Avi Kaplan

Avi Kaplan

  • College of Education and Human Development

    Psychological Studies in Education

    Professor

Office Location

Ritter Hall Fourth Floor

Phone

215-204-4497

Biography

Dr. Avi Kaplan’s research interests focus on people's motivation and identity development, with particular interest in the role of the environment in these processes. His recent research involves the application of the complex dynamic systems approach to identity and motivation, and employing collaborative design-based interventions that focus on diverse people's motivation, identity exploration, learning, and decision-making. Together with Dr. Joanna K. Garner, Avi developed the Dynamic Systems Model of Role Identity (DSMRI), which is a complex dynamic systems model of identity, motivation, emotion, and learning. Avi's current projects use the DSMRI in the design of a museum exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History that promotes visitors' identity exploration of their inventiveness in life, social studies' teachers' identity change and motivation to facilitate student-led discussions, engineering students' transfer of design-thinking from courses to their capstone project, medical students' development of professional identity and medical leadership, and community leaders' value-based decision-making in situations of uncertainty. Avi's recent publications include a 2019 chapter in Advances in Motivation and Achievement on identity and motivation in the 21st century, a 2021 chapter in the Cambridge Handbook on Identity on conceptions of identity in educational psychological research, and a 2023 chapter in Motivation Science on the application of the complex dynamic systems perspective in motivation theory and research. Avi served as President of the Division of Educational Psychology (Division 15) of the American Psychological Association. He is a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association, the Association of Psychological Science, Division 15 of the American Psychological Association, and the Eastern Psychological Association. He is the former editor of the Journal of Experimental Education, and serves on the editorial boards of the Educational Psychologist, the Journal of Educational Psychology, the Journal of Experimental Education, and the International Journal of Complexity in Education.

ResearchGate: ResearchGate - Avi Kaplan

Google Scholar: Google Scholar - Avi Kaplan

Research Interests

  • Motivation
  • Identity
  • Learning Environments

Courses Taught

Number

Name

Level

EDUC 5402

Child and Adol Develop

Graduate

EDUC 8401

Philosophical Foundations of Educational Research

Graduate

EPSY 5561

Development and Learning Over the Lifespan

Graduate

Selected Publications

Featured

  • Kaplan, A. (2023). A framework for approaching policy-oriented educational psychology research. Educational Psychologist, 58(4), pp. 229-243. Informa UK Limited. doi: 10.1080/00461520.2023.2253301

  • Kaplan, A., Flum, H., Bridgelal, I., & Garner, J.K. (2021). Identity Scholarship in Educational Psychology: Toward a Complex Dynamic Systems Perspective. In The Cambridge Handbook of Identity (pp. 529-563). Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781108755146.028

  • Kaplan, A., Cromley, J., Perez, T., Dai, T., Mara, K., & Balsai, M. (2020). The Role of Context in Educational RCT Findings: A Call to Redefine “Evidence-Based Practice”. Educational Researcher, 49(4), pp. 285-288. doi: 10.3102/0013189X20921862

  • Kaplan, A. & Garner, J.K. (2020). Steps for Applying the Complex Dynamical Systems Approach in Educational Research: A Guide for the Perplexed Scholar. Journal of Experimental Education, 88(3), pp. 486-502. doi: 10.1080/00220973.2020.1745738

  • Urdan, T. & Kaplan, A. (2020). The origins, evolution, and future directions of achievement goal theory. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 61. doi: 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2020.101862

  • Kaplan, A., Garner, J.K., & Brock, B. (2019). Identity and motivation in a changing world: A complex dynamic systems perspective. In Advances in Motivation and Achievement, 20 (pp. 101-127). doi: 10.1108/S0749-742320190000020006

  • Kaplan, A. & Garner, J.K. (2018). Teacher identity and motivation: The dynamic systems model of role identity. In Research on Teacher Identity: Mapping Challenges and Innovations (pp. 71-82). doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-93836-3_7

  • Kaplan, A. & Garner, J.K. (2017). A complex dynamic systems perspective on identity and its development: The dynamic systems model of role identity. Dev Psychol, 53(11), pp. 2036-2051. United States. doi: 10.1037/dev0000339

Recent

  • Bembenutty, H., Liem, G.A.D., Allen, K., King, R.B., Martin, A.J., Marsh, H.W., Craven, R.G., Kaplan, A., Schunk, D.H., DiBenedetto, M.K., & Datu, J.A.D. (2023). Culture, Motivation, Self-Regulation, and the Impactful Work of Dennis M. McInerney. Educ Psychol Rev, 35(1), p. 28. United States. doi: 10.1007/s10648-023-09743-3

  • Patterson, T., Bridgelal, I., & Kaplan, A. (2022). Becoming a social studies teacher: An integrative systems perspective on identity content, structure, and processes. Teaching and Teacher Education, 120, pp. 103899-103899. Elsevier BV. doi: 10.1016/j.tate.2022.103899

  • Bergey, B.W., Cromley, J.G., Kaplan, A., & Bloxton, J.D. (2021). Do Students' Questions during Chemistry Lectures Predict Perceived Comprehension and Exam Performance? JOURNAL of EXPERIMENTAL EDUCATION. doi: 10.1080/00220973.2021.2021843

  • Garner, J.K. & Kaplan, A. (2021). A complex dynamic systems approach to the design and evaluation of teacher professional development. Professional Development in Education, 47(2-3), pp. 289-314. doi: 10.1080/19415257.2021.1879231

  • Carver, A., Garner, J.K., Kaplan, A., & Pugh, K.J. (2021). Visitors’ attendance motivation and meaning making at a public science event. International Journal of Science Education, Part B: Communication and Public Engagement, 11(1), pp. 75-89. doi: 10.1080/21548455.2021.1874620

  • Mara, K.R., Kaplan, A., Balsai, M.J., Cromley, J.G., Perez, T., & Dai, T. (2021). How Instructors Can Enhance Biology Students' Motivation, Learning, and Grades through Brief Relevance Writing and Worked-Example Interventions. J Microbiol Biol Educ, 22(2). United States. doi: 10.1128/jmbe.00110-21

  • Hathcock, S.J., Garner, J.K., & Kaplan, A. (2020). Examining micro-change within and among science teachers' identities: A multiple case study. Science Education, 104(5), pp. 827-856. doi: 10.1002/sce.21577

  • Garner, J.K., Kaplan, A., Hathcock, S., & Bergey, B. (2020). Concept Mapping as a Mechanism for Assessing Science Teachers’ Cross-Disciplinary Field-Based Learning. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 31(1), pp. 8-33. doi: 10.1080/1046560X.2019.1625573

  • Bergey, B.W., Ranellucci, J., & Kaplan, A. (2019). The conceptualization of costs and barriers of a teaching career among Latino preservice teachers. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 59. doi: 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2019.101794

  • Kaplan, A., Neuber, A., & Garner, J.K. (2019). An identity systems perspective on high ability in self-regulated learning. High Ability Studies, 30(1-2), pp. 53-78. doi: 10.1080/13598139.2019.1568830

  • Perez, T., Dai, T., Kaplan, A., Cromley, J.G., Brooks, W.D., White, A.C., Mara, K.R., & Balsai, M.J. (2019). Interrelations among expectancies, task values, and perceived costs in undergraduate biology achievement. Learning and Individual Differences, 72, pp. 26-38. doi: 10.1016/j.lindif.2019.04.001

  • Garner, J.K. & Kaplan, A. (2019). A complex dynamic systems perspective on teacher learning and identity formation: an instrumental case. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 25(1), pp. 7-33. doi: 10.1080/13540602.2018.1533811