employ in order to effectively engage with research generated across many scientific fields of study. Yet, research has indicated that students typically believe research proceeds according to…

Institutional researchers use skills from their diverse backgrounds to collect, analyze and report data about their institutions to stakeholders representing various interests and levels of data literacy. However, there is little research into how these professionals process data and none into what aspects are important to institutional…

Many educators are committed to democratic education. However, practitioners who have experienced hierarchical learning structures may unconsciously replicate these norms in their own teaching methods. Through honest reflection, teachers can reckon with their formative experiences and use the resulting insights to transcend ingrained behaviors or…

Educational intervention research addresses multiple barriers that under-sourced communities face in education. I test three methods to improve education program design and evaluation to develop programs that have substantial and lasting impacts on student outcomes. In my dissertation, I review current challenges to educational program evaluation…