Speech is a complex, redundant and variable signal happening in a noisy and ever changing world. How do listeners navigate these complex auditory scenes and continuously and effortlessly understand most of the speakers around them? Studies show that listeners can quickly adapt to new situations, accents and even to distorted speech. Although prior…

The concentration in K-12 education on higher-order thinking has diminished the importance of math fact automaticity, which is the ability to deliver a correct answer immediately from long-term memory without impeding the working memory. This quantitative study investigated the influence of automaticity of high school students on their Missouri…

While the supply of information pertaining to many decisions is seemingly limitless, the capacity of the human mind to process it is not. In this dissertation, I study some of the implications of information processing constraints for human decision-making. Its three chapters span different levels, investigating the consequences of information…

Computational thinking (CT) is an essential 21st century skill for people to succeed in the increasingly technological (and interconnected) world. Researchers have explored different interventions to teach students CT skills (e.g., Scratch and robotics), but digital game-based learning is relatively under-researched. A critical issue to address in…

This study investigated the effects of WML and automaticity on mental addition through an examination of both task and individual characteristics within the framework of cognitive load theory. Seventy-three fourth-grade students in New York City public schools completed the Digit Span-Backward task of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for…

In 2019, the U.S. is still facing a shortage of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce that is capable of solving social and economic challenges in 21st century worldwide. Numerous studies have explored the influence of integrative STEM approaches on developing student interest and career aspiration in STEM. Building on…

The purpose of the study was to explore the cognitive profiles associated with inadequate responsiveness to fractions intervention on 3 fractions outcomes (calculations, ordering, and word problems). At the start of 3rd grade, 2 cohorts of students (N = 124) identified at the start of intervention as at-risk for mathematics difficulties were…

This thesis explores how predictions about upcoming language inputs are computed during real-time language comprehension. Previous research has demonstrated humans' ability to use rich contextual information to compute linguistic prediction during real-time language comprehension, and it has been widely assumed that contextual information can…

In many evolving systems, inputs can be derived from both human observations and physical sensors. Additionally, many computation and analysis tasks can be performed by either human beings or artificial intelligence (AI) applications. For example, weather prediction, emergency event response, assistive technology for various human sensory and…

Understanding the linear relationship of numbers is essential for doing practical and abstract mathematics throughout education and everyday life. There is evidence that number line activities increase learners' number sense, improving the linearity of mental number line representations (Siegler & Ramani, 2009). Mental representations of…

A cohort of 87 Latino elementary school students participated in a study to identify factors predictive of the math reasoning and math computation performance levels. Multiple regression analyses were used to determine which of the five blocks or combination of blocks were significantly predictive of performance levels on two standardized academic…

The purpose of this research is to describe and understand the ways in which deaf middle school students understood and solved compare word problems, and to examine their overall strategy use in learning mathematics. The participants in the study were deaf middle school students, attending a residential state school for the deaf. Most of them used…

According to industry representatives, computer science education needs to emphasize the processes involved in solving computing problems rather than their solutions. Most of the current assessment tools used by universities and computer science departments analyze student answers to problems rather than investigating the processes involved in…

Interest in students who exhibit characteristics with difficulties in learning can be traced as far back as 1800. In order to better understand the complexities and causes of learning disabilities, many researchers (Bannatyne, 1968, 1974; Rugal, 1974) have investigated ways to better identify learners who struggle with academics. A strong argument…