This dissertation addresses the rhetoric of deficiency that frames Latina/o students as lacking with regard to education. This dissertation begins by examining the cultural deficit model entrenched in colonial narratives of history that justify unequal access to resources in the US. I argue that the reimagining of the pejorative trope of…

Pairing an inquiry lesson with a traditional reading activity creates a jarring philosophical mismatch between the interaction, deep thinking, and scientific reasoning that drives meaningful inquiry instruction and the "scan the text, copy the answers" response often obtained from elementary nonfiction readers. Realizing that there must be a…

Reasons are examined as to why students are reluctant to complete assigned textbook readings on a timely basis. Prior research suggested that lack of student motivation, lack of student knowledge of effective study habits, competing demands on student time, and lack of congruency between student objectives for the course and professor objectives…

In an upper-division, college course with a lecture component and two laboratory sections, we experimentally evaluated a treatment package that included this contingency: "only if students attended lecture and submitted notes for each day's reading assignment could they use their notes during a later test," and instructions about the contingency.…

The assignment of pre-class reading is a common practice in higher education. Typically, the purpose of this reading assignment is to expose students to background knowledge that will be useful in an upcoming class discussion or to introduce a topic that will be presented more directly by the instructor. However, numbers of undergraduates actually…

To improve students' reading abilities, an elementary school staff decided to supplement the regular curriculum with a free Internet reading program. To promote student participation in the supplemental program, the media specialist designed the Gumball Reading Program, which included student requirements and rewards. The requirements…

This study was an action research project evaluating the effectiveness of selected reading strategies on student learning. The action research was conducted in an undergraduate measurement course in a teacher preparation program. Students used a pre-selected reading strategy to read assigned readings then completed a quiz on the readings and a…

Universities and colleges are experiencing increasing challenges of educating millennial students, individuals who lack motivation and tenacity to engage in the learning process. Ideally, university students have read materials and are prepared to engage in collegial interaction. The purpose of this study was to determine whether university…

"Not reading," even for many good students, has become a mode of operation with respect to book-length texts assigned in school. Many students enter secondary and postsecondary literature classes "intending" to "not read" the books teachers assign. More students than teachers want to admit do not complete assigned reading, choosing instead to…

This article includes a review of the literature on personal epistemology and the reflective judgment model and applies these theoretical concepts to undergraduate students who engage in service-learning projects. The application will provide instructors with greater understanding of students' abilities and limitations in their…

This study investigated the modes, semiotic resources, and intersemiotic relationships present in the design of multimodal electronic texts. The participants comprised 10 women and 2 men, who were enrolled in a graduate-level course focused on multimodality and who used a virtual poster tool to respond to a classroom assignment. Content analysis…

This study explored the relationship between reading for pleasure and creativity. University students (N = 225) completed measures of reading for pleasure and creativity (SCAB). The results indicated that reading for pleasure was significantly, positively correlated to creativity. Implications for the classroom are explored, including possible…

One of the most important challenges a teacher faces is motivating his or her students to complete reading assignments and to complete them carefully. After all, if students bring to class a basic understanding of the text up for discussion, much deeper learning can occur than if the teacher is forced to spend time explaining the reading to…

In adolescent literacy research, there is a gap in literature relating to adolescent constructions of reading. It is not possible to gather significant research on the topic without hearing from the adolescents themselves. The purpose of this qualitative study was to discover what the adolescent participants consider to be "reading" and…

Science IDEAS is an evidence-based model that reflects interdisciplinary research findings that support the integration of literacy (e.g., reading comprehension) within science instruction in grades K-5. Presented is a framework for planning integrated science and literacy instruction in which six elements (hands-on investigations, reading,…