Since Schommer first introduced a survey-approach to assess students' personal epistemology, there has been a proliferation of quantitative research on this topic area. Unfortunately, most of the previous studies did not differentiate domain-specific beliefs from general beliefs. The current study investigated both domain-general and domain-specific epistemological beliefs in engineering students in terms of how these two types of beliefs related with each other and with students' academic performance, as well as how they developed together during the semester while students were taking a major course. The findings suggested that there was a certain level of association between students' domain-general and domain-specific epistemological beliefs and such association would change over time. Dimensions of both domain-general and domain-specific beliefs were related with students' academic performance and changed over half of the semester. The study also suggested that the measures of epistemological beliefs, with regards to both domain-general and domain-specific aspects, had several psychometric problems. Implications for future study are provided. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Spring Semester 2017. / April 14, 2017. / domain-specific, engineering students, epistemic cognition, epistemological beliefs, personal epistemology / Includes bibliographical references. / Jeannine Turner, Professor Directing Thesis; Yanyun Yang, Committee Member; Shonda Bernadin, Committee Member.

Bibliography: leaves 120-128. / This research study presents an enquiry into adolescents' experience of the process of intergroup contact in South Africa, with a particular emphasis on the impact of such contact on adolescent identity development. A particular instance of intergroup contact is examined, namely a drama project which brought together ten high school pupils from two very different school and home environments. Literature from both developmental psychology and social psychology was accessed to shed light on the research area, and an attempt was made to integrate the various bodies of literature, using a social constructionist perspective. A conceptual framework was developed to depict the integration between the various areas of literature. A qualitative methodology was adopted in order to facilitate an in-depth understanding of the participants' experience. Multiple methods of data collection were used, namely participant observation, interviews, pieces of writing (essays and biographies), questionnaires and video material. A computer programme, Ethnograph, was used to analyse the data and generate codes, which shaped the categories used in reporting the findings. Further, the findings were integrated with the conceptual framework developed from the literature. This integrative framework is depicted diagrammatically. The findings focus primarily on the complexity of processes involved in the impact of the intergroup situation on adolescent identity, with a particular emphasis on the relationship between personal and social identity.

America’s problem with high school students discontinuing enrollment or dropping out of school still persists despite reported increases in the nation’s graduation rates over the past few years. Black males have statistically had the lowest rankings in most educational indicators, including high school completion. The goal of this study was to gain insight from Black male students that experienced academic struggles, including school dropout, and were successful in re-engaging in education and completing high school. These students exhibited a manifestation of academic resilience as they initially succumbed to academic challenges and then bounced back by re-engaging or re-enrolling in education. This phenomenological qualitative research study gives voice to academically resilient Black males (N=8), and from an ecological perspective it provides a better understanding on how they experienced academic resilience. Their collective experiences are illustrated in a heuristic that maps out an eight-step process of academic resilience. Qualitative analysis of the interview data also revealed what specific personal and external factors, including motivations, strategies and supports, were associated with the students’ academic resilience. All study participants indicated that their journey through the academic resilience process was aided by key sources of support in their microsystems – community, family, friends, and school personnel. However, the impetus for their turnaround was their own acknowledgement that they needed to change to ensure a better future for themselves. The findings from this study have the potential to inform educational policy makers, program administrators in schools and the community, as well as social networks, including families and friends, on ways to foster and support academic resilience and to mitigate the permanency of negative outcomes associated with academic failure. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / 2019 / November 12, 2019. / academic resilience, Black male education, dropout prevention / Includes bibliographical references. / Alysia D. Roehrig, Professor Directing Dissertation; Tamara Bertrand Jones, University Representative; Cameron Beatty, Committee Member; Jeannine E. Turner, Committee Member.

Learning support with conceptual and/or procedural knowledge for problem solving is a powerful and frequently used approach to help students improve their academic achievement in GBL. The study is warranted in the body of research on how to design learning support with conceptual and/or procedural knowledge for problem solving in GBL environments in the domain of math learning. A pretest-posttest experimental design was used to examine the effects of the type of learning supports (supports with conceptual and/or procedural knowledge) for mathematical problem solving in GBL on students’ in-game performance measured by on-task time and time of attempts, mathematical achievement, and game flow. The study incorporates three conditions that are identical with respect to learning objectives (game-based math problem solving) and the learning environment (the GBL environment) but differ in only one variable: learning support. Forty-five participants were recruited from four sixth-grade classes of a charter school in the western United States. Participants in each class session were randomly assigned to three experimental conditions: (a) learning support with procedural knowledge only game playing, (b) learning support with conceptual knowledge only game playing, or (c) learning support with both conceptual and procedural knowledge game playing. Of these recruited 45 participants, 42 completed the entire four-day experiment, but one of them did not complete all the tests and the game flow survey. Thus, data from 42 participants were used to answer the first research question, and data from 41 participants, who completed the entire four-day experiment and finished all tests and surveys, were used to answer the second and the third research questions in the statistical analysis. No significant differences were found among three learning conditions in students’ in-game performance measured by on-task time and number of attempts, and game flow experience. The results indicated that learning support with procedural knowledge only, compared with learning support with both conceptual and procedural knowledge, and that with conceptual knowledge only, was the most significantly effective in promoting students’ math test scores. The current study revealed that different types of learning supports embedded in a game-based learning environment have different effects on the knowledge acquisition of mathematical problem solving. Learning support should be carefully designed and incorporated in the GBL environment. Furthermore, additional learning support is not always beneficial for reaching game flow, and may further interrupt what is enjoyable about the game, which may have a negative effect on learning in a GBL environment. The findings of the current study indicated that participants in the condition of learning support with procedural knowledge only performed better in the post-gaming math tests than the students who were given learning support with both conceptual and procedural knowledge and those with conceptual knowledge only. Moreover, it is important to provide students with learning support that can balance the acquisition of content-specific knowledge and that of content-generic knowledge and diminish the negative effects of players’ technical skills on in-game performance, particularly in a GBL environment that emphasizes high keyboard control (e.g. a 3D game). / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / 2019 / October 28, 2019. / conceptual and procedural knowlege, game-based learning, game-based math problem solving, game flow, in-game performance, learning support / Includes bibliographical references. / Fengfeng Ke, Professor Directing Dissertation; Motoko Akiba, University Representative; James Klein, Committee Member; Vanessa Dennen, Committee Member.

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