Date of Award

2010-03-01

Degree Name

EdD Doctor of Education

Dissertation Committee

Douglas B. Fisher, PhD; Barbara Moss, EdD; Fred J. Galloway, EdD

Keywords

adult literacy learners, cognitive domains, Dyslexia, memory, quantitative, reading, self-assessment, standardized tests

Abstract

The dissertation evaluated the ability of adult literacy learners with dyslexia to assess their cognitive abilities in two separate domains: reading and memory. This study also evaluated the effect that one-on-one tutoring had on the learner's ability to accurately self-assess these cognitive abilities. Twenty adult literacy learners (n = 20) with dyslexia were tested in both domains. This study also included a control group of 10 good readers (n = 10) who were administered the same three standardized tests. This data was collected by administering three standardized assessments. This was a quantitative study that used analysis of variance (ANOVA), repeated measures ANOVA, and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) to determine if there were any differences between the two groups. The results indicated that when both groups performed poorly they both overestimated their performance until they were exposed to the same task repeatedly. It was at this time they not only became more accurate but began to underestimate which might imply they either lost confidence in their ability after multiple exposures or they became more aware of their actual performance over time. Furthermore, the number of hours a learner spent with a tutor and receiving instruction in reading did not correlate with their self-assessment abilities.

Document Type

Dissertation: Open Access

Department

Education

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