This dissertation is about a particular style of research. The philosophy of this style is that in order to scientifically understand deep learning, it is fruitful to investigate what happens when neural networks are trained on simple, mathematically well-defined tasks. Even though the training data is simple, the training algorithm can end up…

Collaborative learning provides learners with significant opportunities to collaborate on solving problems and creating better products. There has been a growing utilization of adaptive and intelligent systems to support productive learning while promoting collaborative practices. One of the core capabilities of these adaptive and intelligent…

Deep learning techniques are being unified for decision support in various applications. However, it remains challenging to train robust deep learning models, due to the inherent insufficient labeled data that is usually time-consuming and labor-intensive. Self-supervised learning is a feature representation learning paradigm to learn robust…

In this dissertation, I establish a research program that uses computational modeling as a testbed for theories of phonological learning. This dissertation focuses on a fundamental question: how do children acquire sound patterns from noisy, real-world data, especially in the presence of lexical exceptions that defy regular patterns? For instance,…

My dissertation elucidates how art practice can be a useful and helpful model for learning, teaching, and conducting research for HCI and the broader STEM fields. It focuses on "improvisation", a fundamental strategy and skill often used in the broader genres of arts, including cool jazz and the avant-garde. To achieve this goal, this…

Although virtual reality (VR) is commonly used in science classes, for example, to enable students to do simulated human dissections and other medical procedures, research on the use of VR as a learning tool in the humanities, more specifically the literature classroom, are few. This grounded theory study sought to understand better the use of VR…

The past thirty years have shown a rise in models of language acquisition in which the state of the learner is characterized as a probability distribution over a set of non-stochastic grammars. In recent years, increasingly powerful models have been constructed as earlier models have failed to generalize well to increasingly complex and realistic…

This study was designed to explore the impact of professional development in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) of secondary mathematics teachers using The DuFour PLC model in one Southeast Texas School District. Descriptive statistics were compiled based on survey data from 19 participants. Internal consistency reliability was analyzed…

The purpose of this study was to replicate Reeve et al., (2023) by applying the newly proposed tripartite model of self-determination theory (SDT to the context of higher education. The study also investigated the validity of the "Three State Questionnaire" (TSQ) as a measurement tool in higher education. The study consisted of 521 first…

Previous research has been limited regarding the measurement of computational thinking, particularly as a learning progression in K-12. This study proposes to apply a multidimensional item response theory (IRT) model to a newly developed measure of computational thinking utilizing both selected response and open-ended polytomous items to establish…

To meet the national and international call for creative and innovative engineers, many engineering departments and classrooms are striving to create more authentic learning spaces where students are actively engaging with design and innovation activities. For example, one model for teaching innovation is Innovation-Based Learning (IBL) where…

Learning progressions (LPs) are "descriptions of the successively more sophisticated ways of thinking about a topic that can follow one another as children learn about and investigate a topic over a broad span of time" (National Research Council, 2007). One challenge that arises in LP research is the collection of evidence to ensure that…

Developmental education is critical in the future of higher education and for the large numbers of college and university students entering higher education. Developmental education sometimes carries a negative connotation, one that is misappropriated to developmental education itself, the students, and the colleges or universities they attend.…

The problem that this action research study addressed was the ineffective facilitation strategies used in professional development for teachers. The purpose of the study was to determine whether reflective practices impact teachers' instructional decisions. The study used Cognitive Coaching, a reflective coaching model, as its intervention. To…

Spatio-temporal processes are ubiquitous and prevalent across disciplines. Understanding the mechanisms underlying processes and integrating this information into models is of great interest, as it can improve forecasting accuracy and align with scientific motivation. Examples of such models include Partial Differential Equation (PDE) Models or…