February 24, 2024 at the MTSU College of Education in Murfreesboro, TN

 

REGISTRATION is now CLOSED.

 

• Conference Date/Time:  Saturday, February 24, 2024 (8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.) 
• Conference Rate: $45.00
• Registration is now Closed.

This conference is for students and established scholars to present their research related to literacy in a supportive and collegial atmosphere. We invite researchers and practitioners from various disciplines (e.g., education, psychology, linguistics, and neuroscience) to attend and participate. We encourage presentations of original literacy research and we are especially interested in literacy research that helps bridge research to practice in education. 

Keynote Speaker:  Art Graesser, Ph.D. 

"Conversations with computer agents can help adults comprehend difficult material: A fusion of psychology, AI, education, and linguistics"

Art Graesser is emeritus professor in the Department of Psychology and the Institute of Intelligent Systems at the University of Memphis, USA, as well as an Honorary Research Fellow at University of Oxford, England. He received his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of California at San Diego.  His research interests include question asking and answering, tutoring, text comprehension, reading, inference generation, conversation, problem solving, memory, emotions, artificial intelligence, computational linguistics, and human-computer interaction. He served as editor of the journal Discourse Processes (1996–2005) and Journal of Educational Psychology (2009-2014), as well as presidents of 4 societies, including Society for Text and Discourse (2007-2010), the International Society for Artificial Intelligence in Education (2007-2009), and the Federation of Associations in the Behavioral and Brain Sciences (2012-13). He and his colleagues have developed and tested software in learning, language, and discourse technologies, including those that hold a conversation in natural language and interact with multimedia (such as AutoTutor) and those that analyze text on multiple levels of language and discourse (Coh-Metrix and Question Understanding Aid -- QUAID).  These systems implement advances in artificial intelligence, computational linguistics, and discourse processes.  He has served on five panels with the National Academy of Sciences (including How People Learn, 2018) and five expert panels in Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) on problem solving (PIAAC 2011, 2022; PISA 2012, 2015) and on AI and the future of work.  He has received outstanding lifetime research achievement awards from the American Psychological Association, the Society for Text & Discourse, the Society for Artificial Intelligence in Education, and the University of Memphis, as well as a Harold W. McGraw Prize in Learning Sciences.

 Comprehension | Vocabulary | Strategy Instruction | Dyslexia | ELL | Writing | RTI | Assessment

 

Topics presented at past conferences:

• Evidence-based strategies for comprehension instruction
• Motivation in reading
• Vocabulary and writing instruction for English language learners
• Diversity in K-3 Literature
• Response to intervention 
• Neuroscience in literacy
• Literacy and writing development (across age groups)
• Morphology instruction and assessment
• Primary phonics instruction for at-risk readers
• Motivation and self-perception of middle school students
• Prosodic sensitivity and reading skills
• Mindset and self-regulation in wrting and literacy instruction for young children
• Growth mindset and text selection of middle school students

Morphological Awareness | Motivation | Growth Mindset | Professional Development | SLD

      

Interested in Pursuing a Ph.D. in Literacy? (Post-Bachelor's Program)

The Literacy Studies Ph.D. Program at Middle Tennessee State University is designed to address one of education's most pressing needs - the shortage of scholars, practitioners, administrators, and policy-makers equipped to bridge the gap between the rapidly expanding body of scientific research on the development of literacy and educational practice, policy, and professional preparation. Drawing on the faculty from the College of Education, the College of Behavioral and Health Sciences, and the College of Liberal Arts, this interdisciplinary program offers a flexible framework of courses, field experiences, teaching, and research opportunities designed to provide professionals in various spheres of influence with the essential knowledge, skills, and abilities to effectively address the literacy crisis in the United States and beyond.

We would like to invite students and practitioners who are interested in learning more about pursuing a doctoral degree in literacy. Attendees and presenters will have the opportunity to meet faculty members and students in the program.