Silvia Moore Goals

April 2012

While my original goal for gaining a Ph.D. at George Mason University continues to focus on ” to further my understanding, and the understanding of teachers and parents, on how to teach the brain to learn.  Specifically, I am interested in researching and teaching students to think fast, find focus and sharpen their concentration;”  the concentration emphasis has changed. Educational psychology continues to be my major concentration but special education has replaced neuroscience. This decision is based on my interest in translating current research to an accessible and timely tool for teachers, administrators, students and parents.

My short term plans include proceeding to the second year  of the PhD program armed with the understanding that the abilities I lack to become a good researcher are always one class away. As I move toward a 2015 graduation day, I intend to focus my academic goals on acquiring a strong foundation of research methodologies. Another important goal is to make sense of the different theories for leaning in a way that it is meaningful through a consistent diet of reading research studies, literature reviews and websites maintained by researchers in my field.  In addition, I will seek opportunities to communicate this research through workshops, articles in educational magazines/journals, and blogging.  In addition to these short-term plans, I intend to begin exploring dissertation topics, such as “how to build self-efficacy and motivation in high school students” through action research in progress. In the spring of 2012, my proposal for starting a pilot self-regulation learning (SRL) program for high school freshman was approved by the school administration where I am employed.  I intend to use this SRL lab experience to practice using measurement instruments (surveys, time-series diaries, interview data, etc) and developing the skills of coding, entering and reporting data outcomes.

Future plans include working as a researcher/teacher delving into the plethora of information about ‘learning to learn’ in order to turn it into accessible information for educators.  Further in the future, Dr. Moore will be  working with high schools teachers and administrators to create programs for developig self-regulated learners.