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Assistant Professor of psychology, Jennifer Stiegler-Balfour, Ph.D., conducted two presentations related to her most recent research on reading skill and academic success and the effective use of technology in the classroom at the 2012 American Psychological Association Convention in Orlando, Florida.

In her first presentation, Stiegler-Balfour outlined the relationship between reading comprehension skill and the ability to focus on the most relevant aspects of text. The results of the study indicated that for less-skilled readers, the presence of guiding questions which help them focus on the most relevant text aspects was a differentiating factor in their ability to process and highlight important information.

Stiegler-Balfour’s second presentation addressed the impact of technology on teaching and learning processes. The study’s findings suggested that although students were able to meet learning goals in both the face-to-face and online versions of a statistics course, students in the online class had to be more self-motivated and goal-directed in order to master the material.

Since arriving at UNE, Stiegler-Balfour has expanded her line of research to more closely examine the relationship between reading skill and learning environments, and the early results of these studies will serve as the foundation for future projects.