Educational psychology graduate students and undergraduate members of the P20 Motivation and Learning Lab led by Dr. Ellen Usher will be presenting research papers on a panel at the upcoming UK Appalachian Research Symposium and Arts Showcase. The panel, entitled “Exploring Contextual Influences on Students’ Educational Beliefs in an Eastern Kentucky School District,” will feature work by Amanda Butz (PhD student), Chelsea Adams (MS student), Audrey Conway (MS student), Ashley Hall (’14 MS alumna), Rachel Husk (undergraduate in PSY), and Jessica Dias (undergraduate in PSY). These young scholars will present papers that show the unique ways in which contextual factors influence rural Appalachian students’ educational beliefs. The findings presented come from the Motivation and Achievement in Rural Appalachia (MARA) project, a multi-year research study examining the relationship between contextual factors and academic motivation in rural Appalachia. The Appalachian Research Symposium will take place on Saturday, March 7th, 9 a.m. – 5 p. m. at the William T. Young Library on the University of Kentucky campus.
Portions of this work will also be presented later this year at the annual meetings of the American Educational Research Association and the Association for Psychological Science.
