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Educational Psychology Faculty
Thomas Schwandt
Professor and Ed. Psych. Department Chair
My scholarship is primarily focused on the intersection of social research and practical philosophy and is heavily influenced by the tradition of philosophical hermeneutics. In my research I investigate questions concerning the nature of human action, practice, and understanding, as well as the nature and role of expertise and dialogue in developing understanding. In addition, as a student of methodology, I study matters concerning the ethics of research, the nature and status of evidence, and the ways in which evidence is linked to claims.more information...
Carolyn Anderson
Professor
Measurements in the social and behavioral sciences are often discrete (e.g., highest degree earned, response option selected on a survey or test, career choice). My research lies at the intersection of statistical models for multivariate discrete data and psychometrics. My current focus is on models with latent variable interpretations, including item response theory models, discrete choice models, and their formulations as generalized linear and non-linear (mixed) models (i.e., HLM, and GLMMS).more information...
Richard Anderson
Professor
I currently have two active programs of research. The first is comparative analysis of learning to read alphabetic and nonalphabetic languages, especially English and Chinese. The second examines children's intellectual and social development in the context of free-flowing open-format discussions.more information...
Thomas Anderson
Professor Emeritus
My past research has focused on how children learn to read and study expository text, especially science text. I am currently investigating the techniques, especially peer mediation, that students and teacher can use to resolve interpersonal and intragroup conflict in the school setting. My goal is to develop and implement and evaluate the effects of a "peaceable" school, e.g., one that is eager to get beyond the restrictions of a discipline system which emphasizes punishment and various other sanctions.more information...
Hua-hua Chang
Associate Professor
My current research focuses on both theoretical development and applications of item response theory (IRT). These include computer-based assessment, automated test assembly (ATA), differential item functioning (DIF), cognitive diagnostic measurement, and patients reported outcome. Today one of the main challenges in Educational Measurement is to develop theories and methods for the new mode of large scale implementation of computerized assessment. More recently I have been concentrating on developing item selection methods for computerized adaptive testing (CAT). Several new methods have been developed, such as the a-stratified method, the global information method, and the constraint weighted information (CWI) method.more information...
Kiel Christianson
Assistant Professor
Kiel Christianson's research focuses on language comprehension and production. Specifically, he's interested in how people arrive at interpretations of language input, especially when those interpretations are not consistent with the input (i.e., misinterpretations) but still might be "good enough" for normal communication. This research is being extended to non-native speakers, aphasic speakers, and specialized content areas, such as math/physics word problems (STEM). He is also conducting research in bilingual sentence processing and production, visual word recognition and reading, and psycholinguistics in several other languages.more information...
Gary Cziko
Professor Emeritus
My past research has focused on first and second language acquisition, language assessment, bilingual education, research methods, and the application of evolutionary theory and perceptual control theory to understanding human behavior, learning and education. I am currently focusing my research activities on what I call Autonomous Technology-Assisted Language Learning (ATALL). ATALL involves using and developing technology, in particular Internet media and communication tools, to enhance education in foreign-languages and cultures.more information...
Lizanne DeStefano
Professor
I am interested in evaluation of large scale, multi-site initiatives, especially those involving special populations such as very young children and their families, students with disabilities, and members of traditionally underrepresented groups. My research has focused on the use of participatory designs and qualitative and quantitative methods in these large complex projects. I am also interested in technical and policy issues surrounding the inclusion of students with diverse educational needs in assessment based accountability initiatives.more information...
Dorothy Espelage
Professor
The foci of my scholarship at UIUC have included investigations of several health-related behaviors, including bullying and youth aggression, disordered eating in adolescents and young adults, and psychosocial adjustment of families of children managing chronic illness. The majority of my energy is spent on my first two programs bullying during early adolescence and eating disorders. Within the last few years, both of these programs have evolved into the study of these health behaviors during early adolescence and both have included examination of the influences of the peer group on their maintenance. I also work with graduate students with research interests in childhood sexual abuse and dating violence.more information...
Helen Farmer
Professor Emeritus
Working with her research team, Helen Farmer has focused her research on investigating why women contribute less to the arts and sciences than men. The model developed to investigate this topic is a shift away from models that propose that internal psychological and biological factors are the cause of women’s lesser contributions in these areas. Instead, they investigated the contribution of external factors that women and men experience growing up as well as psychological and biological factors. Experiences in the family, community, and the school all are predicted to affect women’s motivation to contribute to society.more information...
Jennifer Greene
Professor
Jennifer’s research interests focus on the intersections of social science and social policy. Her work in the domain of educational and social program evaluation seeks to advance the theory and practice of alternative forms of evaluation, including qualitative, democratic, and mixed methods evaluation approaches. Current work emphasizes evaluation as a venue for democratizing dialogue about critical social and educational issues, with a focus on conceptualizing evaluation as a "public good.more information...
James Hannum
Clinical Professor (Counseling Chair)
My research interests include the ways in which relationships (marriage, family, and friendships) impact how people cope with significant life stressors and ways that relationships may contribute to pathological conditions such as eating disorders. From a therapeutic standpoint, I am interested in how relationship variables in helping relationships affect the outcome of treatment.more information...
Adrienne Lo
Assistant Professor
My research in linguistic anthropology explores how Korean American children who attended classes at community based educational organizations in a multiethnic community in California were socialized to culturally specific frameworks of language, morality, and emotion. Using discourse analysis of classroom interactions, I examine how second generation students were positioned as moral subjects through narratives, codeswitching, evidential frameworks, and epistemic particles.more information...
Erica McClure
Professor Emeritus
My research has had three foci: children's acquisition of English and Spanish, reading, and conversational codeswitching (Romanian-Saxon, Spanish-English, Bulgarian-English and Romanian-Bulgarian). My current projects include content analysis and grammatical analysis of children's stories written in English and Spanish, the description of Romanian-Bulgarian codeswitching, the description of Assyrian-English codeswitching, the description of the role of the maintenance of Assyrian language skills in the maintenance of Assyrian ethnic identity.more information...
George McConkie
Professor Emeritus
Past research has focused on understanding the real-time processes involved in reading and picture perception. This work has mainly been conducted using research methods based on the recording of eye movements. My current research includes the following projects: 1. Cognition and Eye Movement Control during Reading. (UIUC Research Board grant). The goal of this project is to understand how cognitive processes influence eye behavior, so that eye movement data can be used more effectively in the study of cognition. 2. NSF-ITR: Multimodal Human Computer Interaction: Toward a Proactive Computer. (Tom Huang and McConkie, co-PI's) An interdisciplinary project (6 faculty members)more information...
Jose Mestre
Professor
I am interested in how people learn and solve problems in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) disciplines. I work at the interface of science learning and cognitive science (e.g., visual cognition, reading comprehension, nature of expertise, transfer of learning). Using techniques common in cognitive science (e.g., eye-tracking, reading speed) but heretofore not used to study science learning, I am attempting to learn details about how both experts and novices store, retrieve and apply knowledge. Ongoing investigations include explorations of the role of misconceptions in comprehending scientific text, visual processing of diagrams in problems, and conceptual problem solving.more information...
Helen Neville
Professor
Historically, my research interests have focused on three interrelated areas: general and cultural factors influencing stress and coping processes, evaluation of the effectiveness of diversity-related programs, and multicultural education. My research in the first area has centered on examining general and cultural factors influencing rape survivors, post-assault recovery process and African American students' psychosocial and educational adjustment to predominantly white universities. I am particularly interested in understanding common experiences that transcend race, ethnicity, and class background in adjusting to stressful events, as well as teasing out the more culture-specific factors related to this adjustment.more information...
Michelle Perry
Professor
My research focuses on children�s learning � especially of mathematics in elementary schools � and the ways in which this can be supported. I attempt to explain how students take up new concepts and contribute to the collective understanding of mathematics in the classroom. My ongoing projects include analysis of video data from first- and fifth-grade classrooms, both in the United States and in China. New students are welcome to join our research group to look at the practices and structures in these lessons that potentially influence student learning.more information...
Philip Rodkin
Associate Professor (Child Development Chair)
I study how children at school get along with one another—the friendships and antipathies they form, the norms they promote and defy, the cultures they create—and focus on aggression and conflict, particularly how aggressive children are integrated into peer social life. My scholarship is framed by basic issues in children’s personality and social development and is directed towards critical educational concerns such as school violence reduction, the middle childhood origins of peer sexual harassment, and teacher education about children’s social dynamics.more information...
James Rounds
Professor
Vocational interests and how they change over the life span. Research examines the structure of interests, how that structure develops and changes over the life course, and the reciprocal influences among personality, interests, and abilities with a focus on constructing models. Also, career development in adulthood, assessment of personality traits and work values, and occasionally, a venture into health psychology.more information...
Allison Ryan
Associate Professor
Young adolescents' motivation, engagement, and performance in school are important issues. While all individuals do not experience serious problems in school during early adolescence, many do. Disengagement in school at this age has far-reaching consequences for education and career opportunities. The overall goal of my research is to increase our understanding of achievement beliefs and behaviors during this stage of life. A theme throughout my research on achievement during early adolescence is a focus on the intersection of social and academic concerns of young adolescents at school.more information...
Katherine Ryan
Associate Professor (Queries Chair)
My research interests focus on educational evaluation and the intersection of educational accountability issues and high stakes assessment. As educational accountability has become increasingly more important nationally and globally, my work has examined both evaluative capacity building and monitoring issues involved in test-based educational accountability. My current research includes an investigation of the intended and unintended consequences of a state-wide assessment and accountability system in relationship to students, instruction, and educational outcomes.more information...
Jenny Singleton
Associate Professor
My current program of research focuses on deaf children's language development, both American Sign Language and English, including investigation of the ways that deaf teachers support deaf children's identity and language development through visual means.more information...
Lisa Spanierman
Associate Professor
My research focuses on White individuals’ racial attitudes, their responses to societal racism, and the psychosocial costs of racism to Whites (i.e., negative consequences experienced by Whites as dominant group members in an oppressive system). My colleagues and I developed the Psychosocial Costs of Racism to Whites (PCRW) scale, which measures empathic reactions toward racism, White guilt, and irrational fear of people from other racial groups. Presently, we are deepening our understanding of the relevance of these costs of racism to White students in increasingly diverse environments, and also applying costs of racism theory to White counselors and educators.more information...
Robert Stake
Professor Emeritus
My past efforts have focused on program evaluation theory and practice, and qualitative research methods including case study. I am currently involved in performance assessment in New York City schools and the evaluation of training in the U.S. Veterans Administration. Since 1975 I have been director of the Center for Instructional Research and Curriculum Evaluation (CIRCE). Once a specialist in psychometrics and instructional research, my present orientation is naturalistic or ethnographic field study, particularly of the classroom. In 1998 I retired from the University of Illinois but continue to teach and head CIRCE.more information...
Elizabeth A. L. Stine-Morrow
Professor
Cognition shows patterns of both loss and gain through adulthood. While "mental mechanics" (i.e., working memory capacity, computational speed, executive control of attention) may decline, crystallized abilities (i.e., verbal ability, knowledge, acculturation) show continued capacity for growth in many life-span contexts. Our research program has been focused on understanding the implications of these changes in basic capacities for continued learning, how strategic regulation of attention enables compensation, and how habitual engagement in learning engenders cognitive vitality.more information...
Brendesha Tynes
Assistant Professor
My current work explores adolescent narratives in an online forum designed to discuss racism. The data cover a three-year period and include discussions of participants' differences, similarities and how they have personally been affected by racism. Using content and discourse analysis, I examine participants' argumentation strategies and social reasoning. Future projects include studies of the psychological effects of experiencing racism online on African American and Latino adolescents and the use of educational interventions to combat racial prejudice on and offline.more information...
David Zola
Clinical Professor
My research interests are perceptual development during reading acquisition, adolescent literacy, adult learning and development, and undergraduate education. I currently teach several undergraduate educational psychology foundations courses that focus on the theories and practices of learning, development, and adjustment.more information...