The CYFS Statistics and Research Methodology Unit is pleased to welcome a new Research Assistant Professor, Dr. Greg Welch! Dr. Welch completed his doctoral work at the University of Pittsburgh and comes to us from the University of Kansas where he was a faculty member in the Department of Psychology and Research in Education. He has accumulated considerable teaching, consulting, and evaluation experience, most recently working with the Center for Research on Learning and the School Program Evaluation and Research (SPEaR) Team at KU, and the Kansas Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems program. Dr. Welch’s research interests include structural equation modeling, latent growth curve analysis, measurement of anxiety and depression, and educational policy. Dr. Welch will provide critical statistical, methodological, and design support for Faculty and Student Affiliates of the Center.

Congratulations to Graduate Student Affiliates Dr. Brandy Clark and Andy Garbacz.  Dr. Brandy Clarke, CYFS post-doctoral fellow, received the 2008 Outstanding Dissertation Award from Division 16 of the American Psychological association for her study, “Parental self-efficacy: Examination of a protective factor for parents of low-income with young children.” Andy Garbacz, CYFS Student Affiliate and doctoral student in the UNL School Psychology program, was honored by the Nebraska Psychological Association in their Spring 2008 Graduate Student Research Poster Competition. Andy received second place and a cash award for his study, “International perspectives of family-school partnerships:  An examination across three countries.”

CYFS welcomes new postdoctoral fellow Dr. Kyongboon Kwon! Dr. Kwon’s position is funded through a four-year post-doctoral training grant, “Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research on Consultation-Based Interventions for Students with Social and Behavioral Concerns” (PIs: Sheridan, Glover, and Bovaird), funded through the Institute for Education Sciences (IES) at the U.S. Department of Education

What really impacts student’s web-based learning? How do students use web-based instruction? The Intelligence in Learning Objects Guide (iLOG) will explore these questions and provide information to educators in order to guide future web-based instructional development and utilization. This research has drawn national attention and interest. Dr. Gwen Nugent spoke on this cutting edge research in July of 2008 at the World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications in Vienna. This project is funded by the National Science Foundation and is an interdisciplinary effort between the UNL Computer Science Department and CYFS. Associate Professor Leen-Kiat Soh is the Principal Investigator, Dr. Gwen Nugent and Dr. Ashok Samal are Co-Principal Investigators, and the Technical Consultant on this project is Brad Barker, a CYFS Faculty Affiliate with 4-H Youth Development.