National Education Meeting Serves as Showcase for UAlbany Students’ Innovative Research

Working with renowned faculty, students at the School of Education explore issues involving profound change in teaching and learning.

ALBANY, N.Y. (April 4, 2016) -- The American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) annual meeting is the largest gathering of scholars in the field of education research. For University at Albany School of Education students, it serves as a showcase for their first forays into high-level academic research.

Working side-by-side with renowned faculty, students at the School of Education explore issues involving profound change in teaching and learning, literacy, international educational policy, educational technology, mental health counseling and human development. This component of their graduate education merges seamlessly with the AERA annual meeting’s goal of presenting ground-breaking, innovative studies in a diverse array of areas -- from early education through higher education, from digital learning to second language literacy.

More than a dozen UAlbany graduate students are on the AERA program this year in Washington, D.C., presenting research on topics including the accessibility of the Common Core for students with special needs, the role of metacognition in technology-based learning, the influence of educational contexts on the development of reading, strategies to enhance students’ online learning, and educational practices of schools that outperform their peers.

UAlbany doctoral student Angela Lui, School of Education (Photo Mark Schmidt)

"The AERA meeting has become a second academic home to me. I feel comfortable presenting my ideas to have them be challenged; new ideas and perspectives emerge through conversations with scholars across different parts of the United States, and the world," said Angela Lui, a doctoral student in Educational Psychology who is attending for the fifth consecutive year. "One of the most exhilarating moments is when a fellow scholar approaches me after a presentation with a business card, and says, 'Your topic is very interesting. There may be future opportunities for us to collaborate. Let's keep in touch.' Simply said, it's an exciting place to be as a budding scholar."

Lui will be presenting with Assistant Professor Julie Learned and fellow graduate student Mary Jo Morgan on the classroom experiences of both struggling and proficient readers in the same learning environment.

"At UAlbany’s School of Education, students participate in a community of scholarship with a legacy of enhancing education in New York State, nationally, and internationally," said SOE Dean Robert Bangert-Drowns. "The AERA meeting is one example of this, as it provides a venue the students to interact with leading educators from around the world and learn more about the many career pathways that await them once they graduate."

The goal of the 2016 AERA meeting is illuminate and enhance the role of education researchers as public scholars who contribute to public understanding, political debate, and professional practice in increasingly diverse democracies in the U.S. and around the globe.

The meeting also comes at a critical time as issues such as Common Core standards, school choice, and funding for higher education are among the most highly debated topics in the 2016 Presidential Election cycle.

Read the full list of School of Education participants at the 2016 AERA Meeting.

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