EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
In educational psychology (EPY), we conduct high-quality research that explores how emotional, social and cognitive processes impact development and learning with the goal of making learning more effective and equitable.
Explore What We Offer
Our Degree Programs
Educational Psychology, Minor
This minor is for undergraduates interested in a deeper understanding of how psychological principles can be applied in educational settings.
Learn how to apply for the Educational Psychology, Minor »
Human Learning and Development, B.I.S.
This program provides students an opportunity to acquire a career-oriented range of skills and knowledge. Students choose from the coursework in behavior and learning disabilities, counseling, deaf studies, educational psychology, family and community literacy, learning technologies and research methods and problem-solving.
Learn how to apply for the Human Learning and Development, B.I.S.»
Educational Psychology, M.S. (entirely online)
This online program helps students understand the science of learning and behavioral change with emphasis on the application of the principles of psychology to the systematic study of education.
Concentrations include:
General
Our faculty members are active researchers covering a broad spectrum of educational psychology topics. This concentration caters to students interested in understanding the intricacies of human learning, cognition and motivation within educational contexts. Join us to delve into various aspects of educational psychology and gain valuable insights to apply in diverse educational settings.
Adult Literacy
This concentration is designed for students passionate about literacy and adult education, and provides students with an opportunity to deepen their understanding of adult literacy and contribute to cutting-edge research. Join us and interact with faculty, staff, postdocs and students from across the Georgia State campus at the internationally recognized Adult Literacy Research Center.
Development & Social Justice
This concentration is designed for students passionate about human development and social justice issues. Join us and explore the opportunities available at Georgia State to deepen your understanding of human diversity and society and make a difference in these important areas.
The Educational Psychology (EPY) faculty follow an apprenticeship-based model to help students examine how theories of learning, culture and development can be applied to educational settings.
In our program, you are paired with a faculty advisor in your first year. Along with your advisor, you will put together a tailored curriculum that suits your interests and satisfies the requirements.
Broadly, our faculty’s areas of research include:
- Urban Education and Diverse Learners
- Literacy Across the Lifespan
- STEM Thinking
- Disciplinary Learning
- Computer-Based Learning Environments
See our faculty biographies (below) for more information. You are also encouraged to reach out to faculty members whose research interests overlap with your own.
If you are interested in completing a Ph.D. with a faculty in EPY, please fill out the information request form below or email [email protected] for more information.
Health Literacy Graduate Certificate
Improved health literacy increases health equity. This reduces disparities through improved communication between patients and health consumers and those who provide health information, such as doctors or public health workers.
Faculty
Interested in studying Educational Psychology or explore how Educational Psychology can enhance your training in another field?
Below is a list of the courses we offer in EPY. Note that these courses may not be offered every semester and some may contain restrictions on who can enroll. Please see the course catalog or contact us for more information.
Undergraduate Courses
- EPY2040 – The Science of Learning
- EPY2050 – Human Growth and Development
- EPY3010 – Memory and Cognition in the Real World
- EPY4190 – Introduction to Behavior Analysis
- EPY4450 – Culture & Cognition
Graduate Courses for Georgia State Students
- EPY 7080 – The Psychology of Learning and Learners
- EPY 7090 – The Psychology of Learning and Learners: The Young Child
- EPY 8050 – The Psychology of Instruction
- EPY 8070 – Understanding and Facilitating Adult Learning
- EPY 8080 – Memory and Cognition
- EPY 8120 – Motivational Factors in Learning and Behavior
- EPY 8180 – Learning and the School-Age Child (5 to 18 Years)
- EPY 8200 – Advanced Developmental Psychology: Cognition and Intellect
- EPY 8220 – Advanced Developmental Psychology: Personality and Socialization
- EPY 8240 – Development of Racial, Ethnic, and Cultural Identity
- EPY 8250 – Psychology of Inner-City Children
- EPY 8265 – Health Behavior: Acquisition and Change
- EPY 8760 – Seminar in Text and Media Comprehension
- EPY 8790 – International Experiences and Issues in Education
- EPY 9000 – Facilitating College Teaching
- EPY 9310 – Reading Development, Disorders, and Intervention Research
- EPY 9320 – Language Development, Disorders, and Intervention Research
- EPY 9330 – Measurement and Assessment in Advanced Language and Literacy Science
Seminars for Graduate Students in EPY
- EPY 7975 – Seminar for Graduate Assistants
- EPY 7990 – Master’s Capstone
- EPY 8010 – Professional Studies in Educational Psychology
- EPY 8810 – Directed Reading or Research in Educational Psychology
- EPY 8960 – Seminar in Educational Psychology
- EPY 8961 – Professional Development Seminar in Educational Psychology
- EPY 9660 – Internship in Educational Psychology
- EPY 9990 – Dissertation
EPY News
Our Faculty
In the EPY program, you’ll work with a faculty advisor to conduct research on how theories of psychology can inform educational settings.
Research
Research Projects & Labs
Dr. Braasch’s Lab
Director: Jason Braasch
Dr. Braasch’s research explores our understanding of cognitive processes that underlie the evaluation of content and source information when reading texts found on the Internet, and the ways individual differences like reading skill promote (or undermine) successful learning. He has also developed and implemented classroom-based interventions to improve strategies for thinking critically about information found within text(s).
Dr. Carlson’s Lab
Director: Sarah Carlson
Dr. Carlson’s lab generally focuses on using various methods to understand the cognitive processes and products students use during reading. Ongoing projects include developing and using thinking aloud methods, recall, reading time, and distractor-based assessments.
Dr. Chilungu’s Research Team
Director: Namisi Chilungu
Dr. Chilungu’s research examines the experiences of multiracial individuals in academic settings. She has additional research experience related to effective teaching practices (e.g., service learning for elementary students, virtual exchange in college classrooms).
Dr. Irving’s Research Team
Director: Miles Irving
Dr. Irving and his team investigate the impact of cultural and social variables on human agency and cognition. Understanding the link between cultural identity, motivation and school success is at the heart of their research and scholarship.
Project PREVENT
Director: Ann Kruger
Project PREVENT (Promoting Respect, Enhancing Value, Establishing New Trust) researches the development of adolescent girls’ understanding of self and others as resistance to conformity and sexualization pressures. We conduct quantitative and qualitative studies of student participation in small group curricula we developed using the Participatory Culture-Specific Intervention Model (PCSIM). PCSIM asserts that effective approaches to prevention require careful attention to cultural variables and participant input. Our research analyzes participants’ use of language in dyadic or group settings as they think through real-world and hypothetical dilemmas. By conducting basic research about adolescents’ existing beliefs and knowledge, our work contributes to the creation of more responsive psychological services in schools.
Research on Adult Literacy
Director: Daphne Greenberg
Dr. Greenberg directs the Adult Literacy Research Center (a College of Education & Human Development research center). She also directed the Center for the Study of Adult Literacy (a national adult literacy research center funded by IES) which is currently no longer funded but still provides a lot of secondary data. Research in these centers focuses on different aspects of adult literacy such as basic reading component literacy, financial literacy, health literacy and instructional approaches.
Media Comprehension Lab
Director: Joe Magliano
Dr. Magliano’s Media Comprehension lab is an active research lab that focuses on how we comprehend media, such as texts, comics and films. He studies the basic processes that support our ability to understand and remember what we read and view. His program of research also has an applied focus. He studies what it means to be ready to read for school, and in particular, college. He also developed computer-based approaches for assessing comprehension.
Disciplinary Comprehension Lab
Director: Katie McCarthy
Broadly, the research team investigates how people learn from what they read. We use quantitative, qualitative, and computational approaches to investigate the cognitive processes that occur during reading comprehension and the types of activities and interventions that best support learning from text.
Dr. Stewart’s Research
Director: Ashley Stewart
Dr. Stewart and her research team consider how risk factors — such as online racial discrimination — impact academic and mental health outcomes, as well as protective factors — such as critical consciousness — that mitigate the effects of negative race-related experiences. Additionally, she examines teachers’ racial attitudes and practices with racially minoritized students and the roles that teachers can play in helping students cope and make sense of their negative race-related experiences.
Externally Funded Research Grants
These large-scale projects are funded by federal agencies and private philanthropies.
Writing in Adult Secondary Education Classes (W-ASE)
IES: R305N210030
Co-PI Daphne Greenberg
Collaboration with University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
The purpose of the project is to develop a writing curriculum for learners in adult secondary education (ASE) classes along with a professional development (PD) delivery model, materials, and online resources for instructors and students. Learn more: https://ies.ed.gov/funding/grantsearch/details.asp?ID=4697
Content-Integrated Language Instruction for Adults with Technology (CILIA-T). IES:R305N210032
Co-PI Daphne Greenberg
Collaboration with the University of Minnesota and Literacy Minnesota
The focus of this research is to refine and pilot test a curriculum for use in adult education U.S. history/civics and integrated English courses. The curriculum is called CILIA-T (Content-Integrated Language Instruction for Adult with Technology Support), which will provide rigorous academic content as part of English language instruction for adult learners and support learners’ goals such as participating more fully in their communities and citizenship. Learn More: https://ies.ed.gov/funding/grantsearch/details.asp?ID=4698
Developing and Implementing a Technology-Based Reading Comprehension Instruction System for Adult Literacy Students
IES: R305A200413
Co-PI: Daphne Greenberg
Collaboration with: the University of Memphis and Educational Testing Services
This project focuses on refining and piloting an interactive, online reading comprehension program for adult literacy students reading between the 3rd- and 8th-grade levels. This program, called AutoTutor for Adult Reading Comprehension (AT-ARC) will not only provide appropriate materials for adult learners to practice reading comprehension strategies but also address learners’ digital literacy needs and instructors’ needs for professional development. Learn More: https://ies.ed.gov/funding/grantsearch/details.asp?ID=341
Georgia Partnership for Adult Education and Research (GPAER)
IES Grant R305H180061
PI: Daphne Greenberg
Collaboration with: Georgia Office of Adult Education: Technical College System of Georgia
This project includes exploratory research on factors that influence adults’ participation and success in adult education programs. Mixed-methods exploratory research is employed that leverages existing program administrative data and qualitative data that is collected from administrators, students, and instructors. Learn More: https://ies.ed.gov/funding/grantsearch/details.asp?ID=2129
Multiple-choice Online Causal Comprehension Assessment for Postsecondary Students (MOCCA-College): Measuring Individual Differences in Reading Comprehension Ability of Struggling College Readers by Text Type
IES Grant R305A180417
Co-PI: Sarah Carlson
Collaboration with: California State University, University of Oregon, University of Minnesota, University of North Dakota
This project focuses on modifying and validating a diagnostic reading comprehension assessment with students in postsecondary education. MOCCA-College is an extension of a previous version developed for students in Grades 3-5. When taking MOCCA-College, students read short passages that are either narrative or informational and complete missing text information with one of three sentences. Each sentence represents the types of cognitive processes generated during reading. Data from MOCCA-College can be used to inform instructional strategies for improving reading comprehension. To learn more, go to: https://ies.ed.gov/funding/grantsearch/details.asp?ID=2131
Developing a Deeper Understanding of Cognitive Processes Driving Multiple Document Comprehension
IES Grant R305A180144
Co-PIs: Joe Magliano, Katie McCarthy
Collaboration with: Arizona State University, University of New Hampshire
Reading in the 21st century often involves the need to read and learn from multiple texts. This research uses verbal protocols, eyetracking, and telemetry data to investigate how different reading strategies can help students improve their multiple document comprehension. This project is a collaboration with Arizona State University and Mississippi State University, sponsored by the Institute for Education Sciences (IES R305A180144).
Using Computational Linguistics to Detect Comprehension Processes in Constructed Responses across Multiple Large Data Sets
IES Grant R305A190063
Co-PIs: Joe Magliano, Katie McCarthy
Collaboration with: Arizona State University, University of New Hampshire
This project is a large-scale secondary data analysis in which the research team is re-examining nearly two decades’ worth of reading comprehension data. Constructed responses (e.g., think-alouds, self-explanations) produced during reading can reveal a lot about the processes and strategies that readers use to understand texts. Researchers are using human ratings in conjunction with natural language processing tools to explore the properties of constructed responses as they unfold over time and their relations to students’ individual differences and performance on comprehension tasks.
Examining Interactions Between On-Line and Off-Line Explanation Strategies in Science Comprehension
Spencer Foundation: 201900217
PI: Katie McCarthy
Collaboration with Middle Georgia State University
Research shows that students can increase their comprehension and retention of complex scientific content by engaging with explanation-based learning strategies. This project brings together research from text and discourse comprehension and applied memory and cognition to explore how different combinations of strategies (e.g., self-explaining, restudying, recalling) impact what readers learn and remember. This research explores how different strategies may be more or less effective for different types of learners.
Project PREVENT
PI: Ann Cale Kruger
Collaboration with: Center for Research on School Safety, School Climate, and Classroom Management at GSU
Project PREVENT (Promoting Respect, Enhancing Value, Establishing New Trust) researches the development of adolescent girls’ understanding of self and others as resistance to conformity and sexualization pressures. We conduct quantitative and qualitative studies of student participation in small group curricula we developed using the Participatory Culture-Specific Intervention Model (PCSIM). PCSIM asserts that effective approaches to prevention require careful attention to cultural variables and participant input. Our research analyzes participants’ use of language in dyadic or group settings as they think through real-world and hypothetical dilemmas. By conducting basic research about adolescents’ existing beliefs and knowledge, our work contributes to the creation of more responsive psychological services in schools.
Internally Funded Research Grants
These projects are funded through Georgia State University programs
Exploring the Effects of Text Complexity in Civic Literacy
Center for Research on the Challenges of Acquiring Language & Literacy Seed Grant
PI: Katie McCarthy
Civics texts are infamously complex. This complexity has been shown to deter citizens from engaging in their civic duties. The goal of this work is to explore what makes these texts so challenging and to empirically investigate best practices for increasing comprehension. This project examines how three different types of text simplification (plain language, lexical and syntactic-based readability, cohesion-based readability) affect readers’ comprehension of civics texts.
Promoting Undergraduate Students’ Critical Thinking About Epistemic Injustice in Educational Psychology
Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Online Education and Committee for Instructional Effectiveness at Georgia State University
Co-PIs: Jason Braasch; Miles Irving
This project examines whether offering opportunities for undergraduates to think critically about and discuss educational psychology course content improves learning outcomes. Students will create podcasts that focus on discussions about race-reimaging of a core theory in educational psychology, that is, viewing it through a lens that honors sociohistorical experiences related to race and culture. It is expected that students who participated in the intervention will display a greater engagement in critical thinking about the importance of considering race and culture in educational psychology theories in subsequent course assignments relative to a control classroom.
Externally Funded Training Grants
Georgia State University Postdoctoral Training on Adult Literacy: G-PAL
IES: R305B200007
PI: Daphne Greenberg
Nearly 43 million U.S. adults (roughly 20 percent) may have literacy skill gaps that make full participation in economic and civic life more difficult. The nation needs researchers with strong methodological and empirical skills to improve our knowledge of and innovations for this highly diverse population. Our postdoctoral program at the Adult Literacy Research Center (ALRC) provides postdoctoral researchers with opportunities to refine their skills and knowledge and to lead the next generation of research for adults. As a result of this training, postdoctoral fellows will be prepared to conduct research on adult samples drawn from different education settings, communicate across fields and with technical and non-technical audiences and help inform policy and practice relevant to the large portion of the U.S. population who struggles with basic literacy.
Learn more on the Adult Literacy Research Center webpage.
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Careers
What careers can a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology prepare me for?
Most of our students go on to teach and conduct research at the college level. However, many of our students also work in education and government as well as in both industry and the nonprofit sector.
Our students leave the program with expertise in their area of research as well as a strong background in methodologies and analysis techniques that make them desirable for a variety of positions.
Contact Us
The Department of Learning Sciences offers information to prospective students on all of the department’s programs and information on the application process and materials. Prospective students may contact the office by phone or email.
PHONE
404-413-8040
EMAIL
[email protected]
Department of Learning Sciences
30 Pryor St. SW
Suite 750
Atlanta, GA 30303
