Call for Applications: AERA 2012 Div C Graduate Student Seminar

Please note the deadline for the Division C graduate student seminar has been extended.

Gale M. Sinatra
Vice President, Division C, AERA

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November, 14, 2011

Plans are underway for the 2012 Division C Graduate Student Seminar, which will be held Thursday, April 12 and Friday, April 13 prior to the AERA Annual Meeting in Vancouver. This year Susan Yoon (University of Pennsylvania) is serving as chair and Lisa Linnenbrink-Garcia (Duke University) is serving as vice-chair.

The objective of the seminar is to provide graduate students who are members of AERA Division C with an opportunity to receive mentoring and advice from current faculty members and to begin developing professional relationships with current and future leaders within the field. The seminar is intended for full-time, advanced level doctoral students who are approaching the dissertation phase of their programs. Students who will have finished their dissertation by the end of April 2012 should consider applying for the Division C New Faculty seminar instead.

In addition to presentations on topics such as job search, and grants and funding opportunities, the seminar will consist of panel discussions on teaching, research, and publishing. Students will also participate in a research directions review with mentors, as well discussions on how to revise your CV.

Students interested in participating in the Graduate Student Seminar should submit the following by 5:00pm on Sunday, January 15, 2012. All email attachments should be sent to the chair of the seminar (yoonsa@gse.upenn.edu) with the subject line [Div C GSS Application].

• A general statement of why you are interested in attending the Division C Graduate Student Seminar and what you hope to gain from this experience. Include in the statement:

1) Where you are in your timeline for completing your degree requirements, e.g., date of proposal defense;
2) Research interests;
3) Career goals and job search timeline and;
4) Preferences for mentors.

• A 2-page summary of your dissertation research.

• A vita that includes name, address, institution, telephone, fax , e-mail , educational background, awards, professional publications and presentations, teaching experience, and service activities.

• A letter of recommendation from your advisor, major professor, or dissertation chair sent directly to the Seminar chair (this must be sent to us by the due date in order for your application to be considered).

Upon acceptance, participants will also be required to submit a writing sample (e.g., a manuscript to be submitted for publication) to their assigned mentor(s) by March 15, 2012. A limited number of participants will be selected for the 2012 Graduate Student Seminar based on graduate status, clarity of research interests, and match with participating mentors.

Notifications will be sent out by January 31, 2012. Students who attend the seminar will receive a small stipend to support travel costs. To be eligible, students must be members of Division C and must register for the annual meeting. We look forward to seeing you with our Division C colleagues in Vancouver next April.

Get to know our VP

Dr. Gale Sinatra is the Vice-President of Division C Learning and Instruction. She is currently a Visiting Professor at the University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education. To get acquainted with our very cool VP, read about her here:

www.uscrossier.org/news/2011/11/05/usc-professor-studies-conceptual-changes-in-science/

Facebook Groups

I'm back from the Coordinated Council Meeting at Washington DC! It was a great planning meeting for the Vancouver Annual Meeting. I met Representatives from the other 11 Divisions and got a chance to talk with our Division C Vice President, Dr. Gale Sinatra. Consequently, there is a piece of important news to share with all of you.

At present we have 2 Facebook groups for two types of interaction:

1. among graduate student members - AERA Division C- Graduate Students 
2. among students and faculty: American Educational Research Association (AERA), Division C

The second group will now be moderated by Professor Yi Yang from Franklin University. Professor Yang will post updates that include job ads. Check out this space!

Meet October’s Featured Scholar: Elyse Hambacher

Elyse is a doctoral student in the University of Florida’s School of Teaching and Learning. She is studying curriculum and teaching with a concentration in teacher education. Her research focuses on teaching and learning in high-poverty schools. She is interested in teacher learning across the professional lifespan and teaching for social justice. Elyse utilizes an array of qualitative research methodology to understand the depth of teaching and learning, particularly in urban contexts.

Elyse is an active member of AERA division C and has served as a campus liaison for two years. She reports that one of the best parts of being a part of AERA is the opportunities to get to know people and share opportunities. Elyse had the opportunity to present two papers, and attended the Asa G. Hilliard and Barbara A. Sizemore African American Research Course during the 2011 conference. This was also Elyse’s first time in New Orleans. While Elyse reports that the large conference felt a bit overwhelming, she found that carefully choosing a few sessions a day worked best for her instead of trying to experience everything all at once. She was also able to explore the many AERA opportunities, learn from the research of others, enjoy the city of New Orleans, and network with scholars in the field. Elyse also presented at the Association of Teacher Educators (ATE) and Florida Association of Teacher Educators (FATE).

Elyse recommends Amos Hatch’s Doing Qualitative Research in Education Settings. She found the book helpful for methodological guidance. Nel Noddings’ book, Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral Education and the Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed have also influenced her research and always provide new insight after each read.

When taking a break from studying, you can find Elyse getting a good work out—usually at a spin or hot yoga class. She loves to travel, enjoys anything outdoors, and is diligently working to improve her Chinese- though this is endeavor is proving to be much harder than she anticipated.

2012 Fireside Chat Speaker

It gives us great pleasure to announce that our distinguished Fireside Chat Speaker for the 2012 Annual Meeting at Vancouver, British Columbia is ... *drum rolls*:

Dr. Richard E. Clark

We are very honored and thrilled that Dr. Clark has accepted our invitation! For those who may not know him yet, Dr. Clark has served as Professor of Educational Psychology and Technology and as Co-Director of the Center for Cognitive Technology in the Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California, since 1978. His current research interests include the design and evaluation of instruction on highly complex tasks, cognitive load theory for multimedia and simulation training, the development of the Guided Experiential Learning training design systems for pedagogical applications and the use of Cognitive Task Analysis to capture and teach the complex knowledge used by advanced experts in all fields. .... Read more.

Dr. Clark's Fireside Chat session is entitled, "Turning Research into Results: Handling the Complexity of Learning". The following is the program abstract:

Dr. Richard Clark will share ways to overcome some of the challenges researchers face when they
attempt to create a bridge between educational research and practice. In the spirit of the annual meeting theme, he will suggest that all educational researchers should not only produce studies but also attempt to translate and apply their research to make a positive difference in educational settings. Additionally, he will briefly describe his own effort to solve two problems that reflect the transition from research to practice: first, the impact of technology on instruction and learning, and second, the impact of various instructional methods on the design of instruction that facilitates the learning and transfer of complex
knowledge as people develop advanced expertise.

The Fireside Chat speaker does not present a paper, but instead speaks on a theme across a body of work and ideas, and along the way discusses how he/she developed as a scholar. There will be time for “Q & A” and interactive dialogue between the speaker and the audience. Recent prior speakers have included Albert Bandura, Paul Cobb, Howard Gardner, Dale Schunk and Richard Mayer.

We are looking forward to our conversations with Dr. Clark eagerly. If you have any questions that you would like to raise, please feel free to post them here as comments. Let's get the dialogue going!

Meet Brenna Hassinger-Das

Brenna Hassinger, now Brenna Hassinger-Das, is studying Cognition, Development, and Instruction at the University of Delaware. She anticipates completing her program in 2014. Mrs. Das’ research interests include the role of quantitative vocabulary knowledge in children. She is currently exploring the relationship between quantitative vocabulary and vocabulary and number sense knowledge. Mrs. Das’ has presented pilot study research findings. Her future goals include working outside of academia as a research scientist studying at the intersection of cognitive science and education.

When not involved in activities related to her work as Vice President of the Graduate Education Association and studies, Mrs. Das enjoys traveling and trying new restaurants with her husband. This is Mrs. Das’ first year as a campus liaison. We look forward to meeting you in Vancouver!

A Brief Interview with M. Sencer Corlu

This week, I had the opportunity to chat with Texas A&M University’s Division C campus liaison- future doctor M. Sencer Corlu. Sencer is studying mathematics education and anticipates graduating in December 2011. The following is a summary of our conversation.

How many years have you been a Division C Campus Liaison?
I’ve been holding this responsibility since March, 2011.
Are you involved in any other activities in AERA?My first contact with AERA was during the annual meeting in 2009. Since then, AERA journals and meetings have become my premier source to learn more about educational research; how it is done and how it is disseminated at the top level.

What is the best part about serving and participating in AERA Division C?It provides me the opportunity to get to know the people from other institutions and learn more about their work to keep up-to-date. As much as my research is driven by my own interests and background as a mathematician and international educator, I also need to develop a wider perspective by following the current trends in education as a young scholar. Division C gathers the top educators in learning and instruction and works as an excellent venue to make new connections for possible interdisciplinary projects with a focus on learning and instruction. I believe learning is no longer bounded by a single academic division in our era of innovation. A holistic learning environment can be best achieved through instructional practices that combine perspectives from multiple disciplines. Serving division C also helps me have a rapport among my fellow Aggies at Texas A&M, with whom I am hoping to work for long years after I graduate.

Are there any special AERA activities that occur at your school?Several departments at Texas A&M College of Education organize events and workshops to inform us about the latest changes in AERA standards on reporting research and ethical conducts, as well as how to submit proposals to annual meetings. Many professors and research centers also work in collaboration with the graduate students and they hold pre- and post-annual meetings to evaluate and share their experiences.

Did you attend AERA 2011 and if so, what was your experience like?
I did attend AERA 2011, and I very much benefited from it. Over the course of the years, I believe I have managed to make more out of it each year as my skills have expanded as a young mathematics educator. This year in particular, I not only had the opportunity to present two papers but also to talk to top researchers in my field, and to develop connections with representatives of research institutions concerning my post-graduation plans.

Please describe your research interests.My research interests are shaped very much by my background as an international mathematics and science teacher. I am interested in curriculum integration and teacher education from a post-modern perspective and in particular, mathematics and science correlation in learning and instruction. I focus on quantitative research methods but also have a keen interest in naturalistic inquiry and ethnography.

Have you published or presented research this year?This year has been the most productive year in my short career as a young scholar. Two of my manuscripts have been published in SCI journals, and in another one, I collaborated with my colleagues at Texas A&M, in Turkey, China and Korea, which appeared in a respected international journal. As for presentations, besides AERA 2011, I also presented (and co-presented) our research on mathematics and science integration at the NCTM research Pre-session and Psychology of Mathematics Education meetings.

What are your professional goals for when you complete your degree?With the ultimate goal of having a broad impact in mathematics education and being remembered as an inspirational teacher, I feel the best place to help me achieve my goals would be academia. Thus, I will be seeking a professorship position in hopes of making a significant contribution to the learning and instruction of mathematics.

Is there a book or article that has helped you during your doctoral studies?Besides the APA Manual and my other holy book, I frequently cite and read over and over again two books: Alfred Whitehead’s Aims of Education (1929) and Dr. Paul Ernest’s Social Constructivism as a Philosophy of Mathematics. Methodology-wise, I must have two books near me all times: Our very owns’, Dr. Bruce Thompson’s Foundations of Behavioral Statistics and Dr. Yvonne Lincoln’s Naturalistic Inquiry books. AggieStem Center’s Project-based Learning and Dr. Kilpatrick’s Research Companion are also two of my favorite books in my field.

Do you have any interesting hobbies or activities that you participate in outside of your graduate program?
I have traveled extensively in the past across the globe before coming to US for the graduate school. I still take a weekend runaway from time to time to do some horseback riding with my mates or simply wander around and take photographs. I still don’t see a better way to enjoy life other than an intelligent conversation.

Meet Iowa State’s Yasemin Demiraslan Cevik

Yasemin is a doctoral candidate at Iowa State University. Yasemin shared that she was interested in black and white photography, drawing, and oil painting. However, her interest in the activities did not last long. Her more recent hobbies include reading “The Scientific American Mind” and watching foreign movies. Yasemin is studying Curriculum and Instruction and eagerly anticipates graduating in August 2011!

Yasemin’s research interests include examining and understanding reasoning and decision making in the context of teacher education. She is currently investigating theoretically different instructional methods (e.g., case-based reasoning and worked example) and their effects on learners’ decision making. She most recently presented a paper related to her dissertation research at the AECT 2010 conference and is in the process of preparing three manuscripts as a result of her dissertation work. She anticipates that the manuscripts will be submitted for peer review in the near future.

In addition to her studies, Yasemin has actively served as a campus liaison since September 2009. She believes that serving as a campus liaison helped her to grow professionally by providing opportunities to build strong connections with people in her field. Yasemin has reviewed AERA conference proposals for several Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and Division C. Yasemin shared that there are many benefits of being a liasion. However, one of the best opportunities included getting up-to-date information about Division C activities, sharing this information with fellow graduate students, and playing a leadership role during this process of information sharing.

After the completion of her doctoral work, Yasemin will be working as a faculty member in the Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology at Hacettepe University, Turkiye. In the long term, she hopes to be an innovative member of the community of researchers interested in developing ideas regarding using instructional technology to bring important changes to teaching and learning.

2011-2012 Student Leaders

The 2011-2012 Graduate Student Committee consists of the following students who are supervised by Dr. Linnenbrink-Garcia:

Senior Co-Chair
Jennifer McGee
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
9201 University City Blvd. | College of Education, Room 283
Charlotte, NC 28223
Office: 704-687-8486 | Fax: 704-687-3493
jmcgee21@uncc.edu

Junior Co-Chair
Brittany Hott
George Mason University
College of Education and Human Development
4400 University Drive | Fairfax, Virginia 22030
bhott@gmu.edu

Graduate Student Council Senior Representative
Yin Wah B. Kreher
Syracuse University | School of Education
330 Huntington Hall | Syracuse, NY 13244
ywkreher@syr.edu 

Graduate Student Council Junior Representative
Angela Shelton
Temple University | College of Education
1301 Cecil B. Moore Avenue | Philadelphia, PA 19112
angi@temple.edu  | Office: 215-204-5195

Our Distinguished Graduate Student Committee Faculty Advisor is:
Lisa Linnenbrink-Garcia, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor | Department of Psychology & Neuroscience
Program in Education | Duke University
247 Soc Psych Bldg. | PO Box 90086
Durham, NC 27708-0086
919-660-5649 (phone) | 919-660-5726 (fax)
llinnen@duke.edu

Meet Stacey Bridges

Stacey Bridges is serving Division C as a campus liaison for Oklahoma State University. She is doctoral student in the School of Applied Health and Educational Psychology majoring in Educational Psychology. Stacey anticipates graduating in May. Her research interests include creativity, leadership, and teacher preparation practices. Most recently Stacey has been involved in examining the preparation of teachers to integrate arts curriculum in the classroom in order to improve professional development. Stacey has submitted several articles which are in review and has presented numerous times this year. In addition to her studies, Stacey volunteers at a local children’s museum and is an avid gardener. She wholeheartedly believes in making time for friends and family.

Stacey has been an active member of AERA for two years. Although she was unable to attend the annual AERA conference in New Orleans, she served as a panel reviewer. She has volunteered to serve as a panel reviewer for the 2012 Annual meeting Vancouver. Stacey reports that the best part about serving, and participating, in AERA Division C is the access to experts in the field. The division has newsletters, blogs, graduate student listservs, and opportunities to get involved at the annual meeting. Stacey has been able to find out about the latest research updates and network with both veteran researchers and other graduate students.

Stacey shared that her campus is hoping to foster a collaborative event involving Oklahoma State University members of AERA and the local Kappa Delta Pi Chapter. Stacey indicated that Foss and Waters’ Destination Dissertation: A Traveler’s Guide to a Done Dissertation has been quite beneficial during her doctoral studies. Stacey’s future goals include pursuing a career in the professorate as a professor of Educational Psychology at a research institution.

Greetings from Jenn and Yin!

Hi, how is everyone's summer going? We wanted to touch base with you and let you know we are already busy planning for the new year. Yin Wah Kreher, Senior Representative and I, Jennifer McGee, Senior Co-Chair, are taking over the leadership reins this year from our distinguished alums, Jonathan Bostic and Janice Hansen.

We will work in close partnership to increase graduate student opportunities for Divison C members and increase involvement. Please check back on this blog regularly to keep tab on Division C news and tips for the graduate study journey. We hope to profile a few of our Campus Liaisons each month and use the blog to keep you up to date on Division C happenings and tips for graduate students. Here's a little more about us:

Originally from Singapore, Yin taught English Language/Communication Skills for a stint and worked in a multimedia company as an English Language content specialist/CD-ROM instructional designer. In Syracuse University, she trained and practiced as an instructional technology consultant after graduating with a Master's in Instructional Design, Development and Evaluation in 2005. Going into her fourth year as a doctoral student, her research interests center on the following two broad areas: learning and performance improvement and research methodologies. Her dissertation study focuses on the design of instruction for cultural competence in health care professionals.

Jennifer is a fourth year doctoral student in Educational Leadership, Research, and Evaluation at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Before beginning her doctoral work, she taught agriculture for three years in the Charlotte, North Carolina area. With a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Agricultural Education, Jennifer has a love for all things green but, decided to focus on applying her analytical skills to addressing issues in all aspects of education. Jennifer currently works as an external evaluator on a Math Science Partnership grant that seeks to create standards-based elementary mathematics teachers. Her research interests include: STEM education, self-efficacy, and cognitive science. Her dissertation is a validation study of a newly created instrument to measure the mathematics teaching self-efficacy of elementary teachers.

How and Why I Got Involved

Our Outgoing Senior Co-Chair 2010-2011, Jonathan Bostic, was invited to address the group of graduate students who had congregated at St. Charles Ballroom, Marriott Hotel, at the GSC Orientation and Networking Session (New Orleans, LA). Watch this less than two-minute video to get a perspective of how to get involved and some of the benefits of getting involved.

Note: The video clip is close-captioned and there is an interactive transcript available if you go to the YouTube site. 

What is Division C?

AERA can start to feel like "alphabet soup," with letters and acronyms flying all over the place. We thought we'd take a minute to visit the letter of the day - C! Division C has an exciting and diverse mission to examine the worlds of learning and instruction. Because it involves so many different areas of interest, it can be hard to conceptualize. The above diagram was developed to illustrate the mission of Division C. Division C is concerned with research on the process of, and contexts for, learning, instruction, and assessment, as well as work examining the relationships among these areas. There are four content sections: Literacy & Language Arts; Humanities, Social Sciences & Fine Arts; Mathematics; and Science. There are three sections that explore learning and instruction across content areas: Learning Environments; Cognitive, Social & Motivational Processes, and Technology Research. As you can tell, there are multiple, varied, and overlapping areas of research going on in the dynamic, exciting world of Division C. It's exciting to see all that come together at AERA!

AERA Division C Graduate Student Seminar

The AERA Division C Graduate Student Seminar was held Thursday and Friday morning. Roughly 25 mentor-graduate student pairs came to learn about developing a research trajectory, conducting effective teaching, and ways to secure grant funding. Picture here is Kelly Rodgers from UT - San Antonio, discussing how to complete your dissertation and overcome some of the obstacles. If you are a graduate student who will be nearing or at the dissertation phase next year, consider applying for this seminar. There is a similar seminar for New Faculty, which provides a venue for senior scholars to share their insights about being successful in academia.

More updates from NOLA to come!