Ian Thacker
Biographic Data
| ID | 1604744 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ian Thacker |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ian |
| FAMILY NAME | Thacker |
| SIGNATURE | THACKER I |
| AFFILIATIONS | The University of Texas at San Antonio |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2492-2929 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 34 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 10 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2020 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Should we Tell Teachers That They Are (In)Correct? How Personalized Refutation Text Promotes or Hampers Conceptual Change
In-service and student teachers often hold math-gender misconceptions of female learners’ lower levels of mathematical talent. Such misconceptions are related to the math-gender stereotype that shapes how teachers interact with students and can contribute to the underrepresentation of women in mathematical fields. One method for reducing these misconceptions is refutation texts, which explicitly state and refute a misconception before providing a…
Estimating climate change numbers: Mental computation strategies that can support science learning
Presenting novel numbers about climate change to people after they estimate those numbers can shift their attitudes and scientific conceptions. Prior research suggests that such science learning can be supported by encouraging learners to make use of given benchmark information, however there are several other numerical estimation skills that may also be relevant in this context. This design-based research project aimed to identify specific mathe…
STEM Faculty’s Support of Togetherness during Mandated Separation: Accommodations, Caring, Crisis Management, and Powerlessness
The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic initiated major disruptions to higher education systems. Physical spaces that previously supported interpersonal interaction and community were abruptly inactivated, and faculty largely took on the responsibility of accommodating classroom structures in rapidly changing situations. This study employed interviews to examine how undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) instructors…
Social Connectedness in Physical Isolation: Online Teaching Practices That Support Under-Represented Undergraduate Students’ Feelings of Belonging and Engagement in STEM
The COVID-19 outbreak spurred unplanned closures and transitions to online classes. Physical environments that once fostered social interaction and community were rendered inactive. We conducted interviews and administered surveys to examine undergraduate STEM students’ feelings of belonging and engagement while in physical isolation, and identified online teaching modes associated with these feelings. Surveys from a racially diverse group of 43 …
Teacher bias in the virtual classroom
The purpose of this preregistered study was to examine whether patterns of teachers' race and gender biases found in prior research would emerge in a virtual teaching context. We asked a national sample of 989 teachers to evaluate student work pictured in screenshots of a virtual classroom showing students explaining their work. We randomly assigned the images of students depicted in the virtual classroom and tested whether the race or gender of …
Supporting climate change understanding with novel data, estimation instruction, and epistemic prompts
Here’s Hoping It’s not Just Text Structure: The Role of Emotions in Knowledge Revision and the Backfire Effect
Refutation texts are designed to facilitate the revision of inaccurate knowledge; however, studies have documented backfire effects wherein respondents become less accurate when exposed to a factual correction compared to another. Here, we explored whether epistemic emotions mediated knowledge revision or backfire processes when reading experimental refutation texts that varied by supporting information. We asked 294 online readers to report thei…
A Comparison of Perceived and Observed Learning From Professional Development: Relationships Among Self-Reports, Direct Assessments, and Teacher Characteristics
The success of professional development programs has typically been determined based on their impact on teacher learning, without much attention being given to the data sources used. Large-scale studies have generally relied on teachers' self-reports, whereas small-scale studies have included more direct assessments and observations of teacher learning. The purpose of this study was to compare teachers' self-reported gains in mathematical knowled…
Using persuasive refutation texts to prompt attitudinal and conceptual change
We investigated knowledge and attitudes before and after reading refutation texts augmented by different kinds of persuasive information and how emotions mediated the process of knowledge and attitude change. Undergraduates (N = 424) enrolled in 4 universities from 3 countries read a refutation text on genetically modified foods (GMFs) and were then randomly assigned to receive additional information about advantages of GMFs, disadvantages of GMF…
Teachers’ Bias Against the Mathematical Ability of Female, Black, and Hispanic Students
Researchers have long endeavored to understand whether teachers’ evaluations of their students’ mathematical ability or performance are accurate or whether their evaluations reveal implicit biases. To disentangle these factors, in a randomized controlled study (N = 390), we examined teachers’ evaluations of 18 mathematical solutions to which gender- and race-specific names had been randomly assigned. Teachers displayed no detectable bias when ass…
Teachers’ Bias Against the Mathematical Ability of Female, Black, and Hispanic Students
Researchers have long endeavored to understand whether teachers’ evaluations of their students’ mathematical ability or performance are accurate or whether their evaluations reveal implicit biases. To disentangle these factors, in a randomized controlled study (N = 390), we examined teachers’ evaluations of 18 mathematical solutions to which gender- and race-specific names had been randomly assigned. Teachers displayed no detectable bias when ass…
Here’s Hoping It’s not Just Text Structure: The Role of Emotions in Knowledge Revision and the Backfire Effect
Refutation texts are designed to facilitate the revision of inaccurate knowledge; however, studies have documented backfire effects wherein respondents become less accurate when exposed to a factual correction compared to another. Here, we explored whether epistemic emotions mediated knowledge revision or backfire processes when reading experimental refutation texts that varied by supporting information. We asked 294 online readers to report thei…
Using persuasive refutation texts to prompt attitudinal and conceptual change
We investigated knowledge and attitudes before and after reading refutation texts augmented by different kinds of persuasive information and how emotions mediated the process of knowledge and attitude change. Undergraduates (N = 424) enrolled in 4 universities from 3 countries read a refutation text on genetically modified foods (GMFs) and were then randomly assigned to receive additional information about advantages of GMFs, disadvantages of GMF…
Teachers’ Bias Against the Mathematical Ability of Female, Black, and Hispanic Students
Researchers have long endeavored to understand whether teachers’ evaluations of their students’ mathematical ability or performance are accurate or whether their evaluations reveal implicit biases. To disentangle these factors, in a randomized controlled study (N = 390), we examined teachers’ evaluations of 18 mathematical solutions to which gender- and race-specific names had been randomly assigned. Teachers displayed no detectable bias when ass…
A Comparison of Perceived and Observed Learning From Professional Development: Relationships Among Self-Reports, Direct Assessments, and Teacher Characteristics
The success of professional development programs has typically been determined based on their impact on teacher learning, without much attention being given to the data sources used. Large-scale studies have generally relied on teachers' self-reports, whereas small-scale studies have included more direct assessments and observations of teacher learning. The purpose of this study was to compare teachers' self-reported gains in mathematical knowled…
STEM Faculty’s Support of Togetherness during Mandated Separation: Accommodations, Caring, Crisis Management, and Powerlessness
The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic initiated major disruptions to higher education systems. Physical spaces that previously supported interpersonal interaction and community were abruptly inactivated, and faculty largely took on the responsibility of accommodating classroom structures in rapidly changing situations. This study employed interviews to examine how undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) instructors…
Social Connectedness in Physical Isolation: Online Teaching Practices That Support Under-Represented Undergraduate Students’ Feelings of Belonging and Engagement in STEM
The COVID-19 outbreak spurred unplanned closures and transitions to online classes. Physical environments that once fostered social interaction and community were rendered inactive. We conducted interviews and administered surveys to examine undergraduate STEM students’ feelings of belonging and engagement while in physical isolation, and identified online teaching modes associated with these feelings. Surveys from a racially diverse group of 43 …
Teacher bias in the virtual classroom
The purpose of this preregistered study was to examine whether patterns of teachers' race and gender biases found in prior research would emerge in a virtual teaching context. We asked a national sample of 989 teachers to evaluate student work pictured in screenshots of a virtual classroom showing students explaining their work. We randomly assigned the images of students depicted in the virtual classroom and tested whether the race or gender of …
Supporting climate change understanding with novel data, estimation instruction, and epistemic prompts
Here’s Hoping It’s not Just Text Structure: The Role of Emotions in Knowledge Revision and the Backfire Effect
Refutation texts are designed to facilitate the revision of inaccurate knowledge; however, studies have documented backfire effects wherein respondents become less accurate when exposed to a factual correction compared to another. Here, we explored whether epistemic emotions mediated knowledge revision or backfire processes when reading experimental refutation texts that varied by supporting information. We asked 294 online readers to report thei…
Estimating climate change numbers: Mental computation strategies that can support science learning
Presenting novel numbers about climate change to people after they estimate those numbers can shift their attitudes and scientific conceptions. Prior research suggests that such science learning can be supported by encouraging learners to make use of given benchmark information, however there are several other numerical estimation skills that may also be relevant in this context. This design-based research project aimed to identify specific mathe…
Should we Tell Teachers That They Are (In)Correct? How Personalized Refutation Text Promotes or Hampers Conceptual Change
In-service and student teachers often hold math-gender misconceptions of female learners’ lower levels of mathematical talent. Such misconceptions are related to the math-gender stereotype that shapes how teachers interact with students and can contribute to the underrepresentation of women in mathematical fields. One method for reducing these misconceptions is refutation texts, which explicitly state and refute a misconception before providing a…
Psychology (9 works) · Mathematics education (7 works) · Social Psychology (6 works) · Educational Strategies and Epistemologies (4 works) · Cognitive psychology (3 works) · Pedagogy (3 works) · Communication in Education and Healthcare (2 works) · Computer Science (2 works) · Conceptual change (2 works) · COVID-19 and Mental Health (2 works)