MOVElab Members present research at AERA

Published by admin on May 2, 2018May 2, 2018

Members of MOVElab recently presented research at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association and the 2018 NCIC conference. MOVElab members Alexandra Stroukoff, John Chancey, and Jacqueline Goldman gave 5 presentations between them, including: 

• Making Brain Food: Photosynthesis and Authenticity. A. Stroukoff, B. Heddy, S. Wilson,  L. Williams, L. Atkinson, & G. Garn.

  • We investigated the impact of specific authentic teaching strategies on students’ achievement emotions. We found that authentic teaching strategies increase positive achievement emotions and decrease negative achievement emotions. Also, the perception of teacher mastery goal orientation contributes to the increase of positive achievement emotions and the decrease of negative achievement emotions.

• Mindfully Changing Minds: Examining the Relationship Between Mindfulness and Conceptual Change. J. Chancey, & B. Heddy.

  • This study examined the relationship between mindfulness and conceptual change. Our  research explored whether mindfulness meditation could be used to evoke a state of high cognitive engagement that is conducive for strong conceptual change. We applied this research to the topic of genetically modified foods. Our results were null but very promising. We are currently running the second part of this study and hope to present at the next AERA/NCIC! 

• Examining First Generation College Students’ Emotions and Values in Response to Transformative Experience. J. A. Goldman, B.C. Heddy, K.J. Pugh, & J. Cavazos.

  • The goal of this study was to explore the impact of transformative experience on first-generation college students’ academic emotions and values. More specifically, we wanted to understand the relationship between transformative experience, emotions, and task values, and whether there was difference between first-generation college students and their counterparts. TE occurs when students apply class concepts to everyday experience and includes three components: motivated use, expansion of perception, and experiential value (Pugh, 2011). TE has shown to increase interest and enjoyment (Heddy & Sinatra, 2013). Given the academic obstacles first-generations college students face, the authors wished to explore the relationship between emotions and task values to determine if TE could be a viable method to combat these academic difficulties.

• A Dialogue Between Dewey and Self-Determination Theory: Motivation in Response to Monetized Education. J.A. Goldman, S. Laird, & B.C. Heddy.

  • The purpose of this theoretical exposition was to bring two fields into discussion about motivation in the new monetized context of education, through an encounter between John Dewey and Self-Determination Theory. Using Experience and Education as well as Self-Determination Theory’s most fundamental pieces (e.g. Ryan & Deci, 2000) we draw a contemporary parallel with Dewey’s thoughts on “New” and “Old” education and examine it through the lens of Self-Determination theory. This interdisciplinary perspective combines educational psychology with philosophy of education to re-theorize motivation in critical response to the “New” educational shift toward monetization – which we argue should be resisted.

• Using SEM to Explore the Predictive Relationship Between Transformative Experience, Interest, and Emotions in Middle School Engineering. J.A. Goldman, B.C. Heddy, J.B. Chancey & X. Ge.

  • Our aim for the current study was twofold. First, we wanted to explore change in TE, emotions (positive and negative), and interest from the start of Fall semester to the end. That is, we wanted to investigate the impact that the extant engineering courses had on these variables. Our second goal was to explore the predictive relationship between TE, emotions, and interest. Each of these variables have been shown to relate in previously conducted empirical research (Heddy & Sinatra, in press; Heddy & Sinatra, 2013; Heddy, Sinatra, Seli, Taasoobshirazi, & Mukhopadhyay, 2017; Renniger & Su, 2012). However, this is the first study to explore all three variables in the same study.

For more information about our research or opportunities to collaborate, contact us!