Differential item functioning (DIF) analysis refers to procedures that evaluate whether an item's characteristic differs for different groups of persons after controlling for overall differences in performance. DIF is routinely evaluated as a screening step to ensure items behavior the same across groups. Currently, the majority DIF studies focus…

The learning sciences inherently involve interdisciplinary research with an overarching objective of advancing theories of learning and to inform the design and implementation of effective instructional methods and learning technologies. In these endeavors, learning sciences encompass diverse constructs, measures, processes, and outcomes…

This dissertation aimed to advance the field of biology education in several ways. First, we aimed to demonstrate if, and to what extent, student-generated conceptual models can be used on summative assessments to accurately assess student understanding of gene expression. Next, we described patterns of changes students make to conceptual models…

Categorical data become increasingly ubiquitous in the modern big data era. In this dissertation, we propose novel statistical learning and inference methods for large-scale categorical data, focusing on latent variable models and their applications to psychometrics. In psychometric assessments, the subjects' underlying aptitude often cannot be…

This dissertation study explored meaningful experiences contributing to students' identity, capacity, and efficacy development as culturally relevant leaders. In Chapter One, I detailed the importance and relevance of this topic in the field of higher education. Then, I reviewed the literature on college student leadership development; defined…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of co-requisite education on gateway mathematics, predicated on the Reinforced Instruction for Student Excellence (RISE) model, at a large urban community college (LUCC) in North Carolina. The research study explored the success rates in gateway mathematics courses in relation to the…

Why education faculty are motivated to stay or leave an institution has been questioned for decades. To investigate this problem, 91 faculty from schools of education from eleven research universities participated in this study using Maertz and Campion's Motivational Forces survey. The confirmatory factor analysis results indicate that the…

This design case documents the reimagination of new faculty orientation for a mid-sized public university due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. This fully virtual iteration was facilitated during the summer of 2020 and is compared both to previous in-person iterations of new faculty orientation as well as a blended modality version of the…

It is urgent that education scholars explore how Islamic values shape (and are shaped by) Muslim school leader beliefs, given the heightened anti-Muslim sentiment present in western contexts. Yet, there is a lack of scholarship on non-western approaches to leading schools. To address this gap, we drew from extant Islamic and educational leadership…

In this chapter, we explore the factors that support the occurrence of sexual violence, including the role of interlocking systems of oppression. Traditional conceptions of "prevention" are deconstructed, a social justice paradigm for addressing sexual violence is advanced, and examples of how the paradigm can be applied to practice are…

Violence and abuse towards schools students with intellectual disability is a pervasive and long-standing problem. In recent research conducted with students with intellectual disability, their families and education providers about safety and harm in school, a concerning discord emerged between the nature of harms described by students and their…

This paper presents research related to the work-integrated learning (WIL) model. The objectives were to explore the characteristics and the techniques associated with it. The focus of this research was on model linked to the IT industry or IT department in non-IT industries. A systematic literature review was applied as research methodology and…

The Rasch facets model was developed to account for facet data, such as student essays graded by raters, but it accounts for only one kind of rater effect (severity). In practice, raters may exhibit various tendencies such as using middle or extreme scores in their ratings, which is referred to as the rater centrality/extremity response style. To…

The debate over the mechanisms responsible for the flow rates of simple tube siphons has received much attention in the physics education and general physics literature in the past decade. Particularly with regard to the driving mechanism for water siphons, some suggested explanations emphasize contributions, or lack thereof, from the atmospheric…

This paper is a call to action to engage readers in cultivating reflective practice. The demands of a rapidly changing global society, the influences on emerging learning and teaching landscapes, and the ubiquity of information in twenty-first century society are catalysts for this focus on reflection. The author conducted a literature review,…