This proposed research aims at two related targets: (a) scale up analysis to adolescent large social networks with partial and biased observations, examining directly the role that computers-in-the-middle play within social structures, and examine non-participants in social groups and games; (b) create a set of games for use in the classroom that would collect data for this research and also provide information about class dynamics. PIs combine experiences in developing probabilistic inference algorithms for large relational models and in developing social-network theory that impacts adolescent education throughout the country and the world.

This research evaluates intellectually-stimulating, personally-engaging, conceptually-rich instruction that could boost the conceptual understanding, thinking skills, language, and motivation of African American and Latina/o nonmainstream children. Fifth graders work in small collaborative groups and engage in open, free-flowing, peer-managed discussions that call for critical and reflective thinking. The central instructional unit entails issues in environmental science and public policy and integrates language arts, science, and social science. This quasi-experiment includes thirty-six fifth grade classrooms (700-800 children). Microgenetic analysis aims to locate the critical events that enabled children to acquire and transfer subject-matter concepts and reasoning strategies and led to heightened engagement.

This project examines the process and product of interpretation, with special attention to how different sources of information are integrated into a unified interpretation, and how attention is allocated to various information sources. The methodology combines online measures of eye-tracking in reading and visual world tasks, self-paced reading, syntactic priming, lesion studies, and offline interpretation probe tasks. Project goals include: (1) fostering student research; (2) informing classroom teaching; (3) developing a graduate seminar centered on good-enough language processing and its connection to cognition and learning; and (4) informing the design and evaluation of language and literacy testing materials.

The goal of this project is to develop a protocol that combines eye movement data, text characteristics, and individual differences among readers to predict efficacy of texts and graphics. The end result, derived from testing of different texts with a relatively large population of participants, is anticipated to be a model of how people interact with texts (be they product descriptions, advertisements, or something else) and a metric that can be used to predict with some degree of accuracy an audience-text interaction profile and response profile given readers with a certain demographic (audience) profile and a text with certain characteristics.

The Postdoctoral Fellows Program provides a breadth and depth of research-related experiences to prepare fellows for full engagement in academic professional life. Senior faculty/project members will provide mentoring. Researchers will train four Postdoctoral Fellows for 2 years in this program. The research opportunities offered include: (1) innovations in formative and summative assessment; (2) development of methods for assessment of complex performance; (3) disciplinary practices of discipline areas captured in written reports and essays; and (4) exploration of the affordances of social media for peer-to-peer learning. Fellows will select a research project for concentrated involvement.

This research project examines two areas of critical importance for Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT). First, flexible models for response times are developed to assist in controlling the duration of an exam, and also to assist in the measurement of ability in appropriate circumstances. Second, statistical methods for constraint management are developed to ensure that an exam has sufficient information to diagnose fine-grained skills while also providing an accurate summary score. The results of this study provide technology to better utilize response-time information and also enhance the ability of CAT to provide diagnostic information.

This study uses a social ecological framework to explore the unique and shared risk and protective factors of bullying and sexual violence perpetuation/victimization among middle school students. Factors are assessed across several nested contextual systems, including family, peers, and school environments. Approximately 1,200 middle school students in two Illinois school districts completed 2 days of self- and peer-report surveys across two periods during the spring of 2008. These students will be assessed for the next two years to document the course of bullying and sexual violence perpetuation/victimization across the middle school years. This study will inform policy related to bullying and sexual violence prevention planning.

This project is a large-scale, randomized longitudinal evaluation of a newly revised middle school intervention that draws from the risk/protective factors model and social-cognitive theories of aggression. Intervention lessons focus on the outcomes of bullying, relational aggression, sexual harassment, dating relationships, and substance use. This project simultaneously addresses the nation-wide push to prevent bullying and test the program impact on the prevalence of sexual violence and coercion in the context of dating relationships. The study includes a three-year nested cohort design in which 32 to 36 middle schools are randomly assigned either to the Second Step program or control condition.

This project’s primary goal is to create multimedia learning modules (MLMs), based on cognitive principles from the field of multimedia learning, whose primary purpose is to teach basic conceptual knowledge. It pioneers the development of research-based electronic media by creating multimedia learning modules for first-year calculus-based introductory physics courses. By reviewing these modules, students are prepared for class time that applies basic physics principles in solving real world problems. The MLMs have been successfully implemented at UIUC and are currently being piloted at several universities around the country.

This project continues the development of an educative, values-engaged approach to evaluating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education programs. The approach emphasizes the critical contributions of evaluation to STEM knowledge generation and learning and to the political requirements for equal access, opportunity, and representation in STEM educational policies, programs, and practices, especially for learners from underrepresented groups. Conceptual development of this approach is currently supported by an EREC grant. The present proposal is funded to field test, critically refine, and disseminate this STEM education evaluation approach.

This program prepares researchers to conduct rigorous research that is relevant to mathematics education. The program provides fellows with a rich set of experiences and skills needed to conduct mixed-method and quantitative research that will improve U.S. mathematics teaching and learning with diverse populations. Fellows work with a range of faculty who conduct classroom-based research and analyze large-scale mathematics data (including ECLS-K and NAEP). The postdoctoral program at UIUC helps fill the national need for scholars who have a blend of expertise in mathematics education, research design and data analysis.

This study investigates how second language (L2) processing makes use of grammatical constraints in sentence interpretation, focusing on island constraints and parasitic gaps. In this project, two eye-tracking studies are proposed to examine; (1) the real time role of island constraints; and (2) its interaction with parasitic gap licensing. The proposed study contributes to the debate on the degree of syntactic sophistication of L2 processing, which is one of the central issues in L2 processing research. The study also sheds light on the broader question of the (dis)continuity of L1 and L2 systems.

The goal of this project is to test whether a computer-based tool that supports collaboration between nurses and patients improves medication knowledge and use among patients with type II diabetes or other metabolic disorders. Specific aims of the project are to: 1) refine the Medtable prototype for use in an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) environment; and 2) evaluate the Medtable’s impact on patient care processes and outcomes. Information generated will assist patients understand how to take their medications, support provider/patient communication, and health outcomes among chronically ill adults with complex medication regimens.

This project contributes to developing a taxonomy that identifies relationships between aircraft flightdeck and Air Traffic Control automated systems. Research activities include; (1) Identify and characterize taxonomy dimensions for current and future forms of automation; (2) Collect and analyze background information relevant to the taxonomy; and, (3) Develop a prototype human-automation relationship taxonomy. The research has implications for taxonomy profiles for various automated systems, for predicting the ease with which flight crews can interact with these systems, and for crew training requirements.

This research project is a collaboration with the University of Arizona to examine the effect of an in-home, tailored, multifaceted prospective memory intervention on adherence to antihypertensive medication for adults 65 years of age and older. The intervention is grounded in recent empirical and theoretical developments in the area of prospective memory and focuses on enhancing medication adherence through the use of relatively well-preserved cuedriven and automatic processes. While this intervention is being tested with older adults, the intervention has broad implications for improving adherence in other populations.

This project uses regression discontinuity to approximate a randomized control trial to study the effects of assessing mathematics in English vs. Spanish. A unique feature in the assessment design of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K) allows for rigorous, quasi-experimental tests of the effects of native-language assessment accommodations in mathematics in kindergarten and first grade. The rich set of variables in ECLS-K permits differential effects analyses, which can inform research and instructional practice regarding how context interacts with language-of-assessment effects. This research aims to improve understanding of how to fairly and validly assess English learners' mathematical knowledge.

This project is a collaboration with the Pennsylvania State University to conduct research on peer relations, new methods from social network analysis, and educational research on classroom management. The research includes development measures of classroom peer ecologies that predict youth outcomes, and measures of teaching practices associated with those aspects of the peer ecology.

The study looks at how children’s social status and social network dynamics relate to achievement, aggression, and school relatedness, identifying teacher practices that positively direct peer dynamics. The measurement strategy includes self- and peer-reports, classroom observations of teaching, teacher surveys and interviews, direct tests of academic competencies, and school record information. The key youth outcomes are: (1) academic competence; (2) aggression; and (3) students’ reports of their own social relatedness. Strategies will be developed to raise awareness of critical teaching processes regarding classroom social dynamics.

The Center’s goal is to develop a reliable, robust and cost-effective nanomanufacturing system to make nanostructures from multiple materials. One of the Center’s core missions is to develop a diverse U.S. workforce of educators, scientist, engineers, and practitioners to advance nanomanufacturing technology in the U.S. and beyond. Nano-CEMMS provides a wide range of human resource development activities targeted toward increasing both the diversity of students involved with the Center and educational opportunities at the K-12 and undergraduate levels, as well as providing graduate students with teaching experience in an emerging field.

This project evaluates key components of the current Illinois assessment and accountability system using a mixed-methods evaluation design. Two aspects of the Enhanced Illinois Standards Assessment Test, the Illinois No Child Left Behind accountability assessment for Grades 3-8 in Reading and Mathematics, are studied: (a) the intended and unintended assessment consequences and (b) Enhanced ISAT test equating and linking. The results will provide the foundation for a long term Illinois assessment and accountability program that will be designed to improve learning for all students in Illinois.

This Center investigates how humans acquire and use language, and develop literacy, when audition is not an available learning mode, including how deaf individuals learn to read, and the extension of visually based learning strategies to general educational practice. The Center’s Developmental and Sociocultural Processes of Visual Learning initiative examines learning environments for visual learners in natural settings, with three collaborations. Visual Language Acquisition charts individual developmental courses for acquiring visual language as a first language; Literacy Development explicates how profoundly deaf individuals may achieve excellence in reading; while Inter-Language and Inter-Modal Language Mapping documents visual linguistic and knowledge domains.

This study focuses on online racial discrimination among adolescents and its impact on academic performance, mental health and behavior over time. A central goal is to explore the psychological and contextual factors that may heighten risk and serve as a buffer against the negative outcomes typically associated with online victimization. The study has a mixed-method, longitudinal design which includes an online survey and interviews via Instant Messenger. A diverse, school-based sample of 1,000 students in 6th -10th grade will be among the participants. This study will ultimately advance theoretical models of the role that race plays in adolescent life online.