Reinforcement learning (RL) models of decision-making cannot account for human decisions in the absence of prior reward or punishment. We propose a mechanism for choosing among available options based on goal-option association strengths, where association strengths between objects represent previously experienced object proximity. The proposed…

Personalization technology has the potential to optimize service for each person's unique needs and characteristics. One way to optimize service is to allow people to customize the service themselves; another is to proactively tailor services based on information provided by people or inferred from their past behaviors. These approaches function…

Past studies have suggested that during their time on campus, as many as half of all undergraduates will experience the death of a loved one (Balk, 2001; Balk, Walker, & Baker, 2010; Holland & Neimeyer, 2010). The purpose of this study was to use a phenomenological method to uncover a thick, rich description of the lived experience of…

If a school is able to retain its teachers, the school has the potential to function as a team and create a positive learning environment. Brown and Schainker (2008) indicate, "Most teacher turnover, whether through attrition or migration, is costly and has negative effects at the school level" (p. 13). If a school has high turnover, the…

Social identity literature suggests college is a critical time for students' identity development. However, there is a lack of studies exploring the experiences of Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) and lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LOB) college students. This gap in the identity development literature also affects the ways in which postsecondary…

In spite of the tremendous growth and an option which allows greater flexibility for students to pursue a higher education, certain barriers contribute to higher attrition rates and lower student performance in fully online courses. Poor or inefficient technology skills, a lack of student readiness, and misaligned course expectations are barriers…

The Montessori classroom appears to be the ideal learning environment for children throughout elementary and middle school. It is based on the philosophy of Dr. Maria Montessori which describes an environment tailored to the Sensitive Periods of children, prepared with materials appropriate for the age and abilities of the children in a particular…

This study examined components that have an effect on crisis response team members' personal motivation to perform campus safety protocols. The research method for this study was a quantitative design. The variables measured were compensation, experience, training, and communication. The motivation sources for this study included instrumental…

John Dewey knew that when students were actively involved in their learning, they were more motivated and achieved higher. Unfortunately, our practices often negatively affect motivation, such as when teachers emphasize competition, social comparison, normative grading criteria, public forms of evaluation, and ability self-assessment. Most…

The Diversifying the Education Profession Ohio Taskforce consists of aspiring teachers, K-12 educators, human resources personnel, educator preparation program representatives, community members, State Board of Education representation, and staff members from the Ohio Department of Education and Ohio Department of Higher Education and convened to…

Wilderness orientation programs (sometimes referred to as outdoor orientation programs) use adventure programming for incoming college/university students to aid students' adjustment to college. These experiences usually occur in the days or weeks immediately prior to the first semester of the students' college coursework. They are typically…

In the present study, we investigated whether infants' own visual experiences affected their perception of the visual status of others engaging in goal-directed actions. In Experiment 1, infants viewed video clips of successful and failed goal-directed actions performed by a blindfolded adult, with half the infants having previously experienced…

We surveyed 217 students (145 girls; average age = 14.6 years) on two occasions, twelve months apart, on measures of career aspirations (job aspirations, job expectations, educational aspirations) and goal orientation (learning, performance-prove, performance-avoid), and tested the causal relationship between goal orientation and aspirations. We…

The integration of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals into the U.S. military is a long-standing and politically and socially divisive issue. Exclusionary and pseudo-inclusionary policies that restrict openly LGB individuals from military service are also of long duration. Yet LGB servicemembers have continued to serve covertly in the…

To improve equality in schools and to facilitate the identification of oppressive features of the classroom, a framework to indicate the heterosexual norm and its consequences is needed. The purpose of this paper is to construct this framework through a review of literature focusing on the school setting and texts related to equality in Swedish…