CSTL Foci of Study

Graduate students in CSTL are encouraged to study broadly in the Cognitive Science of Teaching and Learning, while at the same time developing focused research interests.  Our area of study has strength in five key areas:

Learning and Cognition

The study of learning and cognition includes consideration of basic psychological theory, educational issues and application, research design, and statistics and measurement. Students are encouraged to study in related disciplines of Psychology, Linguistics, Anthropology, and Computer Science, and can be immediately involved in research projects in such areas as memory, reading and listening comprehension, learning from text, problem solving and critical thinking, knowledge acquisition, domain-specific learning in subject such as mathematics and physics, perceptual control theory, chaos theory, evolutionary theory, and adult development and aging. This research is carried out in laboratory settings, virtual environments, schools, preschool centers, homes, and playgrounds. 

Language

Students can pursue courses and programs of research in areas such as first and second language acquisition, second-language studies, bilingual/multicultural education, and cross-cultural studies of literacy and numeracy. The faculty also invite applications from students interested in SLATE (second language acquisition and teacher education). In addition to Educational Psychology courses, students often take courses in Linguistics, English, Foreign Languages, DEIL, Speech Communications, Anthropology, Sociology, and Psychology.

Faculty in this specialty have conducted basic research in syntactic and discourse processing, reading and listening comprehension, knowledge-text interactions, and how these functions develop in adulthood.  Faculty conduct multicultural research among American minority populations, as well as in many other parts of the world (e.g., Africa, Bulgaria, China, Romania, Mexico, Thailand, and Japan).

Several research units associated with the CSTL division offer opportunities for graduate students to gain experience as research assistants. The Center for the Study of Reading is internationally recognized for its research on reading comprehension and instruction. The Adult Learning Laboratory, located at the Children's Research Center and Beckman Institute, also studies many facets of adult learning, including language comprehension and memory.  Many students find assistantships with individual faculty who have funded projects.

Sociocultural Perspectives

Students can pursue courses and programs of research in areas such as culture and cognition, the social functions of educational institutions, culture transmission and acquisition, social and cultural perspectives on learning and instruction, cross-cultural studies of literacy and numeracy, and the cultural impact of technology. 

Current faculty research in this area includes projects on ethnic and racial identity, language minority experiences, gender studies, artifacts for learning, representations of self and others via narrative, social construction of behavioral norms in early childhood, and using space theory to examine teaching and learning in classrooms.

Technology and Learning

Students can study and develop research programs in the scholarship of technology and learning: history and theories of educational technology, methods of technology-focused research, applications to K-12 and adult learning environments, and connections between technology and other areas of psychological and educational studies.  Along with traditional Masters' and Doctoral degrees, Educational Psychology's on-line Masters program in Curriculum, Technology, and Educational Reform (CTER) also falls under this specialization.  In addition to Educational Psychology courses, students also enroll in courses from across the College of Education, the College of Communications, the Department of English as an International Language (DEIL), and the Graduate School Library and Information Sciences (GSLIS).

Faculty research areas include technology and identity, computer-supported collaborative learning, technology and child and adolescent development, web-based autonomous language learning, teachers and technology integration, gender and technology, cyberpsychology, and computer-mediated communication.

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Education  

Considerable expertise exists within the CSTL program, as well as university-wide, in the area of learning within the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). Collaborations among graduate students and faculty in Educational Psychology, Curriculum and Instruction, the Beckman Institute, and Physics Education Research, allow fruitful avenues of interdisciplinary research not possible in most other institutions.  Research at the interface of reading, technology, and STEM learning, using innovative experimental techniques such as eye-tracking and electroencephalography, opens the possibility for theoretical studies in areas such as: Studies of how reading scientific text is affected by the presence of misconceptions; studies of the nature of expertise in STEM; studies of transfer of learning in STEM; explorations of learning using web-based materials and resources; the design of technological tools for helping students learn subtle scientific concepts; curricular interventions for promoting conceptual development and conceptual problem solving among K-16 students; studies of how problem-solving abilities in STEM develop through the life span and how the nature of collaborative problem solving change with age.

These five specialty areas are not programs of study per se, but rather areas in which faculty offer considerable expertise.  Students are encouraged to consider this in planning a program of study and finding research mentors.