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Event: Undergraduate Research Symposium
Date: May 18, 2019 Location: UCI Student Center Presenters: Denise Lopez, Nallely Zambrano Crespo Mentor: Carol Connor Title: Classroom Participation and Children's Early Learning Success Abstract This study examines the extent to which verbal and non-verbal participation (active engagement) in classrooms are related to literacy and mathematics skills and whether there is a gender difference for this relation. Our participants are approximately 100 students attending 18 pre-kindergarten classrooms in Southern California schools. The data (classroom observations, literacy, and mathematics assessments) were collected as part of a larger study, which investigates the newly developed classroom observation tool, Optimizing Learning Opportunities for Students (OLOS) Observation system. OLOS is a technology based observational tool created to provide researchers and practitioners with a comprehensive assessment of classroom instruction that allows for educational improvement in the classroom. While the data analysis of this project is ongoing, we hypothesize that students who have stronger early literacy and mathematics skills will actively engage in the classroom in higher frequencies than their peers will. We conjecture that there are no gender differences in learning, but stereotype endorsement may result in engagement differences. These results may have implications for classrooms. Event: Undergraduate Research Symposium
Date: May 18, 2019 Location: UCI Student Center Presenters: Yunke Zeng, Shushi Yao Mentor: Susanne Jaeggi Title: How do Parent ADHD Symptoms Influence Child Persistence, Motivation, and Mindset? Abstract ADHD is one of the most common and hereditary neurodevelopmental disorders. Roughly one-fourth to one-half of parents of children with ADHD have ADHD themselves. Parents’ own ADHD symptoms may be a major factor contributing to their children’s ADHD. This study explores the relations among parent ADHD symptoms and child persistence and mindset. For this study, 124 participants were recruited: 62 children diagnosed with ADHD, aged 7–14 years, and their parents. The Conners’ Adult ADHD Rating Scale was used to measure the presence and severity of ADHD symptoms in parents, and children’s persistence was evaluated with a spatial and a verbal persistent task. In both persistence tasks, children completed easy problems then more difficult problems before being asked to make a selection between another easy or hard task. Their choice was taken as an indicator of persistence. Furthermore, children’s mindsets were measured by the Theories of Intelligence Survey. To test our hypothesis that parental ADHD symptoms would be associated with reduced persistence and more of a fixed mindset, participants were divided into two groups using a median split analysis. T-tests revealed no significant difference between children of parents with lower ADHD symptoms and children of parents with higher ADHD symptoms on the spatial persistence task (p=0.34), verbal persistence (p=0.36) task, and mindset questionnaire t (p=0.31). These findings suggest that children with ADHD whose parents also have ADHD may not be at a greater disadvantage as compared to children with ADHD whose parents do not have ADHD. Event: Undergraduate Research Symposium
Date: May 18, 2019 Location: UCI Student Center Presenters: Michael Kongzeng Shao, Nicole Trieu, Nina Vilaysack Mentor: Doron Zinger Title: Emergent Social Justice Themes in a STEM Focused Teacher Preparation Program Abstract One of the goals of U.S. instruction is to promote equity for all students, but this does not occur in all classrooms. To prepare future teachers for equitable instruction, UCI CalTeach, a STEM focused teacher preparation program, works to develop the social justice stances of its teacher candidates. To determine what components of social justice the program supports, we investigated how social justice appears in CalTeach coursework and the social justice stances of teacher candidates. We examined and analyzed all of the CalTeach coursework (readings and assignments) and identified emergent social justice themes. We also surveyed half of the 2019 CalTeach teacher candidate cohort (nine participants) and analyzed the participants’ responses for social justice themes. From coursework assignments and readings, the seven identified social justice themes included: socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, disability status, English Language Learner status, gender, and sociocultural and sociopolitical aspects of students and their communities. Our findings showed that the incorporation of these social justice themes in coursework increased throughout the four years of the program, with the highest emphasis in the third year. The three most frequent social justice themes that appeared in CalTeach coursework were sociocultural (32.3%), socioeconomic (19.4%), and race/ethnicity (16.1%). The social justice stances of the teacher candidates mirrored the two most frequent themes, sociocultural and socioeconomic status. Our findings suggest that social justice focused programs may need to expand their approach in order to provide students with more holistic social justice views and support wider ranges of issues. Toddlers and Taps: How do 3- and 4-Year-Old Kids in the University Community use Video Technologies?5/13/2019
Event: Undergraduate Research Symposium
Date: May 18, 2019 Location: UCI Student Center Presenters: Branda Sun, Tran Hoang, Dorthy Schmidt Mentors: Mark Warschauer, Robert David Tom Kalinowski Title: Toddlers and Taps: How do 3- and 4-Year-Old Kids in the University Community use Video Technologies? Abstract Today, babies grow up with access to internet-connected technologies which did not exist a decade ago. This dramatic change in the way we live has produced endless anxiety-focused stories in the news media. Meanwhile, some in the research community argue that it is time to look beyond “screen time” and instead focus on screen use, since ways of use rather than time of use may meaningfully impact child development. However, the ways mobile touchscreens are used in young children’s daily lives is not well known. Some survey studies show that video watching is the primary use, but beyond this few contextual factors have been described. For this study, we transcribe, code, and analyze hours of video data of 3- and 4-year-old children in the University community using new media technology—particularly video—in daily life. Findings from this observational multi-case study reveal deep, rich, contextualized features on how children from this community use video today, how video fits into the larger context of daily family life, and how video use might interplay with children’s learning and development in this community. Event: Undergraduate Research Symposium
Date: May 18, 2019 Location: UCI Student Center Presenters: Yongjia Song, Xinwei Deng Mentor: Mark Warschauer Title: Young Children’s Reading with Conversational Agents: The Role of Age and Language Status Abstract Conversational agents (CAs) that support natural speech interactions can potentially facilitate young children’s literacy development. Our team developed a CA that can narrate a story to children and engage them in story-related conversations. This study is guided by two research questions: 1) Can the CA-initiated conversations during the reading enhance children's comprehension of the story content? and 2) Do children’s responses to CA-initiated conversations vary by their age and oral language proficiency? To investigate these two questions, we randomly assigned ten children into: 1) CA with dialogue group where the CA reads the story for children and asks content-related questions during reading; or 2) CA without dialogue group where the CA reads the story for children without any questions. We collected data on children's oral language skills, their response to the in-story questions, and performance in a post-reading comprehension questionnaire. We found that children who interacted with CA scored higher in comprehension than those who only listened to the story. Children’s age and oral language skills were positively correlated with their ability to answer in-story questions. In addition, English-only children scored slightly higher than ESL and Bilingual children on in-story questions. Our results suggested that CAs may be used as a dialogic reading partner for young children. However, children’s interactions with CAs may also depend on their age and oral language skills. As such, future CA design may want to tailor to the special needs of younger children and those from linguistically diverse backgrounds. Event: Undergraduate Research Symposium
Date: May 18, 2019 Location: UCI Student Center Presenters: Ella L. Rose, Dimple Manasalaxmi Ravuri Mentors: Hosun Kang, Doron Zinger, Kris Houston, Elizabeth van Es, Virginia Panish, Jiwon Lee Title: Understanding Perspectives of Mentor Teachers and Teacher Candidates for Teacher Preparation Program Improvement Abstract The mentor teacher is an important individual that shape student teachers’ development and learning in clinical settings. Mentor programs can help support teachers and ease the transition to full time teaching. However, little is known about what aspects of mentor programs are the most effective in supporting pre-service teachers’ learning. The purpose of the study is to understand and examine the extent of alignment between mentor and student teachers’ experiences during student teaching and their understandings and use of equity in the classroom in order to better align and increase student teacher preparation and success in their careers. This study will employ mixed-methods approach to understand mentor teachers’ and candidates’ experiences of student teaching as well their understanding and use of equity in the classroom. Overall, there is high alignment between mentor and student teachers’ perception of feedback, autonomy, success, and pedagogical practice similarity. Student teachers rated their perceived success slightly lower than their mentor teachers. There were differences in the way the mentor teachers and student teachers described their understanding of equity. The student teachers, as a group, had similar understandings of equity while the mentor teachers had more variations in their responses. Differences were also found between the self-reported use of equitable practices and what was observed by the mentor and student teachers. The study has implications for the design of fieldwork arrangements and placements for the teacher education program. Event: Undergraduate Research Symposium
Date: May 18, 2019 Location: UCI Student Center Presenters: Angelina Quagletti, Jamisyn Atlas Mentors: Susanne Jaeggi, Austin Moon Title: The Impact of Self-Efficacy Intervention on Older Adult Working Memory Training Abstract The recent explosion in awareness of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia has led the baby boomer generation to demand not only more effective diagnostics, but also preventative measures to preserve one’s cognitive functions. Cognitive training has been shown to improve working memory measured by N-back performance. Research has also shown that extended retest practice and ability training significantly improve test performance, but only ability training creates a positive change in self-efficacy. With that research in mind, this study aims to evaluate the impact of improving self-efficacy in older adults in conjunction with N-back training. Sixty-three cognitively healthy older adults were split into two groups and trained with a visuospatial N-back task, called MatchQuest, every day for 20 days. One group participated in three workshops over the course of their training, aimed towards improving their memory self-efficacy and cognitive health, while the other group only completed training. Both groups were administered a test battery assessing cognitive measures before and after training. Though we do not see a difference in training performance, the self-efficacy intervention group shows inclination towards near and far transfer. These and other effects may take longer to manifest, which will be evaluated in follow-up tests. We expect the group who participated in the workshops to have a stronger positive transfer to long-term memory, metacognition, and visual working memory tasks than the control group. Event: Undergraduate Research Symposium
Date: May 18, 2019 Location: UCI Student Center Presenters: Elena Park, Joanna Nguyen, Amanda Bishop Mentors: Susanne Jaeggi, Austin Moon Title: Effects of Massed Versus Distributed Learning in Younger Adults Abstract Rigorous cognitive training has been implemented in an attempt to measure working memory capacity and executive functions while also observing transfer and spacing effects on fluid intelligence. Transfer effects can be seen as coexisting cognitive functions beyond the training threshold, whereas spacing effect refers to the degree of memory retention in between timely gaps separating training. Prior literature does not focus on different spacing intervals in order to determine the extent of transfer in a young adult population. In this study, young adult participants completed ten training sessions with a designated training program. The participants were given one of two possible programs for their training sessions: MatchQuest was used for experimental training while Knowledge Builders was for control training. The spacing conditions implemented were every day, every other day, or twice a day. Through the manipulation of training distribution and type of training program used, we hypothesized that participants in the every other day condition would yield the most benefit for working memory capacity and function. With preliminary findings, there appeared to be an improvement with training for each spacing condition and an improvement in the performance of working memory tasks after each session. Thus, the type and spacing of the training sessions do play a significant role in cognitive function and working memory capacity on the younger adult population, which leads to a transfer or increase in cognitive function. Individuals displayed an improvement throughout their training and transfer successfully occurred, displaying an improvement in working memory. How Can a Teacher Play the Role of Key Actor in Helping Latinx Students’ Identity in a STEM Subject?5/13/2019
Event: Undergraduate Research Symposium
Date: May 18, 2019 Location: UCI Student Center Presenters: Miranda Lopez, Cristina Alvarez Mentor: Hosun Kang Title: How Can a Teacher Play the Role of Key Actor in Helping Latinx Students’ Identity in a STEM Subject? Abstract With the continuing change in demographics in California’s classrooms it is important that students of color see themselves in future STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) careers. The purpose of this qualitative, single case, is to articulate the responsive teaching in which instructors acknowledge and validate students’ culture, knowledge, needs, interests, as well as their personal background and experiences. We employed holistic analysis based on an observation and interview conducted on one occasion. The findings provide examples of teachers’ responsive teaching practices, and how it created spaces for students of color to connect themselves with STEM. Based on the findings, we argue that teachers can become Key Actors in nurturing students’ sense of self efficacy as engineers and scientists within STEM conversations and settings. Event: Undergraduate Research Symposium Date: May 18, 2019 Location: UCI Student Center Presenters: Jazmin Cruz, Haley DeSales Mentors: Judith Sandholtz, Jenell Krishnan Title: The NGSS Era: Understanding Rural Elementary Teachers’ Science Instruction Abstract A significant educational inequity exists regarding science instruction in rural, low socioeconomic school settings in comparison to their affluent counterparts. Implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) is an attempt to close the opportunity gap, specifically for science learning. The perceptions of NGSS by elementary school science teachers are critical for closing this gap. Thus, our investigation focuses on rural elementary school teachers’ perceptions of NGSS as it relates to their instructional strategies for science teaching. Specifically, our goals are threefold: (1) to understand what teachers perceive as beneficial regarding NGSS, (2) to explore what challenges teachers report related to implementing NGSS, and (3) to draw connections between these perceptions and teachers’ self-reported science instructional strategies. We analyzed 47 rural elementary science teachers’ interviews using qualitative coding. Teachers reported several benefits of NGSS-aligned science teaching including its focus on student-driven inquiry around an authentic phenomenon. Teachers also reported several challenges to NGSS-aligned science teaching including a lack of curriculum, and its required shift in instructional practice. These findings suggest that teachers’ perceptions of NGSS play some role in the science learning opportunities afforded to elementary school students in today’s rural contexts. To improve science learning opportunities for underserved students, additional research is needed to understand the factors that influence elementary school teachers’ science instructional practice.
Jazmin Cruz & Haley DeSales Presenting at 2019 UROP Research Symposium
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