Human Development & Quantitative Methodology

Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2248

The departments within the College of Education were reorganized and renamed as of July 1, 2011. This department incorporates the former departments of Measurement, Statistics & Evaluation; Human Development; and the Institute for Child Study.

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Reframing Parent Involvement: The Role of a Museum Program in Connecting Parents and Schools
(2009) Luke, Jessica Judith; Torney-Purta, Judith; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Using grounded theory methods, a qualitative study was conducted to generate theoretical propositions about the nature of parent involvement generally, and the role that a museum program can play in facilitating parent involvement more specifically. In-depth retrospective interviews were conducted via telephone with 20 parents who had participated in the museum program. Data were analyzed using the constant comparative method and drawing from the Ecologies of Parent Engagement framework (Calabrese Barton et al., 2004). At the core of the analysis is the phenomenon of parent engagement - as opposed to parent involvement - that emphasizes the social and cultural negotiations through which parent engagement occurred, and the more informal, personal manifestations of engagement through the museum program. At a more micro level, analysis revealed the mechanisms through which the museum program facilitated engagement, namely building capital and authoring. Findings culminate with an adapted version of the Ecologies of Parent Engagement model, revised to reflect the role of a museum program in facilitating parent engagement. Overall, study results have implications for theoretical understandings of parent involvement, providing a more holistic picture of why and how parents are engaged, and what forms their engagement takes. Establishing hypotheses about parent engagement processes makes it possible for educators to reconsider practical strategies for bringing parents and schools together in support of children's development, and in particular to broaden their thinking about the spaces in which parent engagement occurs.
School Mobility as it Relates to Adolescents' Civic Knowledge and School Belonging
(2009) Mackel, Brittany Erin; Torney-Purta, Judith; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
The relation of school mobility to levels of adolescent civic knowledge and sense of belonging at school was examined using data collected from a nationally representative sample (N=2417) of 14-year-old adolescents from across the United States as a part of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) Civic Education Study of 1999. Multiple linear regression revealed that higher mobility scores were associated with lower civic knowledge scores, civic knowledge scores were marginally higher for females than males, and having a higher socio-economic status was associated with higher civic knowledge scores. Further, low confidence in school participation was associated with higher school mobility, females had higher confidence in school participation than males, and having a higher socio-economic status was associated with higher confidence in school participation scores. Lower trust in schools was associated with higher school mobility, while gender and socio-economic status were not significantly related.
An Empirical Investigation of Unscalable Components in Scaling Models
(2009) Braaten, Kristine Norene; Dayton, C. M.; Measurement, Statistics and Evaluation; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Guttman (1947) developed a scaling method in which the items measuring an attribute can be ordered according to the strength of the attribute. The Guttman scaling model assumes that every member of the population belongs to a scale type and does not allow for response errors. The Proctor (1970) and the intrusion-omission (Dayton and Macready, 1976) models introduced the notion that observed response patterns deviate from Guttman scale types because of response error. The Goodman (1975) model posited that part of the population is intrinsically unscalable. The extended Proctor and intrusion-omission (Dayton and Macready, 1980) models, commonly called extended Goodman models, include both response error and an intrinsically unscalable class (IUC). An alternative approach to the Goodman and extended Goodman models is the two-point mixture index of fit developed by Rudas, Clogg, and Lindsay (1994). The index, pi-star, is a descriptive measure used to assess fit when the data can be summarized in a contingency table for a hypothesized model. It is defined as the smallest proportion of cases that must be deleted from the observed frequency table to result in a perfect fit for the postulated model. In addition to contingency tables, pi-star can be applied to latent class models, including scaling models for dichotomous data. This study investigates the unscalable components in the extended Goodman models and the two-point mixture where the hypothesized model is the Proctor or intrusion-omission model. The question of interest is whether the index of fit associated with the Proctor or intrusion-omission model provides a potential alternative to the IUC proportion for the extended Proctor or intrusion-omission model, or in other words, whether or not pi-star and the IUC proportion are comparable. Simulation results in general did not support the notion that pi-star and the IUC proportion are comparable. Six-variable extended models outperformed their respective two-point mixture models with regard to the IUC proportion across almost every combination of condition levels. This is also true for the four-variable case except the pi-star models showed overall better performance when the true IUC proportion is small. A real data application illustrates the use of the models studied.
Peer Collaboration: The Role of Questions and Regulatory Processes in Conceptual-Knowledge Learning
(2009) Winters, A. Fielding Ince; Alexander, Patricia A; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Peer collaboration and questioning are two pedagogical methods currently used under the assumption that they facilitate conceptual understanding in science classrooms. However, the literature on peer collaboration reveals many contextual factors that influence the success of peer learning, particularly for ill-structured tasks, and little research has been conducted on whether or how questions help students learn about complex science topics. This study investigated the impact of peer collaboration and reasoning questions on high-school students' (N = 133) conceptual-knowledge learning, through analysis of their regulatory learning processes as they studied the circulatory system using a hypermedia encyclopedia. Outcome variables were a measure of students' conceptual knowledge learning (pretest to posttest) and peers' collaborative discourse, which was collected via audiotape during the learning session. Data analysis consisted of quantitative analyses of variance of students' conceptual knowledge learning in peer and questioning conditions, and qualitative analysis of students' collaborative regulatory discourse. Results revealed variable approaches to collaboration and the task and variable success at conceptual-knowledge learning across pairs. Successful peer learners employed a variety of regulatory behaviors such as taking notes and summarizing to a greater degree than unsuccessful collaborating students, who tended to spend a large proportion of their time off-task. Students who answered an inferential reasoning question spent much of their time looking for a verbatim answer from the environment, often to the detriment of their learning. The results of this study reveal a number of factors that may be related to the success of collaboration and question-answering, including an accurate perception of the task goal; enough relevant prior knowledge about the topic to use a non-linear hypermedia environment effectively; and enough time to collaborate and learn. This study contributes to the literature on collaboration and question-answering by demonstrating the potential pitfalls of these methods and elucidating potential targets for support to bolster the efficacy of these methods.
A MULTILEVEL ANALYSIS OF CONTEXT EFFECTS ON ADOLESCENT CIVIC ENGAGEMENT: THE ROLE OF FAMILY, PEERS, SCHOOL, AND NEIGHBORHOOD
(2009) Wilkenfeld, Britt Skeens; Torney-Purta, Judith; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
The relations between multiple contexts of influence and adolescents' civic engagement were examined in order to facilitate understanding of how adolescents are being prepared for citizenship. This study extends previous research by simultaneously examining the family, peer, school, and neighborhood contexts, including how contexts are interrelated in their influence, and by employing multilevel regression techniques. The purpose of the study was to understand how contexts interact to produce positive outcomes for adolescents, especially those deemed at risk for poor civic outcomes. Utilizing data from the 1999 Civic Education Study and the 2000 U.S. Census, I examined a nationally representative sample of 2,729 14-year-olds from 119 schools in the United States. Access to the zip-codes for each school that participated in the study enabled the connection between neighborhood characteristics and schools and students within schools. Given the multifaceted nature of civic engagement, the current study considered context effects on four different aspects of civic engagement: civic knowledge, support for the rights of ethnic minorities, anticipated voting behavior, and anticipated community participation. Predictors pertain to adolescents' demographic characteristics, political discourse with parents and peers, civic experiences in school, and the demographic composition of the neighborhood. Political discourse with parents was positively related to civic knowledge, attitudes, and anticipated behavior, indicating the consistency with which socialization occurs in the home. Across the contexts examined, student measures of civic experiences in school (or civic learning opportunities) had the most consistently positive relationships with students' civic outcomes. Civic experiences in school include student confidence in the effectiveness of school participation, perception of a classroom climate that is open for discussion, and learning about ideal civic practices. Interactions between the school and neighborhood contexts indicate that higher levels of civic learning opportunities particularly make a difference for students attending schools in impoverished neighborhoods, sometimes substantially improving their civic outcomes. Schools, although implicated in the existence of a civic engagement gap, have the potential to narrow the gaps. Civic experiences in schools contribute to the preparation of youth for active citizenship and full access to these experiences reduces civic engagement gaps between students of different demographic groups.
The Relations of Children's Perceived Support for Recreational Reading from Parents and Friends to Their Motivation for Reading
(2008-11-17) Klauda, Susan Lynn Lutz; Wigfield, Allan; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
This study investigated children's perceived support for their recreational reading from their mothers, fathers, and friends in relation to their reading motivation and habits. Models from the reading domain, including the engagement model of reading (Guthrie & Wigfield, 2000) and McKenna's (1994) model of reading attitude acquisition guided the study, as well as theories from the broader study of motivation, including self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000a) and expectancy-value theory [Eccles (Parsons) et al., 1983]. The study focused on children in the upper elementary grades, as relatively little research has examined the role that socialization agents play in this age group's reading motivation and activity. Participants, who included 130 fourth-graders and 172 fifth-graders, completed the newly developed Reading Support Survey (RSS) and surveys of their reading motivation and habits. Scores on three reading achievement indicators were obtained. Seven hypotheses were tested, six of which were partially or fully substantiated. Paired sample comparisons that examined individual RSS items indicated that children perceived greater reading support from their mothers than their fathers and friends in several regards. Factor analysis demonstrated the multidimensionality of perceived reading support. Four dimensions were apparent, but differed from those predicted in that support type was an organizing element as much as support source. Girls perceived greater friend support than boys, and fourth-graders reported receiving more books as presents than fifth-graders. Girls and fourth-graders showed somewhat more positive profiles of reading motivation and frequency. Each of the four dimensions of reading support correlated significantly with at least three of five reading motivation dimensions and three of four reading frequency variables studied. Moreover, multiple regression analyses indicated that parent and friend support contributed uniquely to the prediction of reading motivation and frequency, controlling for reading achievement, gender, and grade level. Additionally, cluster analysis indicated that participants could be grouped into five clusters based on their profiles of reading support; further analyses showed how these clusters differed in reading motivation and frequency.
Cross-language transfer of phonological and orthographic processing skills in Spanish-speaking children learning to read and spell in English
(2007-11-26) Sun-Alperin, Marlene Kendra; Wang, Min; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
This dissertation included two studies designed to examine how young children acquire biliteracy skills. Specifically, I aimed to determine how reading and spelling acquisition in English second language (L2) is influenced by Spanish first language (L1). Study 1 investigated the contribution of Spanish phonological and orthographic processing skills to English reading and spelling in 89 Spanish-English bilingual children in grades 2 (n = 42) and 3 (n = 47). Comparable measures in English and Spanish tapping phonological and orthographic processing were administered to the bilingual children and to 53 monolingual English-speaking children in grades 2 (n = 32) and 3 (n = 21) as a comparison group. We found that cross language phonological and orthographic transfer occurs from Spanish to English for real word and pseudoword reading. However, Spanish orthographic processing only predicted reading, not spelling. Study 2 examined spelling errors committed on specific linguistic units - vowels that are spelled differently in the two languages (i.e., contrastive vowels) - to determine whether Spanish-speaking children spell these vowels using Spanish spelling rules. Participants for Study 2 were carefully recruited; these Spanish-speaking students had received about 2.2 years of literacy instruction in their native language, ensuring that they would have adequate orthographic knowledge to read and spell in Spanish. Error analyses indicated that the 27 native Spanish-speaking children who received prior literacy instruction in Spanish did indeed spell these contrastive vowels using Spanish orthography; therefore, these errors were influenced by their L1 orthographic knowledge. Taken together, these two studies highlight the importance of taking into consideration bilingual children's L1 phonological and orthographic knowledge in understanding L2 reading and spelling acquisition. The results of the two studies enhance the theoretical frameworks by providing empirical evidence to support the notion that bilingual children are indeed both positively and negatively affected by the differences in orthographic depths of the languages.
A MODEL OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF EPISTEMIC AND ONTOLOGIC COGNITION
(2007-05-29) Greene, Jeffrey Alan; Torney-Purta, Judith; Azevedo, Roger; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
While its advocates trumpet personal epistemology research as an essential contribution to the understanding of student cognition, the field currently wrestles with four problems. There is a lack of consensus regarding construct definition, a disconnect between psychological investigations and personal epistemology's philosophical roots, a failure to integrate work from developmental psychology, and difficulties in measuring personal epistemology. This dissertation combines work from both philosophy and developmental psychology with personal epistemology research to put forth a conceptual model of epistemic and ontologic cognition that addresses these four problems while building on the strengths of past research. Development is described using four ordered positions, and is predicted to be probabilistically related to educational level. Domain-specificity is also tested in terms of ill and well-structured domains. Using both quantitative and qualitative data from a pilot study, an instrument to measure epistemic and ontologic cognition was developed. By assessing the construct validity and reliability of scores from the instrument the underlying conceptual model was tested. This instrument was administered to a sample of 662 students ranging in age from middle-school through graduate school. Results indicated that scores from the instrument had acceptable construct validity and reliability, and that a factor mixture model best represented the data, and provided mixed support for the underlying model. Educational level was probabilistically related to participants' epistemic and ontologic cognition.
Work Avoidance in Middle School: Teachers' Perspectives
(2007-05-15) Sloan, Meridith Ann; Wentzel, Kathryn R; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
This study investigated the beliefs about work avoidance of six middle school teachers from a diverse set of schools. Teachers were individually interviewed. Using a Grounded Theory approach, the interview transcripts were coded and analyzed. The teachers commonly characterized students who avoid work as lacking effort or actively avoiding work, expressing a broad range of emotions (e.g., anger, embarrassment, and negative affect) and having little or incompetent social interactions with peers and adults. The teachers reported several reasons why students avoid work including task/workload characteristics, motivational traits, peers, home and school/teacher. These findings suggest that work avoidance may have been previously oversimplified and the construct may include a wider variety of student characteristics and reasons for the behaviors.
School-Related Apathy in 8th- and 10th- Grade Students: A Mixed-Method Exploration of Definitions, Construct Independence, Correlates, and Grade-Level Differences
(2007-04-26) Riconscente, Michelle Maria; Alexander, Patricia A; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
Research-based and folk conceptualizations of school-related apathy were explored in 309 8th- and 10th- grade Catholic school students and their teachers. Definitions, construct independence, and relation to select individual and group differences including grade level were examined. Findings indicated that while some independence exists among the set of five constructs assessed--adolescent apathy, amotivation, apathy syndrome, disengagement, and work avoidance--substantial overlap is present that can inform development of a more parsimonious conceptualization of students' lack of school motivation centered on perceived relevance and a general attitude of interest. Results also demonstrated only moderate levels of agreement between research-based and teacher identification of students low on school-related motivation; however, both approaches indicate that approximately 1 in 4 students manifests markedly low school-related motivation. Relations of several individual and group differences to conceptualizations of school-related apathy were documented in expected directions. Implications of the findings for educational research and practice are discussed.

Human Development & Quantitative Methodology

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