Steele Research Symposium

González Canché’s research follows two interconnected paths. The first concerns issues of access, persistence, and success, with an emphasis on institution effects–such as 2-year versus 4-year college and distance from home—on students’ outcomes The second focuses on higher education finance, with emphases on spatial modeling and competition based on spatial proximity and spillover effects.

In his research González Canché employs econometric, quasi-experimental, spatial statistics, and visualization methods for big and geocoded data, including geographical information systems, representation of real-world networks, and text-mining techniques. In related work, he aims to harness the mathematical power of network analysis to find structure in written content. He is proposing an analytic method (Network Analysis of Qualitative Data) that blends quantitative, mathematical, and qualitative principles to analyze text data. Similarly, he is also proposing the implementation of geographical network analyses that merge network principles and spatial econometrics to model spatial dependence of the outcome variables before making inferential claims. Both of these approaches are yet to be broadly implemented in higher education research.

Recent projects include:

• Overcoming the Geography of Disadvantage: A Spillovers Framework to Identify Structural Means to Enhance Community College Students’ Educational Outcomes Despite Their Location. Funding: $70,000. NAED/Spencer postdoctoral fellowship. Funding period: January 2019–December 2020.
• Employment Volatility in the Academic Workforce: Implications for Faculty Financial and Retirement Plans. Funding: $70,000. TIAA institute. Funding period: April 2019– February 2020.
• The Effect of the Uniform Bar Examination on Diversity, Affordability, and Employment Prospects. Funding: $71,128. AccessLEX Institute. Funding period: April 2019–September 2020.
• Estimating the Effect of Losing the Federal Loan Subsidy on Debt Accumulation for Law and Professional Students in the United States: Evidence From a Natural Experiment (Principal Investigator). Funding: $49,997. Association for Institutional Research, Access Group/AIR Grant (grant #RG1606). Funding period: March 2016–April 2017.
• Are there Any Educational and Financial Detriments Associated with Nearby College Enrollment? (Principal Investigator). Funding: $20,000. American Education Research Association/National Science Foundation (grant #DRL-0941014). Funding period: March 2016–August 2017.
• Toward an Alliance to Prepare a National Faculty for Broadening Success of Underrepresented 2-Year and 4-Year STEM Students (Senior Personnel). Funding: $300,000. National Science Foundation. Funding period: January 2017-January 2019.
• The Gendered Career Path from Doctorate to Faculty Appointment: A Multi-State Analysis (Co-Principal Investigator). Funding: $39,966, AIR/NCES/NSF (grant #RG15-9240). Year: 2015–2016.
• Improving the Teaching and Learning of English Language Learners: The Instructional Conversation Model (Co-Principal Investigator). Funding: $1.5 million. Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Funding period: 2012–2016.
• Financial Benefits of Student Loan Repayment: An Analytic Framework Employing Two Decades of Data (Principal Investigator). Funding: $35,100. The Spencer Foundation (grant #201500116). Funding period: January–December 2015.

Session Chair: Christina Barbieri

Julien Corven
Ph.D. in Education (Mathematics Education)
Prospective Elementary Teachers’ Development of Specialized Content Knowledge for Whole Number Division
Teacher preparation programs must ensure prospective teachers (PTs) develop specialized content knowledge (SCK) for key mathematics topics. I examined SCK development for division of whole numbers among 59 elementary PTs enrolled in their first mathematics content course. Latent class analysis revealed four distinct SCK development profiles. A discriminant function analysis with prior knowledge and dispositional factors moderately predicted PT classification to the profiles. Triangulation with final grades demonstrated that the SCK profiles and the discriminant function analysis had modest predictive utility for overall success in the course. Further research is needed to understand how to identify and assist PTs who might experience limited SCK development from course instruction alone.

Kwaku Edusei
Ph.D. in Education (Mathematics Education)
Integrating Game Mechanics and Math Content in Math Game Design
There has been a longstanding scrutiny of the affordances of educational games to both engage students, and teach them educational content. Despite these capabilities, experts agree that these affordances of educational games are contingent upon the extent to which the game’s educational content, and its game mechanics and/or game features are integrated. The purpose of this study is to investigate designers’ perspectives on (a) what mathematics means to them, (b) their descriptions and values about integration of math content and game mechanics, and (c) why they made specific design choices when designing their math game. In this study, designers (n=6) were interviewed and asked several questions within the 3 domains above. I will share several preliminary impressions from my interviews.

Kelly-Ann Gesuelli
Ph.D. in Education (School Psychology)
Fraction Arithmetic Development: A Longitudinal Study on Students’ Growth and Errors During the Intermediate Grades
Many students make little progress in their fraction knowledge and display fraction arithmetic difficulties (Resnick et al., 2017) during the critical intermediate grades (4th- 6th). We examined students’ fraction arithmetic skills during these grades and analyzed their errors. LCGA revealed 3 growth classes: high, low, and consistently accurate. In 4th and 5th grade, high growth students used the common “add/subtract across denominators” strategy on 41-71% of their errors but made few errors in 6th grade. Low growth students’ errors reflected a mix of conceptually inappropriate procedures across grades (63-83% of errors). Findings suggest low growth students have fundamental fraction difficulties that should be addressed by core instruction in both fraction and whole number concepts.

Scott Sheridan
Ph.D. in Education student (Learning Sciences)
Promoting Computational Thinking using Digital Technologies: Choosing the Right Tool for the Job
Most teachers have limited capabilities to create with computers themselves let alone teach such concepts to students. Fortunately, teachers do not need to be proficient coders to prepare students to learn these skills. Rather, they need to understand and implement Computational Thinking (CT), a problem solving approach that incorporates integral computing concepts. Digital technologies may afford teachers opportunities to integrate such computing principles into lessons containing core curricular concepts. This preliminary study explores pre-service elementary teachers use of two digital tools to create lessons which infuse CT into a variety of core subjects. Results offer insight into how digital technologies might be better leveraged to support students’ learning of CT.

Session Chair: Elizabeth Farley-Ripple

Discussant: Kati Tilley

Nick Bell and Diane Codding
Ph.D. in Education students (Sociocultural and Community-Based Approaches)
Understanding the Preparation of Teacher Candidates’ Sociopolitical Identity
Teacher educators have a limited amount of time to prepare candidates for becoming political change agents. Therefore, we have to understand the efficacy of preparation efforts. As a result, we developed the Equity Scenario Response Survey to understand our candidates’ preparation of their sociopolitical identity, defined by equity knowledge and skills. Findings from quantitative analyses revealed a reliable and valid scale, while qualitative analyses provided rich information about candidates’ understanding and application of skills. Overall, the utilization of quantitative and qualitative methods allowed researchers to understand from a critical race perspective, the preparedness of candidates’ sociopolitical identity to confront inequities.

Casey Griffin
Ph.D. in Education student (Mathematics Education)
Female Sense of Belonging and Active Learning in Calculus (could be math learning)
Women continue to be underrepresented in undergraduate STEM majors. Low sense of belonging among female students and poor instruction of introductory STEM courses, especially Calculus, have been identified as major contributors to females leaving STEM. Incorporating active learning into Calculus instruction has potential to support female students in building a stronger sense of belonging and persisting in STEM. This study examines differences in female students’ sense of belonging and instructional experience in two versions of introductory Calculus – a standard course and a non-standard course infused with active learning. Females in the non-standard course reported significantly higher sense of belonging than female students in the standard course.

Nefetaria Yates
Ph.D. in Education student (Sociocultural and Community-Based Approaches)
Colors Outside the Lines: Recollections & Reflections on Black Girlhood
Inspired by the archetypes of Nina Simone’s 1966 jazz classic “Four Women” – Aunt Sarah, Saffronia, Sweet Thing, and Peaches, this interview project retrospectively explores the K-12 schooling experiences of Black women (20 total) to provide a nuanced view of Black female identity development, notions of radical self-love, and insight into the alchemy of Black Girl Magic (Thomas, 2015; Wilson, 2016). Moreover, these reflections serve as a lens through which we can interrogate racial and gender stereotypes, systems of power, and dominant cultural norms.

Session Chair: Erica Litke

Discussant: Brianna Devlin

Matthew Melville
Ph.D. in Education (Mathematics Education)
Japanese Instructional Circles
Interest in Japanese mathematics teaching has been motivated through their high achievement scores in international mathematics assessments (e.g., TIMSS). Lesson study is perhaps the most influential idea from the study of Japanese mathematics education. This mode of professional development has been widely studied and implemented in adapted versions in various countries (Fujii, 2013). Lesson study implementation outside of Japan has had mixed results (Doig, Groves, & Fujii, 2011). Miyakawa & Winslow (2019) argue that Japanese lesson study cannot be fully understood without understanding the entire “infrastructure” of work and development of a Japanese teacher. One part of this “infrastructure” that can support teachers’ ability to engage in lesson study is teacher instructional circles.

Amanda Mohammad Mirzaei
Ph.D. in Education (Mathematics Education)
Introductory Calculus Goals and Instruction: Descriptions from Secondary and Postsecondary Instructors
I investigated the goals and reported instructional practices of three groups of calculus instructors: AP Calculus, postsecondary introductory calculus, and postsecondary second-course calculus. These groups were chosen to represent the various ways students might move to and through introductory calculus. I considered how instructors’ goals and reported instruction aligned across groups. I surveyed and interviewed 9 participants (3 from each group). Results illustrate that while participants across the groups expressed similar goals around the critical take-aways of calculus, differences exist in instructional practices used to achieve these goals between secondary and postsecondary instructors.

Haobai Zhang
Ph.D. in Education (Learning Sciences)
Exploring Co-development of Executive Functions and Math Achievement Using Cross-lagged Panel Model with Fixed Effects
Executive functioning (EF) appears to play an important role in children’s mathematics skill development, both concurrently and longitudinally. Although strong associations between EF subcomponents and mathematics achievement have been found, the direction of these associations over time is equivocal. Using the large-scale nationally representative dataset (N = 18,174) from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten:2011 (ECLS-K:2011), we examined the reciprocal relationship between math achievement and two components of EF (working memory (WM) and cognitive flexibility (CF)) from kindergarten to fifth grade using causal inference methods.

Session Chair: Laura Eisenman

Amber Beliakoff
Ph.D. in Education (Learning Sciences)
The Identification of Children At-Risk for Mathematics Difficulties: Comparing Two Forms of an Early Number Sense Screener
Early numerical competencies accurately predict later academic achievement. Thus, teachers need to be equipped to identify children who may be at-risk for mathematics difficulties (MD). The present study investigated the diagnostic accuracy of two forms of the Screener for Early Number Sense (SENS), a screening tool designed for pre-K, kindergarten, and first grade. Children were assessed on the SENS (N = 450) and given a mathematics achievement test one year later. At each grade level, the two forms of the SENS were statistically contrasted to determine if one screener produces higher diagnostic accuracy. The practical utility of the SENS was evaluated via item analyses, posttest probabilities, and growth analysis. Findings and practical implications will be discussed.

Yue Huang
Ph.D. in Educational Statistics and Research Methods
Using Automated Feedback to Develop Writing Proficiency
The present study examined growth in writing quality associated with automated feedback provided by an automated writing evaluation (AWE) software and whether prolonged usage of the software was associated with gains in students’ independent performance (i.e., unaided transfer) and in students’ ability to effectively revise their writing with the aid of automated feedback (i.e., aided transfer). Data were collected from 431 students in Grades 4-5 . Hierarchical growth curve modeling revealed a non-linear, decelerating shape of growth in writing performance across successive revisions. Hierarchical gain score modeling showed that there were no unaided transfer effects for average initial draft scores, but an aided transfer effect was evidenced in students’ gain in growth rates.

Melissa Stoffers
Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Sciences
Board Certified Behavior Analysts’ Experiences Teaching Sex Education
Sex education access is correlated with expressive communication ability (Barnard-Brak et al., 2014). Therefore, individuals with autism, a disability associated with challenges in social communication (McPartland, 2016), may be less likely to receive sex education. Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) are well-positioned to teach sex education to individuals with autism. This study, developed in partnership with a research advisory board, sought to understand BCBAs’ experiences teaching sex education. Nine BCBAs participated in semi-structured interviews. A thematic analysis was conducted, and we identified five themes: Restriction, Problem Behavior as an Impetus for Sex Education, How Impairment Affects Instruction, Centrality of Consent, and Questioning Qualifications.

Majd Subih
Ph.D. in Education (Sociocultural and Community-Based Approaches)
Doing Research with Disabled Syrian Refugees: Challenges and Insights
This presentation reflects on a pilot research study that I conducted during the Fall of 2020. I aimed to explore the experiences of Syrian refugees with disabilities who were in high school or college/university and living in the US. I wanted to explore their educational, refugee, and disability experiences and how such experiences influence their identities and sense of self. Even though my original plan did not go as planned, I still learned a lot regarding challenges that I will face going forward with this research, especially in regard to participant recruitment, differing perspectives on disability, and disability stigma. I will focus first on the overall challenges that I faced during the pilot study. Then I will shift to discussing theoretical and methodologic implications.

Session Chair: Kenneth Shores

Aly Blakeney
Ph.D. in Economic Education
Under-borrowing a Thing? Exploring Whether Students Choose High Work Hours Over Student Loans
Through the use of a survey and debt-bias measure at two public institutes of higher education, we examine the prevalence and extent of the phenomenon of “under-borrowing”: students choosing to fund their education through 20+ work hours a week at low-wage jobs over taking out federal student loans. I will present preliminary results and findings, as well as discuss plans for future exploratory research.

Josh Dalton and Meaghan Vitale
Ph.D. in Economic Education
Same School, Different Returns: The Benefits for Women in Economics Relative to Business
Economists have long noted that economics is less a set of skills and more a way of thinking, especially relative to other fields in the academy. The purpose of this paper is to see if majoring in economics results in higher horizontal job mismatch, earnings, and job satisfaction for women relative to those with business degrees. We also seek to strengthen any findings by mitigating or eliminating the effect of selection bias with inverse propensity score weighting. We find that for women an economics degree causes higher job mismatch and earnings, but lower job satisfaction relative to a business degree.

Pragya Shrestha
Ph.D. in Education (Evaluation, Measurement, and Statistics)
Efficacy of Bayesian Rate Ratio for Estimating Effect Size of Single Case Experimental Designs
Statistical methods used in Single Case Experimental Designs (SCED) are mostly suitable for analyzing continuous data. However, count outcome is more prevalent in SCED. The Bayesian Rate Ratio (BRR) effect size is a within-subject effect size for autocorrelated count data. The current paper examines the efficacy of BRR as an effect size using simulation under various conditions of phase lengths, autocorrelation, and standardized mean difference effect size. Preliminary results with 5 replications show the Root Mean Squared Error of the posterior mean of effect size is lower for longer phase length, low autocorrelation value, and smaller phase mean difference. A thorough assessment of the BRR effect size will determine the efficacy of BRR effect size as a valid and reliable index for SCED.

• Students can present their research in graphic form during the poster session and select from participating in the judging process or simply presenting their posters at the Symposium. Registration is due by March 12 for this option.
• For students who will participate in the prize competition, they will need to submit their poster files by March 12.
• For students who do not want to participate in the poster judging process, they need to have their posters ready to present at the Symposium on April 23.

Poster details:

• It is required to develop your poster using one of the UD templates. You may download a CEHD template or a UD template.

• The role of discussant is possible for advanced graduate students who have previously presented a paper at the Steele Symposium and would like a new role. Advanced graduate students who want to be considered for a discussant role, please indicate that on the registration form (due March 23) and we will assign you to a session based on submissions and your area of expertise.
• We will notify those who applied to be discussants by March 26. If you are not accepted as a discussant but still required to participate, you may submit a late entry for paper or poster presentation, which will be due April 2.
• For students who are accepted as discussants, plan to receive summaries of papers by April 9, giving you two weeks to prepare your remarks for the Symposium.
• Discussants synthesize the papers to draw on common themes. Discussants typically provide critiques of the papers, pointing out strengths, areas that would improve the paper, and suggestions for future study. Some resources for discussants can be found here.

1. To be considered for an award, the student’s paper or poster submission must be the original work of the student. Co-authors may submit for award consideration, as long as the co-authors are UD students. Papers or posters co-authored with faculty may not be submitted for award consideration. Students can acknowledge a faculty member’s lab. Please discuss any questions with your faculty advisor or sponsor.
2. Papers and posters that are being considered for awards must be blinded by the student prior to submitting the document with the registration form by March 23. Please ensure that you have removed all identifying information. Only the poster file needs to be uploaded by March 23.