Rogers State University - B.S. in Social and Behavioral Science (Psychology & Sociology)
(2005) - Minor in History
Prior to attending RSU, I went to Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas. It was here that I took my first experimental psychology course from James Nolan (Jay). Psychology as a science was fascinating to me and Jay's enthusiasm was contagious. It was at Southwestern that I conducted my first psychological experiment with my friend Nathan Swink, who is now a community psychologist. We managed to present this experiment at a conference, though in hindsight it was more of a chance for us learn about everything we did wrong :).
I then transferred to RSU where I finished my bachelor degree. Here, it was Frank Elwell, and David Newcomb who had a profound impact on my development, both of which are sociologists. Frank's impact derived from his intellectual rigor and difficult courses, whereas David's influence stemmed from spending hours with me contemplating the idiosyncrasies of various theories. For my senior thesis, I conducted a study that investigated attachment styles and optimistic thinking in elementary children. As an aspect of this project, I developed my own instrument for measuring attachment styles in children. This was also presented at a conference and actually won a best presentation award, but once again this experience is best viewed as an opportunity to come to grips with the realities of research.
I then transferred to RSU where I finished my bachelor degree. Here, it was Frank Elwell, and David Newcomb who had a profound impact on my development, both of which are sociologists. Frank's impact derived from his intellectual rigor and difficult courses, whereas David's influence stemmed from spending hours with me contemplating the idiosyncrasies of various theories. For my senior thesis, I conducted a study that investigated attachment styles and optimistic thinking in elementary children. As an aspect of this project, I developed my own instrument for measuring attachment styles in children. This was also presented at a conference and actually won a best presentation award, but once again this experience is best viewed as an opportunity to come to grips with the realities of research.
Oklahoma State University - M.S. in Educational Psychology (Research & Evaluation)
(2008)
I decided to specialize in educational research, evaluation, measurement, and statistics. Throughout my time at OSU, I further explored various philosophical issues in education, religion, and science. My predominant influence at this time was Laura Barnes, who supervised my thesis. My thesis pertained to religious fundamentalism and authoritarianism. I was always fascinated by religion, mainly because I have witnessed the paradoxical effects of religious belief (see Gordon Allport for information about this paradox). Additionally, I agreed with Daniel Dennett who argued that this topic is too important for us to remain ignorant about. Such ignorance is dangerous! The psychology of religion provided me with interesting content that could be used to apply my growing skills as a researcher. Measurement, perhaps for obvious reasons, has plagued the psychology of religion. Most measures, at least in my opinion, are extremely biased. At the time, I thought that this would provide a fruitful content area that could be cleaned up with sound measurement practice. This also provided me with a chance to integrate philosophical insights, since much of my work also explored how epistemological issues may advance the psychology of religion. Though my scholarly interests currently extend well beyond this area, I still believe that some of the best minds in the world should be dedicated to vivisecting underlying religious/spiritual issues.
Oklahoma State University - PhD. in Educational Psychology (Research & Evaluation)
(2012)
Many people contributed to my development as I completed my PhD. Education is truly a relational endeavor! Dale Fuqua supervised by dissertation and he was a great mentor! I was also heavily influenced by James Grice, particularly his strong criticisms toward contemporary measurement practices. Given that I wanted a faculty position, I set a goal of obtaining five publications prior to graduation and I am happy to say that I well exceeded this goal. I had a wealth of practical experiences, such evaluating government sponsored programs at the University of Oklahoma, presenting at various national and international conferences, and working with a strong research team in human motivation led by Yoonjung Cho. It was during my dissertation, which focused on problematical third variable effects in religiosity and psychological well being, that I became obsessed with issues in educational assessment and validity theory. As I completed my dissertation I took a position as a statistical analyst in the Office of University Assessment and Testing. Here I was faced with practical problems that didn't seem to have a clear resolution. At some level statistical modeling may be more of an art than a science. During this time I also recognized a need to help assessment practitioners in higher education. My interest in validity theory came from reading a book about the concept of validity, and I found the conversation between these theorists completely fascinating. Validity theory provided me with an opportunity to integrate my interest in philosophy and psychometric theory. In my view, if we don't address some of the issues within measurement, assessment practices, and validation then most content areas will suffer by default.
We are faced with the paradoxical fact that education has become one of the chief obstacles to intelligence and freedom of thought.--Bertrand Russell