Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
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Item Validating a Theory-based Model of L2 Reading Comprehension: Relative contributions of content-specific schematic knowledge and L2 vocabulary knowledge to comprehending a science text(2010) Oh, Eunjou; Afflerbach, Peter; Mislevy, Robert J.; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The study explores the question of what explains second language (L2) reading comprehension by proposing a comprehensive theory building on the Construction Integration (CI) model of reading comprehension (Kintsch, 1998) and conducting an experimental study within this theoretical framework. The proposed theory maintains that the construction of a textbase is a function of L2 proficiency and the construction of a situation model is a function of first language (L1) reading competence. The effect of two different types of intervention tapping into each representation system (textbase and situation model) is experimentally tested; vocabulary knowledge, conducive to building textbase, and content-specific schematic knowledge, facilitative to building situation model. Two different measures of reading comprehension for both L1 and L2 reading comprehension are used to analyze how different cognitive processes are involved in L2 reading comprehension. Thirty two 9th grade Korean students were given a vocabulary acquisition activity and a content-specific schematic knowledge acquisition activity between a pretest and a posttest on science texts. The findings suggest that the ability to form macropropositions, as measured by a recall task, is a route through which L1 reading competence emerges. Thus, it is an influential factor for L2 reading comprehension. Different patterns in the role of L1 reading competence and L2 proficiency in different treatment conditions provide evidence for a reader constructing a textbase as a function of L2 proficiency and a reader constructing a situation model as a function of L1 reading competence. Three latent variables of textbase, situation model, and L2 reading comprehension were entered in LISREL to conduct structural equation modeling; the indicators of the textbase include the scores of vocabulary knowledge and the scores of listening comprehension (LC) and reading comprehension (RC) in an L2 proficiency measure; the indicators of the situation model include the scores of L1 reading competence and the scores of schematic knowledge; and the indicators of L2 reading comprehension include the scores of the pretests and the posttests. The fit indices of various Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) models of a given text demonstrate the viability of the comprehensive theory of L2 reading comprehension.Item STUDYING EPISTEMIC COGNITION IN THE HISTORY CLASSROOM: CASES OF TEACHING AND LEARNING TO THINK HISTORICALLY(2010) Maggioni, Liliana; Alexander, Patricia A; VanSledright, Bruce; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Building on the literature on epistemic cognition, epistemic beliefs, and historical thinking, three class-level case studies were conducted to investigate features of historical thinking and history-specific epistemic beliefs of high-school students and their teachers. These cases also considered teachers' pedagogical practices and the potential effects of those practices on students' historical thinking and epistemic beliefs. Two junior honors and one freshman US History classes were selected from a school system that fostered the preparation of students for AP History courses by encouraging the use of a variety of primary sources and analysis of documents in teaching history. Preliminary visits indicated that these classes' teachers used different pedagogical practices. Class observations spanned one semester of instruction. History-specific epistemic beliefs were explored using interviews structured around the items of the Beliefs about History Questionnaire (BHQ) and historical thinking was assessed through analysis of think-alouds collected while student informants (4 from each class) and their teachers read a set of 6 documents and responded to a constructed response task (CRT). Specifically, student data were collected at the middle and end of the semester, while teachers were interviewed only once, at the end of the semester. In one of the junior classes, 27 additional juniors responded in writing to the BHQ and to the CRTs. Additional questionnaires and interviews explored teachers' goals, rationales for their practice, and interest in history. In regard to history-specific epistemic beliefs, results indicated that students and teachers manifested ideas indicative of different developmental levels, suggesting that their epistemic beliefs are a complex system, not necessarily characterized by a high level of integration. Differences across students tended to be greater in regard to epistemic beliefs than to historical thinking. In addition, comparison of initial and follow-up data suggested different trajectories of change in regard to students' epistemic beliefs while changes in historical thinking were modest and not consistently suggesting progression in competence. These trends were confirmed by the analysis of students' written responses to the BHQ and the CRTs. The study identified a set of ideas and behaviors that tended to produce cognitive impasse and hindered the development of historical thinking and a series of pedagogical practices, mostly aligned with teachers' goals and beliefs, which might have fostered such outcomes.Item An Examination of Middle School Problem-Solving Teams(2010) Meshbesher, Nicole E.; Rosenfield, Sylvia; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study investigated a middle school grade level Problem-Solving Teams (PST) model, Kid Talk (KT) teams, from one school district within the Mid-Atlantic region. Specifically, the fidelity of implementation of the problem solving process (PSP), student goal attainment for students who were referred to and received interventions from the KT team, and KT team members' perception and satisfaction with the KT team process were examined. Data collected included submitted case documentation, responses to an online electronic survey, and process observations of selected KT teams. A scoring rubric was used to measure fidelity of implementation of 8 PSP components and student goal attainment. A total of 59 cases from 16 middle schools, an average of 3 to 4 cases from each school, were reviewed. Mean ratings revealed less than desired levels of fidelity of implementation across the 8 PSP components, ranging from a low of 1.78 (intervention skill development) to a high of 3.48 (baseline data) where a score of 1 indicated low fidelity and a score of 5 indicated high fidelity. The mean rating of student goal attainment was modest (M = 3.33) where a score of 1 indicated no progress and a score of 5 indicated that the goal was obtained. Significant positive relationships were found between 2 PSP components and goal attainment. KT team members across 16 middle schools completed an 18-item online electronic survey of their perceptions of the team. Mean ratings revealed less than robust KT team member satisfaction with student outcomes pervasive across schools. However, KT team members showed a positive level of comfort referring students to their KT team. Recommendations for changes in team models and for future research were presented.Item Influence of Student Problem Behavior and Teacher Tolerance on Student Grades(2010) Bruckman, Katherine; Gottfredson, Gary; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The current study examines the influence of student problem behavior (as rated by teachers), teacher disposition to tolerate problem behavior, and interaction effects on student grade point average, reading grades, and math grades. The sample includes 3rd through 5th grade students (N = 12,993) and their classroom teachers (N = 562) from 45 schools. Multilevel models, with students nested within classrooms, test the influence of student problem behavior and teacher tolerance on student grades. Results imply that problem behavior negatively influences grades for students at each grade level, controlling for standardized academic achievement and other student and classroom-level covariates. Results also indicate that low teacher tolerance predicts higher current student grades in some analyses. Finally, tests for interactions of teacher tolerance with student problem behavior indicate that 5th grade students rated as having extreme problem behaviors receive lower grades in classrooms with more tolerant teachers, and higher grades in classrooms with less tolerant teachers.Item Asian Parents' Perceptions of Child Disability and School Contact for Services(2010) Kim, Nayoung; Gottfredson, Gary D.; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examined Asian parents' perceptions of children's disability and factors influencing their utilization of school services. Using the parent questionnaires from a large national sample of high school sophomores (the ELS:2002 data), survey results from Asian American (n=810) and European American parents (n=7710) were analyzed to examine cultural differences between the two ethnic groups as well as between immigrant vs. non-immigrant Asians. This study also assessed the extent to which parental characteristics (Belief About Learning, Recency of Immigration, English Proficiency, Socio-Economic Status, and whether they indicate their child is disabled) predict contacting the school for services. Results indicated that Asians were less likely than Europeans to believe that their child has a disability and also were less likely to contact the school for help. Nevertheless, immigrant parents sought help when they perceived that their child had a disability. Neither immigrant parent's length of stay in the U.S. nor English proficiency predicted the school contact behaviors. Implications for introducing school-based services and outreach for Asian American parents are suggested, particularly for recent immigrants.Item INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONS BETWEEN DOMAIN-SPECIFIC BELIEFS ABOUT WRITING, WRITING SELF-EFFICACY, WRITING APPREHENSION, AND WRITING PERFORMANCE IN UNDERGRADUATES(2010) Sanders-Reio, Joanne; Alexander, Patricia A.; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Writing has been called the "neglected `R'" in the traditional trilogy of reading, `riting, and `rithmetic (National Commission on Writing, 2003). Writing performance continues to languish, despite societal expectations that students should be able to write clearly and precisely. Sociocognitive theory predicts that writing beliefs are related to writing performance. Much research has focused on writing self-efficacy beliefs and their link to writing apprehension and writing performance, while research exploring another type of belief, domain-specific beliefs about writing itself, is sparse. This study examined the relations between these beliefs about writing, writing self-efficacy, and writing apprehension, and their links to writing performance. This research was a three-phase study. Phases I and II involved instrument construction and validation, while Phase III examined the relations among the research variables. Two hundred eighty-seven Hispanic women students completed a test battery in class measuring demographics, beliefs about writing, writing self-efficacy, and writing apprehension. Writing performance was measured separately on an authentic writing task, a take-home paper, by both an overall grade and six component grades. Inter-rater agreements on these grades ranged from r = .83 to .91. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that beliefs about writing independently predicted writing performance and that some beliefs about writing (e.g., Good writers adapt their message to their readers) are adaptive and associated with strong writing performance, while other beliefs about writing (e.g., Readers are impressed by big words) are maladaptive and relate to weak writing performance. In addition, apprehension about making grammatical and other mechanical errors had a stronger negative effect on writing performance than the more traditional concept of writing apprehension, which concerns sharing one's writing with others and having it critiqued. After controlling for domain-specific beliefs, writing self-efficacy weakly predicted writing performance as well. These results support the need for future research examining the relations among the research variables and writing performance in samples that are more balanced with respect to gender and ethnicity, and with other writing tasks. Because beliefs about writing demonstrated the largest beta weights in the regression equations, these beliefs may have the most promise for promoting both writing research and practice.Item An Experimental Evaluation of the Effect of Instructional Consultation Teams on Teacher Efficacy: A Multivariate, Multilevel Examination(2009) Koehler, Jessica Robyn; Gottfredson, Gary; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Teacher efficacy, the extent to which teachers feel they can influence student learning (Berman, McLaughlin, Bass, Pauly, & Zellman, 1977), has been repeatedly linked to important student and teacher outcomes (Gibson & Dembo, 1984). Although the results of many studies support the claim that teacher efficacy is an important educational construct, few studies have investigated interventions to influence these teacher beliefs. The current study evaluated whether a specific teacher intervention, Instructional Consultation Teams (IC Teams), positively affected teachers' sense of self-efficacy as measured by two efficacy instruments. Participants included 1203 in-service elementary school teachers in 34 elementary schools within a large suburban school district--17 randomly assigned to the IC Team intervention and 17 assigned to the control condition. Because teachers are nested within schools, hierarchical linear modeling was utilized to evaluate whether scores on measures of teacher self-efficacy were influenced by IC Teams. A multivariate model was also used to evaluate the effects of IC Teams on both measures, simultaneously. The results imply that IC Teams significantly increased teachers' scores on the efficacy scales. The current study provides one of a few attempts to evaluate the effects of a specific school intervention on teacher efficacy within an experimental framework.Item The Assessment of the Forms and Functions of Childhood Aggression Reconsidered(2009) Potter, Tracey Meryl; Teglasi, Hedwig; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examined the relationships between aggression and adjustment with a configuration of aggression categories derived from factor analyses of two commonly used scales to measure aggression, Dodge and Coie's (1987) Reactive/Proactive scale and Crick and Grotpeter's (1995) Children's Social Behavior Scale (relational and overt aggression). Second and third grade students and their teachers completed aggression ratings and a battery of adjustment measures. Teacher and peer rated aggression scales were constructed from an exploratory factor analysis of the aggression items. The teacher rated scales that emerged were pure overt, reactive relational, and reactive overt, and emerging peer rated scales were pure overt and reactive relational. The factor analysis of the teacher ratings revealed numerous cross-loaded as did the analysis of peer ratings. Cross-loaded teacher-rated items captured the construct of emotional dysregulation whereas the cross-loaded peer-rated items represented pure relational aggression. Unique associations were observed between teacher-rated pure overt aggression with externalizing behaviors, peer rated reactive relational aggression with self-rated depression and anxiety symptoms, and peer rated pure overt aggression with self-rated depression symptoms. The results regarding overall gender differences were consistent with prior research in that boys were perceived as more purely overtly aggressive than girls when rated by both their teachers and peers, and girls were perceived as more reactively relationally aggressive than boys when rated by both teachers and peers. Gender was also found to moderate certain relationships between aggression and adjustment. Importance of informant, as well as implications for understanding the construct of aggression and its relationship to adjustment are discussed.Item Motivation and Long-Term Language Achievement: Understanding Motivation to Persist in Foreign Language Learning(2009) Smith, Laura J.; Martin, Cynthia; Lavine, Roberta; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Achieving native-like proficiency in a foreign language is a long-term process; therefore, designing and implementing a plan for long-term language achievement may help more learners achieve their long-term language goals of fluency as well as related career goals. This study presents recommendations that may be incorporated into the college curriculum to help both learners and teachers facilitate the development of motivation to persist in language learning and use at native-like proficiency. The results of this dissertation study provide greater insight into language learning motivation, changes in motivation, and motivational regulation. Data were collected using a questionnaire and an unstructured interview protocol to report the language learning motivation patterns of seven native-English speaking, traditional age undergraduate foreign language learners. Data were collected, coded, and analyzed following an emergent constant comparison method using process modeling procedures to analyze and report quantifiable categories of data, sequences of variables, patterns, and processes as they emerged. Results indicate that changes in the primary source of motivation and motivational orientations occur over time and that internally regulated motivation associated with long-term goals is associated with persistence. A greater understanding of language learning motivation may help teachers and learners develop strategies to regulate motivation in order to facilitate the development of motivation to persist in language learning beyond basic university requirements. This may also operationalize motivation for professional language use at native-like proficiency.Item The Influences of Classroom Characteristics and Teacher-Student Relations on Student Academic Achievement(2009) Vu, Phuong Anna; Gottfredson, Gary D; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examines close teacher-student relations, classroom characteristics, and interaction effects on student academic grades and standardizes achievement scores. Classroom characteristics including teacher instructional practices, class mean teacher-student relationships, and a classroom index of academic risk are evaluated for their influence on student achievement. The participants are 24,328 students (kindergarten through fifth grade) nested within 946 classrooms from 45 public schools in Virginia. Multilevel analysis tests the student- and classroom-level associations separately for each grade level. Results indicate that close teacher-student relations and teacher self-reported use of good instructional practices predicts positive student academic achievement. Interaction results indicate that the association between close teacher-student relations and student achievement is slightly stronger in classrooms with more academic risk, according to the models examined.