The 21st century has seen a dramatic rise in experiential learning research and practice. After the previous century, where research on subjective experience was for the most part excluded from academic journals, there is today a resurgence of scholarly research on experience and experiential learning. Yet, how do we know when a given educational…

This dissertation focuses on sensory-based strategies at schools for students on the autism spectrum, with a focus on the degree to which these approaches might be effective for reducing interfering behaviors or promoting on-task behaviors. Chapter 1 provides an introduction and brief background information related to the subsequent chapters.…

Visual notetaking has gained prominence in education due to its benefits in capturing information effectively. However, there is limited research on the neural and cognitive mechanisms involved in this way of taking notes. Therefore, to fill this research gap, this within-subject experimental study aimed to use an electroencephalogram (EEG) to…

Why do creative ideas and solutions to unresolved problems benefit from taking a break? The idea of unconscious work as an explanation is so appealing that even after reading this paper, which states clearly that unconscious work is a fantasy based on no clear theory and no clear empirical evidence, some readers will claim that we are saying the…

Eye movement modeling examples (EMME) are novel types of video modeling examples that contain additional eye-movement recordings of the model to provide attentional guidance. Increasing demand in using instructional videos and interest in using eye-tracking in education makes EMME an appealing research subject. Hence, this study aims to…

Vehicle automation is becoming more prevalent. Understanding how drivers use this technology and its safety implications is crucial. In a 6-8 week naturalistic study, we leveraged a hybrid naturalistic driving research design to evaluate driver behavior with Level 2 vehicle automation, incorporating unique naturalistic and experimental control…

Numerous studies from psychology, cognitive science, and neuroscience have generated substantial evidence suggesting that multitasking while doing schoolwork has a significant detrimental effect on student learning and performance. Despite this evidence, attending to multiple streams of information and entertainment while doing homework, writing a…

Objective: To determine whether in situ neurofeedback training can be used as a tool to build sustained attention in the general student population and whether gains in attention translate to more effective work habits and learning skills. Method: Students participated in attention training game-based neurofeedback in situ for a period of 35…

Compared to their neurotypically developing peers, children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders tend to have attenuated neural responses in the parietal lobe when attending sensory input, as reflected by a reduced P3b amplitude measured with electroencephalography. However, it is unknown whether a reduced P3b amplitude in autistic…

The present study examined the associations among social media use and academic self-efficacy, academic procrastination, and academic achievement. Grit was proposed as the potential mediator between social media use and different academic variables. Two samples of undergraduate students recruited from two different universities in the U.S. (Study…

Objective: In preterm and very low birth weight (VLBW) infants, attention-related problems have been found to be more pronounced and emerge later as academic difficulties that may persist into school age. In response, based on three attention networks: alerting, orienting, and executive attention, we examined the development of attention functions…

Background: Vocabulary learning is an essential dimension of foreign language learning. The learners have a huge responsibility in this task. Among other factors, time constraints and an overall lack of maintained motivation on the part of students makes it especially challenging. Consequently, improving vocabulary learning requires strategies to…

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by impairments in many functional areas requiring long-term interventions to promote autonomy. This study aims to map The Sensory Profile™ 2 (SP-2), one of the most widely used assessment tools in children with ASD, with the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health for…

Teacher gestures support mathematics learning and promote student collaboration. Aligned with speech, gestures can help students to notice the important visual information of geometry tasks. However, students' visual attention to the teacher's gestural cues during collaborative problem solving remains a largely unexplored field in mathematics…

Purpose: Neurotypical individuals show a robust "global precedence effect (GPE)" when processing hierarchically structured visual information. However, the auditory domain remains understudied. The current research serves to fill the knowledge gap on auditory global-local processing across the broader autism phenotype under the tonal…