Learning processes often occur at a situational level. Changes in learning context have implications on how students are motivated or are able to cognitively process information. To study such situational phenomena, Experience Sampling Method (ESM) can help assess psychological variables in the moment and in context. However, data collected via…

The idea that test scores may not be valid representations of what students know, can do, and should learn next is well known. Person fit provides an important aspect of validity evidence. Person fit analyses at the individual student level are not typically conducted and person fit information is not communicated to educational stakeholders. In…

The current study examined undergraduate student understanding of, and interest in, course material as potential antecedents to student experiences of flow within a classroom setting. In addition, the social, informative, and contagious nature of flow were examined, as was the influence of being in flow during classroom coverage of material on…

Education is a process by which man transmits his experiences, new findings, and values accumulated over the years, in his struggle for survival and development, through generations. Accordingly, one of the aims of education is to strengthen the individual's and societies' problem solving capacity, ability and culture starting from basic education…

In this study, we analyzed data for the Illinois high school class of 2003 to determine the impact of dual credit participation on postsecondary attainment. We matched 8,095 dual credit participants to an equal number of nonparticipants within the same high school at the point of postsecondary enrollment using propensity scores calculated through…

The objectives of this study were to identify the effectiveness of the panel admission interview as a selection tool for the medical program and identify improvements in the selection tools battery. Data from 1024 students, representing four cohorts of students were used in this study. Exploratory factor analysis using principal component analysis…

Completing college is now the minimum threshold for entry into the middle class. This has pushed college readiness issues to the forefront in efforts to increase educational attainment. Little is known about how college readiness improves outcomes for students traditionally marginalized in educational settings or if social background factors…

Research has documented lower retention rates in online versus face-to-face courses. However, little research has focused on the impact of course-level characteristics (e.g. elective versus distributional versus major requirements; difficulty level; STEM status) on online course outcomes. Yet, focusing interventions at the course level versus the…

Student evaluation of teaching (SET) is now common practice across higher education, with the results used for both course improvement and quality assurance purposes. While much research has examined the validity of SETs for measuring teaching quality, few studies have investigated the factors that influence student participation in the SET…

For college graduates entering the workforce, contributing to an employer-sponsored 401(k) retirement plan can be an important way of saving for the future. However, contribution rates for young people in these plans are far below recommended percentages, leading to concerns about future financial stability for these individuals. Prior work has…

This study examined the differing conclusions one may come to depending upon the type of analysis chosen, hierarchical linear modeling or ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. To illustrate this point, this study examined the influences of seniors' self-reported critical thinking abilities three ways: (1) an OLS regression with the student…

Urban school districts face a dilemma in providing professional development support for teachers in transition to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Districts need to maximize the quality and amount of professional development within practical funding constraints. In this paper, we discuss preliminary results from a…

National efforts to transform undergraduate biology education call for research experiences to be an integral component of learning for all students. Course-based undergraduate research experiences, or CUREs, have been championed for engaging students in research at a scale that is not possible through apprenticeships in faculty research…

Empirical studies of personality traits in creative writers have demonstrated mixed findings, perhaps due to issues of sampling, measurement, and the reporting of statistical information. The goal of this study is to quantify the personality structure of aspiring creative writers according to a modern hierarchal model of trait personality. A…

Clustered data (e.g., students within schools) are often analyzed in educational research where data are naturally nested. As a consequence, multilevel modeling (MLM) has commonly been used to study the contextual or group-level (e.g., school) effects on individual outcomes. The current study investigates the use of an alternative procedure to…