National Science Foundation grant

Professor Kiel Christianson of the Department of Educational Psychology has received a three-year grant worth $448,259 from the National Science Foundation for his research project “Exploring the Link Between Rereading and Comprehension.”

According to Christianson’s abstract, the research project specifically examines the assumption that re-reading text is aimed at correcting errors in processing by trying to link re-reading behaviors to post-hoc assessments of reading comprehension, such as comprehension questions often used in educational settings. His project represents the first attempt to explicitly link eye movements during re-reading to standard measures of reading comprehension, thereby seeking to inform both basic science and educational assessment.

Learn more about Christianson’s research project. 

Institute of Education Sciences grant

Associate Professor Jennifer Cromley of the Department of Educational Psychology has been awarded a three-year grant worth $756,527 from the Institute of Education Sciences for her research project “Inference-Making and Reasoning: Refinement of an Assessment for Use in Gateway Biology Courses.”

Cromley said the objective of her research team is to have a high-quality measure of reasoning in biology that is unbiased, that can help identify at-risk students—even ones who have good high school credentials—and that can show growth in reasoning skills after a semester of introductory biology. For the last seven years, Cromley and her team have used a measure of student Inference-Making and Reasoning in Biology (IMRB) that explains additional variance in these outcomes above and beyond the commonly used cognitive variables.

Learn more about Cromley’s research project.