Kimberly Lawless

GlobalEd2 (GE2) is a set of online, problem-based learning (PBL) simulations for middle school students that focus on the multidisciplinary nature of social studies as an expanded curricular space for students to learn and apply scientific literacies and concepts in an international context. The intervention was developed and evaluated through two previous grants. While data indicate the efficacy of GE2 compared to normal educational practice, data also suggest the need for additional refine...

Project READI (Reading, Evidence, and Argumentation in Disciplinary Instruction) defines reading for understanding in adolescence as the ability to engage in evidence-based argumentation across multiple texts and supports its learning in three disciplines: history, science, and English literature. Disciplinary literacy involves complex critical analysis processes as well as close attention to text. The research team proposes a model that captures these processes while attending to the psycho...

In this project, the researchers proposed to develop a set of assessments that could diagnose the strategies and skills required for comprehension of multiple texts. The purpose of this assessment was to identify what causes readers to struggle with this complex but important task. In the early 2000s, most comprehension research examined how students derive meaning from a single text, so there was a need to better understand how students make meaning as they read across multiple texts and fo...