Academic Intervention Research Group
Gary L. Cates, Ph.D.

If you are interested, please feel free to contact me at glcates@ilstu.edu or 309-438-3123.

Description:
I am currently seeking highly motivated students who are interested in facilitating the development of research related to human learning. This group works as a team to conduct studies on the factors that may impact human learning. These studies may be conducted with school aged students although some studies may be conducted with college students. Current research topics include, but are not limited to: Learning rate deficits, comparing the differential effects of instructional strategies with struggling learners, and developing academic interventions for students with learning difficulties.

The format will hopefully be a THREE semester training experience. The first semester you will spend working with other students and myself in data collection, data scoring, data entry, reading relevant related research, attending a weekly focus meeting, and designing a new study to be conducted your second semester. In the third semester you will be taking a more active role in the implementation of a research study that you helped design during your first two semesters. You will supervise all of the experiences that you were being trained in during your first two semesters. You may also assist in writing and dissemination of the research in form of research articles and/or paper presentations at state or national level conferences.

Prerequisite:
You must have completed and passed Research Methods (PSY231) with a B or better. The experience will typically be a three semester experience.

Current Projects:
I am currently conducting research projects with 4 students undergraduate students, 3 specialist level students, and 4 doctoral level students. The projects that we will be collecting data on over the next three semester include:

1. Oral Reading Fluency variability in the prediction of ISAT and Reading intervention outcomes (Specialist applied research experience)

2. Developing a brief reading comprehension screener. (Specialist applied research experience)

3. Differential predictive validity of Maze error rate and accuracy levels on ISAT reading outcomes (Specialist applied research Experience)

4. Maintenance and Generalization effects of error correction procedures on reading accuracy and fluency (Doctoral Apprenticeship Project)

5. Differential effects of various computerized assisted instruction methods on students acquisition and fluency building of basic math facts. (Doctoral Dissertation)

6. Differential effects of computerized assisted instruction on the acquisition and maintenance of algebra skills. (Doctoral Dissertation)

7. Effects of My Breakfast Reading Program on students reading fluency and pre-reading skills. (Doctoral Apprenticeship Project)

8. Effects of study method on student inducement of learning (undergraduate research experience)

9. Effects of method of practice on spelling performance. (undergraduate research experience)

10. Effects of interspersing on inducement of stimulus control of choice for mathematics assignments (undergraduate research experience)