The growing adoption of active learning pedagogical methods has shown significant positive effects in higher education as they promote students' engagement and meeting of learning outcomes. Similarly, problem-based learning and media-based learning allow instructors to model educational experiences that prepare students with knowledge and skills…

This paper describes the application of new Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) in engineering education. It demonstrates how VLEs improve student learning in two engineering concepts compared with the traditional classroom setting. Literature has conflicting studies on both the advantages and disadvantages of learning in VLEs. The application of…

This manuscript describes the use of real data applied to a fictional real-estate firm for teaching data visualization to university students. In the case study, students employ data analytic techniques in Tableau to clean, organize, and analyze real estate data. By creating visualizations, students address several questions about how selling…

Mixed-reality simulation (MRS) is a new and advanced technology implemented in Educator Preparation Programs (EPP) across the United States. However, more research is needed on the effectiveness of MRS in EPPs and its impact on beginning teacher candidates. This study sought to determine the effect of teacher candidates after utilizing MRS and its…

Research has illustrated the role visual design plays in effective communication and instruction. However, more research has yet to investigate how online course designers (i.e., anyone who designs online courses) add visual appeal to online courses. This study explored the visual design process in online course development. It examines how…

Second-semester biochemistry students at two primarily undergraduate institutions, the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and the State University of New York College at Cortland, worked on a collaborative, semester-long project that resulted in the production of bioinfographics focused on metabolic pathways. Students were divided…

The world is visually complex, yet we can efficiently describe it by extracting the information that is most relevant to convey. How do the properties of real-world scenes help us decide where to look and what to say? Image salience has been the dominant explanation for what drives visual attention and production as we describe displays, but new…

Publicly available technologies are only truly 'public' if people are aware of them and know how to use them. In the US, significant resources have been devoted to public education around the recently released ShakeAlert® earthquake early warning (EEW) system operated by the U.S. Geological Survey; however, those efforts have been inconsistently…

How does the presence of information, or lack thereof, affect consumer behaviors and firm outcomes in the context of digital economy? My dissertation examines this broad question in three different empirical contexts. In the first chapter, I study how providing brand information influences the performance of job ads on an online job search…

We used a cluster-randomized controlled trial to examine the impacts of a technology- and game-based social-emotional program, the "Adventures Aboard the S.S. GRIN" ("Adventures"), on students' social skills development. Eighty-eight third-grade classrooms (N = 1645 third-grade students) across four California public school…

This transnational comparative study between Costa Rica and the United States provides an in-depth understanding of the similarities and differences of the early literacy practices of educators in the Pre-Kindergarten to Kindergarten classroom settings. Drawing upon Costa Rica's curricular approach to Early Childhood Education, based upon the…

Using current and historical data, the U.S. Census Bureau offers geography teachers activities with resources to use in the classroom. The activities are aligned to the National Geography Standards (2012) and provide real-world data examples while teaching concepts such as environmental changes and population changes. In a geography activity for…

While research on embodied learning sheds light on the body's role during science learning, there is a lack of understanding of how the body is drawn upon in subsequent learning interactions. We seek to understand how the body supports cognition and learning during and after embodiment. We elaborate upon the liminal blends framework (Enyedy, N.,…

The "Forum Guide to Data Literacy" is designed to help education agencies understand and build data literacy skills among various stakeholder groups such as administrators, teachers, students, parents and other caregivers, school board members, legislators, and community groups. This resource defines and discusses the importance of data…

This research project explores the communication opportunities for individuals in a community-based transition program in the Bay Area. The study focuses on the opportunities that are made available by a program that is founded on neurodiversity and trauma-informed principles. The research questions examined how a neurodiverse framework allows for…