EDPSY Faculty Research
Faculty Research
Stephanie L. Knight (Ed.D., M.A., B.A.)
Professor of Education
University of Houston
Dr. Knight's research interests include classroom processes and learning environment, professional development, and teacher education, particularly in adverse settings. She has numerous books, book chapters, journal articles, and conference presentations in these areas. Dr. Knight currently serves as the Lead Editor for the Journal of Teacher Education and was previously co-editor of the American Educational Research Journal: Teaching, Learning, and Human Development.
Jonna M. Kulikowich (Ph.D.) - Professor-In-Charge
Professor of Education
Texas A&M University
Dr. Kulikowich's teaching and research interests are academic development in mathematics and statistics, applied statistics, measurement of variables in reading research.
Pui-Wa Lei (Ph.D.)
Associate Professor of Education
University of Iowa
Dr. Lei’s teaching and research interests are in the areas of advanced statistical methods and measurement theories. Her research has focused on applications of item response theory and methodological issues of multivariate statistical analyses. Currently, she is studying technical issues in structural equation modeling (SEM) and is exploring its applications in educational, psychological and behavioral research, and beyond. Her research has been presented at scholarly meetings and appears in professional journals of measurement.
Bonnie J. F. Meyer (Ph.D.)
Professor of Education
Cornell University
Dr. Meyer studies reading comprehension with people from ages nine to the end of the life span. She also studies discourse comprehension and medical decision-making with adults across the lifespan. In addition, she works on a collaborative project with computer scientists about supporting intergenerational groups in computer-supported cooperative work. Currently, she serves as PI on an Institute of Education Sciences–U.S. Department of Education grant [Intelligent Tutoring of the Structure Strategy (ITSS) to Improve Reading Comprehension of Middle School Students] to provide and study instruction with the structure strategy for fifth and seventh grade students via an intelligent tutor through an Internet Web site. She has authored over 85 publications in such areas as reading comprehension, discourse analysis and processing, and learning, memory, and decision-making across the lifespan. Her book titled The Organization of Prose on Its Effects on Memory has been cited 501 times in the Social Science Citation Index. Dr. Meyer has over 1,330 records cited in the Web of Science Citation Index and times cited sum over 25,000 times. She has served as principal investigator on National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Aging, and Institute of Education Sciences grants (funding of $2,522,478). She is a Fellow in the American Psychological Society and Divisions 3, 15, and 20 of the American Psychological Association (APA). She has served APA Division 15–Educational Psychology as treasurer, newsletter editor, member-at-large, and APA council representative and the American Educational Research Association as Division C secretary and convention program chair. She also has served on editorial boards for Discourse Processes, the Journal of Educational Psychology, the Reading Research Quarterly, Cognition and Instruction, The Educational Psychologist, and the Journal of Literacy Research.
P. Karen Murphy (Ph.D.)
Professor of Education
University of Maryland
Dr. Murphy is a Professor at Penn State University where she holds appointments in the Department of Educational and School Psychology and Special Education and the Children, Youth, and Families Consortium and is Co-Director of the Center for Educational and Developmental Sciences. Her research focuses on the role of students' knowledge and beliefs in the comprehension of oral and written language. Specifically, Dr. Murphy's research involves the investigation of processes underlying students' abillities to read and understand a text, to critically examine and evaluate the information presented, and to make reasoned judgments as a result of reading. Her ongoing projects pertain to the role of knowledge and beliefs in teaching and learning, promoting high-level comprehension through classroom discussion, student processing of intratextual refutation, and the use of biobehaviorial indices in educational research. She is currently Associate Editor of Learning and Instruction Europe's flagship educational research journal.
Rayne A. Sperling (Ph.D.)
Associate Professor of Education
University of Nebraska
Dr. Sperling’s teaching and research interests are in the areas of self-regulation, the design of effective learning materials, and learners’ problem solving and reading strategies. Currently, her focus is on the development and measurement of metacognitive monitoring and self-control of cognitive processes, and on teaching regulatory strategies to learners in elementary, secondary, and postsecondary settings. She has co-authored publications and presented several papers on the development and measurement of metacognition, strategy use, and learner regulation. She is currently the Editor of the Journal of Experimental Education.
Robert J. Stevens (Ph.D.)
Professor of Education
University of Illinois
Dr. Stevens' teaching and research interests include cognitive psychology and instruction, reading comprehension, comprehension strategies, effective instruction in reading and writing, and cooperative learning. Currently, he is studying the impact of using strategy instruction and cooperative learning processes in reading and writing instruction with disadvantaged middle school students. He has also studied effective elementary instruction for at-risk students and effective instructional strategies for mainstreaming special education students. He has published a number of articles in technical and professional journals. He has edited a book titled Teaching in American Schools and is the co-author of chapters in the Handbook of Research on Teaching and The Handbook of Reading Research.
Hoi K. Suen (Ed.D.)
Distinguished Professor of Education
Northern Illinois University
Dr. Suen's interests include measurement theories, behavioral observation, validity issues, consequences of high-stakes testing, and lessons from the historical civil service exam system of China.
Peggy Van Meter (Ph.D.)
Associate Professor of Education
University of Maryland
Dr. Van Meter’s teaching and research interests are in the areas of learning, cognition, psychological processes of reading, and effective instructional practices. At the National Reading Research Center at the University of Maryland, she was involved in the implementation of an experimental, integrated reading focused on determining characteristics of contexts that are supportive of elementary school students’ reading processes and comprehension strategies. She has co-authored several book chapters and journal articles addressing the issues of students’ strategic processes in learning settings.
