Mike Trevisan, left, and Brian French, co-directors of the Learning
& Performance Research Center. (Photo by Shelly Hanks,
WSU Photo Services)
& Performance Research Center. (Photo by Shelly Hanks,
WSU Photo Services)
Creation of the WSU Learning & Performance Research Center couldn’t have come at a better time, its directors say.
“The ongoing national debate over the No Child Left Behind Act – and changes in standardized testing here in Washington – spotlight the importance of making sure that tests are fair and educational programs are effective,” said professor Mike Trevisan. “Educational psychology is seeing a major renaissance.”
“The ongoing national debate over the No Child Left Behind Act – and changes in standardized testing here in Washington – spotlight the importance of making sure that tests are fair and educational programs are effective,” said professor Mike Trevisan. “Educational psychology is seeing a major renaissance.”
Research projects at the center, which officially opened in August, combine cognitive psychology, measurement and recent advances in program evaluation.
Building a team
Trevisan co-directs the Learning & Performance Research Center (LPRC) with associate professor Brian French. The center is part of the WSU College of Education’s educational psychology program, which the university identified in 2008 as an area for “growth and investment.”
Trevisan co-directs the Learning & Performance Research Center (LPRC) with associate professor Brian French. The center is part of the WSU College of Education’s educational psychology program, which the university identified in 2008 as an area for “growth and investment.”
Trevisan, who specializes in the evaluation of learning, has been with WSU for 15 years. French, whose expertise is in educational measurement, was on the faculty at Purdue University before joining the WSU faculty in July 2008.
The two are involved in a national search for an expert in cognitive psychology to expand their research team, plus another educational psychology faculty member based in the Tri-Cities.
They believe that the LPRC’s multi-disciplinary approach will be a unique draw to future faculty, graduate students and post-doctoral fellows.
Partnerships in research
“Besides creating our own substantive teams, we will work with other organizations to improve the quality of education and its assessment,” Trevisan said.
“Besides creating our own substantive teams, we will work with other organizations to improve the quality of education and its assessment,” Trevisan said.
Project partners include:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, developing a national tractor safety curriculum, program and certification exam process to reduce injuries among young farm workers;
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, developing a national tractor safety curriculum, program and certification exam process to reduce injuries among young farm workers;
The Institute of Educational Sciences, examining an intervention in elementary schools to increase science achievement and science reasoning skills;
The National Science Foundation (NSF), evaluating a project to bring science to Latino families in the Yakima Valley with Spanish-language mobile science lessons, and researching ways to retain students in engineering programs;
The National Institutes of Health, developing a test of spoken language for adults and children with varying degrees of hearing loss.
In addition to research, the LPRC conducts methodological studies and evaluates assessments for government agencies, school districts, corporations and testing companies. For example, the center recently reviewed the national OptiSchool program, which develops ways of gauging the progress of students who perform poorly on standardized tests.
“State and federal educational departments, school districts and K-20 educators have a renewed interest in programs that optimize the learning potential of students,” Trevisan said.
Involving grad students
One specialty of the center is evaluating innovative programs in curriculum development and student retention. The co-directors and their 10 graduate students are working with the NSF on retaining students in engineering programs. One of their studies looks at the impact of infusing design work into all four undergraduate years.
Over the last decade, WSU’s educational psychology faculty and graduate students conducted nearly $8 million in funded projects. Another $2 million in projects are under way. Trevisan and French believe the time is right to build on those successes.
“We involve our graduate students in a high level of work in a setting where they work closely with faculty,” French said. He noted that recent doctoral graduates have gone on to a wide variety of careers, ranging from researchers at large school districts, to training evaluators at national companies, to holding university faculty positions.
“We involve our graduate students in a high level of work in a setting where they work closely with faculty,” French said. He noted that recent doctoral graduates have gone on to a wide variety of careers, ranging from researchers at large school districts, to training evaluators at national companies, to holding university faculty positions.
The work of Jenny LeBeau illustrates the diversity of experience that LPRC graduate assistants receive. Besides analyzing data from assessments administered to students in engineering design courses, LeBeau has helped write annual evaluation reports for such projects as WSU’s Math-Science Partnership and the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. She is writing a paper with Trevisan that they will present at the American Evaluation Association conference in November.
“The work I do is engaging and the conversations held in the LPRC are intellectually stimulating,” LeBeau said. “Because my degree is different than that of most others in the center I am in higher education administration I have been exposed to new areas of research.”
The graduate students and their faculty mentors benefit personally as well as professionally from the center, Trevisan said.
“This is life-fulfilling work.”
For more information, go to https://education.wsu.edu/research/LPRC/.
