Joshua Wilson,
School of Education, has been studying how computer software could evaluate and improve student writing.
This fall, Wilson received a two-year research grant from the Spencer Foundation to develop new writing evaluation algorithms for automated essay-scoring systems (AES) designed to improve writing skills of K-12 students.
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NIH Award for SUD Treatment
Valerie Earnshaw, CEHD Faculty Scholar, will use her Early Career Research Development award through the National Institutes of Health to explore how stigma affects outcomes for people with substance use disorders.
The 4-year grant includes mentoring support from UD professor Jean-Philippe Laurenceau (pictured on right) and health agencies in Boston, where Earnshaw's research will take place. Read more
Challenging Teen Readers
A team of literacy faculty developed a framework called quad text sets, aimed at increasing adolescent comprehension of challenging texts.
Described in the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, the sets require four different types of texts: one that is a challenging on- or above- grade-level text (the target text) and three other texts (visual, informational and accessible) are selected to build the background knowledge and motivation needed to comprehend the target text. Learn More
Partnering with Bahamas to increase sustainability
Residents in the Bahamas
face many economic and social challenges--high unemployment, limited healthcare and unaffordable nutritional food.
Allison Karpyn, Fulbright Scholar and associate professor in human development and family sciences, has formed a partnership with the
One Eleuthera Foundation (OEF) to help find sustainable solutions to these problems. She
has created a course in which students will evaluate existing programs, travel to the Bahamas to meet with OEF partner organizations and identify ways to enhance support and services.
This fall, UD's Laboratory Preschool unveiled a new
program that takes place entirely outside with the goal of connecting students with nature and encouraging "healthy risk taking." Activities include playing in a "mud kitchen," climbing trees, doing yoga and catching frogs and other creatures behind the Lab Preschool in an area created by friends, family, community members and the UD grounds crew.
