Wijekumar, Kausalai
individual record
Professor
Positions:
- Houston Endowed Professor, Teaching, Learning and Culture
- Director, Center for Urban School Partnerships, Teaching, Learning and Culture
- Professor, Teaching, Learning and Culture
Twitter
overview
Dr. Wijekumar designs, develops, and tests intelligent tutoring systems to improve literacy practices with students and teachers. She focuses on reading comprehension, writing, and teacher professional development. The web-based tutoring systems and all the supporting materials are available in English and Spanish. Dr. Wijekumar's work has received accolades from the What Works Clearinghouse and U.S. News and World Report. She has received over 60 million dollars in grant funding from many Federal agencies. Currently she serves as Principal Investigator on five US Department of Education grants totaling 17 million dollars in funding.
education and training
- Ph.D. in Instructional Systems, Pennsylvania State University - (State College, Pennsylvania, United States) 2000
selected publications
Academic Articles30
- Joshi, R. M., & Wijekumar, K. (2020). Introduction to the special issue: Teacher knowledge of literacy skills international perspectives. Dyslexia. 26(3), 245-246.
- Joshi, R. M., & Wijekumar, K. (2020). Introduction to the special issue: “Teacher knowledge of literacy skills”. Dyslexia. 26(2), 117-119.
- Wijekumar, K., Meyer, B. J., Lei, P., Beerwinkle, A. L., & Joshi, M. (2020). Supplementing teacher knowledge using web‐based Intelligent Tutoring System for the Text Structure Strategy to improve content area reading comprehension with fourth‐ and fifth‐grade struggling readers. Dyslexia. 26(2), 120-136.
- Wijekumar, K., Beerwinkle, A., McKeown, D., Zhang, S., & Joshi, R. M. (2020). The “GIST” of the reading comprehension problem in grades 4 and 5. Dyslexia. 26(3), 323-340.
- Wijekumar, K., Graham, S., Harris, K. R., Lei, P., Barkel, A., Aitken, A., Ray, A., & Houston, J. (2019). The roles of writing knowledge, motivation, strategic behaviors, and skills in predicting elementary students’ persuasive writing from source material. Reading and Writing. 32(6), 1431-1457.
Chapters10
- Meyer, B., & Wijekumar, K. K. (2016). Intelligent Tutoring of the Structure Strategy. Adaptive Educational Technologies for Literacy Instruction. (pp. 82-103). Routledge.
- Wijekumar, K. K., Harris, K. R., Graham, S., & Meyer, B. (2016). We-Write. Adaptive Educational Technologies for Literacy Instruction. (pp. 184-203). Routledge.
- Wijekumar, K. K., Meyer, B., Harris, K. R., Graham, S., & Beerwinkle, A. (2016). Comparing learning outcomes and implementation factors from student-managed vs. Teacher-managed intelligent tutoring systems. Intelligent Tutoring Systems: Structure, Applications and Challenges. (pp. 175-200).
- Wijekumar, K. K., Meyer, B., & Lei, P. (2016). Improving Content Area Reading Comprehension with 4–6th Grade Spanish ELLs Using Web-Based Structure Strategy Instruction. Competencies in Teaching, Learning and Educational Leadership in the Digital Age. (pp. 123-135). Springer International Publishing.
- Wijekumar, K. K., Harris, K. R., Graham, S., & Meyer, B. (2016). We-write: A web-based intelligent tutor for supporting elementary classroom teachers in persuasive writing instruction. Adaptive Educational Technologies for Literacy Instruction. (pp. 184-203). Routledge.
Conference Papers16
- Wijekumar, K., Ladakos, M., Bruce, N., Benscoter, J., Boguszewski, A., Conklin, S., & Gilliam, D. (2014). DESIGNING STUDENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS THAT WORK FOR STUDENTS - A CASE STUDY IN USABILITY. INTED2014: 8TH INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE. 2950-2950.
- Wijekumar, K. (2014). THE LIBRARY OF THE FUTURE - LISEUM. INTED2014: 8TH INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE. 2956-2956.
- Wijekumar, K., Meyer, B., & Lei, P. (2014). Improving content area reading comprehension with 4-6th grade Spanish ells using web-based structure strategy instruction. 158-164.
- Wijekumar, K., & Meyer, B. (2012). Improving reading comprehension in 4 th grade rural and suburban students. 404-408.
- Garza, R., Cychol, V., Knotek, E., Wijekumar, K., Dickey, S., Clise, J., Watt, J., & Rorick, D. (2012). Real-life problem-based learning environments as a learning tool in information sciences and technology. 409-412.
in the news
researcher on
Principal Investigator6
- Goal 3 Efficacy Trial of the We-Write Intervention in Grades 4 and 5 awarded by Department of Education 2018 - 2022
awards and honors
recent teaching activities
- EDCI684 Prof Internship Instructor
- EDCI685 Directed Studies Instructor
- EDCI686 Rsch Mthds In Edci I Instructor
- EDCI689 Sptp: Eff Tech 21 Cent Learn Instructor
- EDCI691 Research Instructor
Email
k_wijekumar@tamu.edu
First Name
Kausalai
Last Name
Wijekumar
mailing address
Texas A&M University; Teaching, Learning And Culture (Tlac); 4232 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-4232
USA
Twitter