Digital Storybook of Joel Berrien, Jr

CEP 900/930 Hybrid Cohort 2

“If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow.”

- John Dewey

My name is Joel Berrien, Jr. I am a first-year doctoral student in the Educational Psychology and Educational Technology Hybrid Doctoral

(Ph.D.) Program at Michigan State University.

My research interest focuses on the utilization of educational technology to improve the academic achievement and self-efficacy of at-risk students who have been victims of psychological trauma.

Conducting research on this topic is important to me because I am a survivor of psychological

trauma resultant from experiencing and witnessing domestic violence, community

violence, and peer victimization throughout much of my childhood and adolescent years.

After receiving my first two degrees in psychology and clinical psychology, I became a therapist

and worked in mental health for 15 years serving children, adolescents, and adults who had personally and/or vicariously experienced

variations of psychological trauma and its residual detrimental effects. For the past four

years, I have been teaching in a psycho-educational setting and have seen firsthand the

negative effects of psychological trauma on academic achievement on students of all ages

and across cultures. The championing desire to best serve my students has encouraged me to

pursue my research interest.

There exists a wealth of research on the effects of trauma on academic achievement among

students but significantly less research available on how technology (specifically, educational

technology) can improve the academic achievement and self-efficacy of these students.

My future research will address this gap in the present research.

Research

Some pertinent research findings that address my research interest examine the effects of

psychological trauma, community violence, domestic violence, peer

victimization, and educational technology on students’ academic achievement and self-

efficacy.

Bowen and Bowen (1999) described psychological trauma as being in a state of

emotional or psychological distress as a result of experiencing a traumatic event. Bowen and Bowen further stated that young people who

witness or are victims of violence are found to exhibit symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress

Disorder, hopelessness and/or expectations of a violent death, generalized anxiety, and

impaired student achievement and development.

Community violence can be defined as violence witnessed or experienced in one’s community, such as fighting, mugging, stabbing, murder,

rape, verbal threats and threatening behaviors, etc.

Schwartz and Gorman (2003) concluded that community violence exposure was associated with poor academic performance and that the relations between the two appeared to be mediated by symptoms of depression

(i.e., intrusive thoughts, poor concentration, low energy, and decreased motivation) and disruptive

behavior (i.e., aggression, hyperactivity, impulsiveness, and off-

task behaviors).

Domestic violence can be defined as violence witnessed or experienced in one’s home, such

as abuse [physical, sexual, emotional] between spouses or parent-child, destruction of

property, sibling violence, animal cruelty, etc.

Chiodo et al. (2007) suggested that children exposed to domestic violence against women and children who were physically abused experienced

poor adjustment reflected in grade repetition, involvement in delinquency, and on

overall risk.

Ghazarian and Buehler (2010) examined the association between inter-parental conflict and academic achievement and found that inter-

parental conflict is a risk factor for lower academic functioning.

Thompson and Massat (2005) discussed community violence and domestic

violence independent of each other but still concluded that the level of exposure

to family violence and community violence was significantly related to

levels of behavior problems and negatively related to school

achievement.

Peer victimization can be defined as bullying, fights, stealing, destruction of a peer’s

property, verbal and physical abuse of peers, gang fights, sexual harassment, etc.

Thijs and Verkuyten (2008) conducted a study in the Netherlands during which their findings

indicated that peer victimized students did less well academically because they considered

themselves to be less competent and exhibited lower global self-esteem and depressed affect.

Educational technology can be defined as the use of technology to facilitate learning and improving

academic performance.

Laffey et al. (2003) assessed the potential of interactive computer technology (ICT) to contribute to learning and behavior improvement in young, urban, African American children from low-socioeconomic status who were labeled

at-risk because of behavioral problems. The results indicated that ICT experiences could potentially diminish behavioral problems and increase academic achievement.

McCall (2009) reported that research conducted on youth with behavior problems indicates that achievement levels are greater with computer

assisted instruction than with conventional instruction alone.

Gray (1991) suggested that what is needed now and in the future is greater utilization of the microcomputer as an effective tool which can

help alleviate the at-risk problem.

Thank you for viewing my digital storybook. I

hope it provided you with a greater

understanding of the significance and urgency of my research interest.

Creditshttp://crazyyetwise.com/2011/03/08/verbal-abuse/http://www.kidscom.co.za/index.htmlhttp://cutcaster.com/photo/100026298-Computer-chip/http://edup3006assignment2.wikispaces.com/Resourceshttp://www.cherwell.org/news/academic/2012/02/02/keble-clamp-down-on-poor-academic-performancehttp://www.solveviolence.com/

http://flighered.com/2011/07/12/stuck-in-a-stereotype-how-psychological-cues-can-limit-black-students-academic-learning-and-success/raylitpoems.blogspot.comblog.lincolnwoods.lincolnapts.com http://www.singleblackmale.org/2012/05/22/deion-sanders-pilar-domestic-violence-and-me/http://www.ace.edu/academics/department-of-digital-learning-teaching/m-ed-in-educational-technologyhttp://www.bing.com/images/search?q=at+risk+youth&view=detail&id=6423F752B8027A309F1A

DC5D49DDB3118B630E79

http://mybrownbaby.com/2012/02/a-black-moms-lament-how-can-we-parents-stop-schools-from-

failing-our-kids/

http://www.ontariofamilylawblog.com/articles/children-custody-and-access/

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=teaching+with+technology&view=detail&id=F73E89E5B8

A6C6250BAECD8470E24CAD974EEFC1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDznI9QMiSU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl49tDPMZ1U