Motivational & Performance Outcomes of Mindset-Task Factor Interactions
One three-experiment study comprised my dissertation, and aimed to address how task factors (i.e. goals, task focus) interact with one’s mindset to affect performance.  Further, this study investigates whether one’s mindset can be strategically shifted depending on context and current performance in order to preserve desired outcomes.  An upcoming study aims to address how mindset is related to goal selection, as well as how these constructs are influenced by task challenge.

Self-Set Goals, Self-Regulation, and Judgments of Productivity
This work, still in it’s infancy, aims to assess people’s natural goal setting behavior, the outcomes of organic self-set goals, and the ways these goals influence productivity. In addition, we are interested in the discrepancy between objective productivity and individual judgments of productivity, inspired by the literature regarding the same discrepancy in judgments of learning.

Digital and Physical Learning & Testing
We are investigating the differences between learning digitally (e.g. via tablets, computers, or online lectures) and physically (e.g. in-person learning, reading paper-based materials, using physical manipulatives).  These projects assess differences in performance outcomes and address constraints of both digital and physical contexts to evaluate the costs and benefits of digitization in the classroom.  Recent findings regarding differences in performance and representation of spatial problems are now available in Computers in Human Behavior!

Impacts of Instructor Beliefs on Student Learning & Retention
Do instructors’ implicit beliefs about ability, hard work, and failure influence student learning, motivation and retention? This new line of work aims to account for instructor beliefs and biases about student ability, the meaning of failure, and the importance of academic resilience when assessing student learning outcomes and retention in courses with high drop rates.