2013 AERA-- Message from TEP Program Chair

The Teaching Educational Psychology (TEP) Special Interest Group (SIG) Program at the AERA Annual Meeting is a fabulous opportunity to share the research and work you have been doing all year with other who are like minded. Teaching Educational Psychology is especially important in this age of accreditation and accountability. Contributions to the theoretical and practical foundation of our profession are critical as we support and extend our area of expertise, as well as impact future educators with constructive and cutting edge research based methods.

Next year’s conference theme is “Education and Poverty: Theory, Research, Policy and Praxis.” Our program is dependent upon the peer-review process, so please volunteer to be a reviewer. Last month we invited approximately 50 TEP members to review papers, as well as 6 graduate students. Currently, 21 have formally accepted the invitation to review, plus 3 graduate students. Only 2 have refused; however, we are still waiting to hear from 21 others. Please consider participating in the review process. This is a great opportunity for you to help select the papers and set the program for the conference.

I am aiming for 35 reviewers so that each person will need to review no more than 10 papers. Graduate students will be used as reviewers and their reviews will be considered by the review panel; however, their numerical scores are not used in calculating final evaluation of the submissions. This can be a fun process as you get to “peek” into the work currently being conducted by others interested in teaching educational psychology. In addition, we will need chairs and discussants for each session. Volunteer information can be found on the AERA website under the link for 2013 AERA Annual Meeting Online Portal. I encourage you to participate in these leadership roles as we continue to build a strong and effective TEP SIG!


Thank you!
Cynthia Bolton
2012-2013 TEP Program Chair

TEP SIG Leadership 2012-2013

TEP SIG Leadership 2012-2013

Chair

Stacy DeZutter Millsaps College dezuts@millsaps.edu

Stacy DeZutter is an Assistant Professor of Education at Millsaps College, where she teaches courses in human development, creativity, and methods of instruction. She received her Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis, where she specialized in sociocultural perspectives on teaching and learning. DeZutter’s recent research examines the social formation of teacher cognition and identity. She has also published on the sociocultural processes of literacy development in early childhood and on distributed creativity, a theory of group collaborative creation.

Program Chair (Chair- elect)

Cynthia Bolton-Gary

Armstrong Atlantic State University cynthiabolton@alumni.unc.edu

Dr. Cynthia Bolton-Gary is Assistant Dean of the College of Education at Armstrong Atlantic State University. Currently, Dr. Bolton-Gary is the Program Chair for TEP-SIG. Her research interests include: educational psychology, innovative pedagogical strategies, motivation, and assessment.

Secretary/Treasurer Martha Strickland Pennsylvania State University mjs51@psu.edu

Dr. Martha Strickland is Assistant Professor of Education in the School of Behavioral Sciences and Education at Penn State University. She is currently teaching educational psychology and learning theory at both undergraduate and graduate levels, and she has been a regular contributor

to the AERA Annual Meeting. Dr. Strickland's research interest focuses on enhancing connections between teachers and immigrant/refugee students.

Newsletter Editor

Gina Mariano Troy University gjmariano@troy.edu

Dr. Gina Mariano is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Troy University, where she teaches courses in educational psychology, basic statistics and research methods. She is also serving at chair- elect for the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Troy University. Dr. Mariano’s current research interests include knowledge transfer in traditional and online environments and faculty development in the area of online teaching improvement.

TEP Online Journal

M Cecil Smith

Northern Illinois University

mcsmith@niu.edu

M Cecil Smith is a Professor of Educational Psychology at Northern Illinois University where he has taught educational psychology, research methods, and human development courses since 1988. He has been a member of AERA since 1984, and has served as a proposal reviewer for various Divisions and SIG’s for many years. He was co-chair of Division C (1999) and is currently webmaster and newsletter editor for the Adult Literacy and Adult Education SIG.

Webmaster Zsuzsanna Szabo Marist College

zsuzsanna25@gmail.com

Dr. Zsuzsanna Szabo is Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at Marist College. She teaches courses in educational psychology, psycho-educational assessment, educational research, and educational theories. Her research interests include human cognition and learning, student learning assessment, integrating technology in instruction, and gender issues in education.

Graduate Student

Coordinator

Gina Park

University of Michigan ginapark@umich.edu

Gina Park is a Ph.D. candidate in the Combined Program in Education and Psychology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her past and current research focuses on understanding how professional development opportunities for teachers impact changes in teachers’ knowledge and beliefs, classroom practices, and student learning. She has also served as a graduate student instructor for undergraduate courses in educational psychology, both for psychology majors and pre-service teachers. Her teaching experience has led to her recent interest in examining teachers’ beliefs about the value of educational psychology for their learning and instruction.

Past-Chairs

Sandra Deemer and Laurie B. Hanich

(2011-2012)

Greg Goodman (2010-2011) David Holloway (2009-2010) Kelvin Seifert (2008-2009) Virginia Navarro (2007-2008)

Mick Verdi (2006-2007) Marguerite Lodico and Kathy Voegtle (2005-2006)

Kelvin Seifert (2004-2005) Nancy Knapp (2003-2004)

Summer 2012 -- Message from new President of TEP SIG

When I talk about the Teaching Educational Psychology SIG to other members of AERA, the

most frequent response that I get is “There’s a whole SIG about that?” People are surprised to learn that there is a cohesive research community engaged in something that seems so

specialized as the teaching of one college course.

My response is generally that not only is there a whole SIG about that, but we make a vital contribution to AERA’s larger endeavor to promote research that will improve education.

The scholars in Division C investigate the teaching-learning process, and those of us in Division G are working to understand how that process interacts with the social context in which it occurs. The researchers in Division K investigate how most effectively to prepare

teachers to engage in the teaching-learning process. But the TEP SIG is where all this comes together – our work offers insights about how to teach teachers to understand the teaching- learning process, given its context.

Many readers may recall the now-classic research by Spillane and Zeuli (1999) that found that unless teachers understood constructivist learning theory deeply and accurately, even the most well-trained and dedicated among them were unsuccessful in implementing constructiv- ist-based instructional reform. In fact, there have been innumerable studies that reveal that teachers’ conceptions of the teaching-learning process shape their instruction in subtle but powerful ways (e.g., Bryan, 2003; Warfield, Wood , & Lehman, 2005; Webb, Nemer, and Ing,

2006; Yerrick, Parke, and Nugent, 1997). It’s not enough just to teach teachers how to teach;

they must have robust and deeply-held understandings of the teaching-learning process to undergird their moment-to-moment decision making. But research has also established that conceptions of teaching and learning are difficult to change (Wideen, Mayer-Smith, and Moon,

1998). Educational psychology instruction must therefore be potent and transformative, and

it must infuse teacher preparation programs from start to finish.

In the TEP SIG we investigate how educational psychology instruction can effectively allow teachers to develop deep, robust understandings of how people learn and how learning and teaching interact with context. Far more than “a SIG about teaching one little college course,” the TEP SIG is a site for the discussion, development, and dissemination of research

that provides a crucial ingredient in the educational endeavor.

We invite you to submit your research, on any aspect of teaching educational psychology, to the SIG for presentation at the next annual meeting. This year, with our annual meeting theme, “Education and Poverty: Theory, Research, Policy and Praxis,” we are especially inter- ested in work that examines how best to help our students understand the ways poverty shapes the teaching-learning process. At the same time, we welcome submissions on any topic

that has implications for the teaching of educational psychology.

Stacy DeZutter

TEP SIG Chair 2012-2013