Joint attention (JA) is a pivotal prelinguistic skill critical to developing language and social repertoires. This behavior is often absent or delayed in children with autism spectrum disorder, commonly resulting in problematic communicative consequences. Behavior-based interventions have been used to teach autistic children to initiate and…

A central aspect of reform-minded mathematical teaching is training and developing teachers' ability to notice vital aspects in the classroom and more specifically, students' mathematical thinking. As there is an abundance of evidence and research that support the benefits for teachers to elicit and use students' ideas and thinking during…

This qualitative phenomenological study explored elementary educators' attentional decision-making experiences to learn how their understanding translated into their instructional strategies within their general education classrooms in a rural Midwest school corporation. The underlying research question was: How do elementary educators understand…

Electronic health records (EHRs) are essential databases that digitally collect, store, and exchange patient health information. Over 95% of hospitals have EHRs, yet healthcare professionals often struggle with EHR navigation, jeopardizing patient safety and care--consider a physician struggling to order blood for a hypovolemic patient. This…

This study explored the impact of Digital Game-Based Learning (DGBL) on focus, engagement, and time-on-task learning behaviors among 8- to 10-year-old students. Grounded in Csikszentmihalyi's Theory of Flow, the study utilized a quantitative experimental design to compare DGBL experiences with alternative instructional strategies through learner…

ADHD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) is a common neurological disorder that causes a person to have difficulty self-regulating (Daley & Birchwood, 2010a). A child displaying symptoms of ADHD may be impulsive, hyperactive, and/or inattentive, which increases the likelihood of academic failure and behavior difficulties. While symptoms…

Through two presented experiments, I investigated the relationship between the development of non-arbitrary relational control on (a) degree of incidental acquisition of both the listener and speaker components of naming (Inc-BiN), (b) arbitrary derived relations, and (c) joint attention for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).…

Only limited research has been completed that examines the impact of teaching outlining on improving ADHD students' writing skills and perceptions about writing. An abundance of research demonstrates high school students with ADHD struggle with writing and organization skills. This study investigated the impact of using the POW + TREE outlining…

It may sound strange, but in today's mathematics classroom, teachers are encouraged to have students struggle. This struggle, however, is not what might come to mind upon first hearing the word. The struggle I refer to here is what researchers have termed "productive struggle," which is present when students must persevere in solving…

My dissertation examines undergraduates' online learning experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic through three distinct studies. The primary goal of my dissertation is to shed light on crucial aspects of social cognitive learning theories and learning experience design (LXD) applied in distance learning. These studies, using an LXD approach…

Research on language learners' attention suggests that manipulating attention is beneficial in the language learning process as it facilitates the "noticing" of specific linguistic aspects. The current study investigated the effects of directing learners' attention to segments and prosody in English phonetic training. Korean learners of…

Numerous students across the United States are observed as being disengaged and bored in several of their learning experiences. Similarly, innumerable students also self-report being bored and disengaged. Over 40% of South Carolina (SC) students in Grades 3-8 report being compliant, disengaged, or mixed in all three domains (behaviorally,…

This study aims to explore the validity of measuring joint attention through gaze coordination in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) research. Gaze coordination, aligning visual attention in social contexts, aids comprehension and communication. Many CSCL researchers use gaze coordination to gauge joint attention quantitatively.…

Many arts educators in Pennsylvania public charter schools do not teach executive functioning (EF) skills to students with learning disabilities (LDs) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The purpose of this study was to investigate how these art teachers describe their own EF instructional practices and what support they need to…

In modern education, teachers are continuously faced with hurdles that challenge their abilities to teach students diagnosed with ADHD or other learning disabilities effectively. When faced with these challenges, teachers must use the most effective modalities to facilitate quality learning among these specific students. The problem teachers and…