Undergraduate learning & Memory

I primarily investigate several cognitive and behavioral variables in lecture settings. Specifically, I focus on natural/uninstructed behaviors in which undergraduates engage during webinar-type neuroscience video lectures. Second, I examine whether these factors change based on lecture structure, "active" learning strategies, and additional manipulations with the goal to enhance content comprehension and retention.

notetaking

Students' natural notetaking strategies, methods, and constituents.

metacognition & Individual differences

Judgments of memory, comprehension, content/task difficulty, mental effort, and other subjective measures.

Interactive>Constructive>
​Active>Passive (ICAP) Taxonomy

Methods to evaluate the alignment of educational objectives, implementation, and assessments. Similar to Bloom's Taxonomy, but more focus on cognitive contributions (application of depth-of-processing theory).​

Right: Model extracted from Chi & Wylie, 2014.

Active learning strategies

Retrieval-based learning, note revision, perceived peer dependence, self-explanation, teaching expectancy, summarization, distributed practice, segmented/flipped lectures, digital concept-mapping

automated text analysis

Expository text analysis using:
Meaning Extraction Helper, LIWC, Semantic Network Modeling, Propositional Networks, Latent Semantic Analysis, and (soon) WordStat and LDA.

scholarship

Manuscripts in Writing
Jennings, E., & Taraban, R. People, paper, or podcasts? The effect of lecture format on students’ perceptions of main ideas and details.

Jennings, E., & Taraban, R. Notetaking method in the college classroom: Computer, paper and pencil, or listening?

Schumacher, J. R., Jennings, E., & Taraban, R. Notetaking and note studying causes overconfidence in students’ judgments of learning.

Featured Blog Posts
Schumacher, J. R., Akers, E., & Taraban, R. (2016). Unskilled and unaware: A metacognitive bias [Blog post]. Improve with Metacognition, http://www.improvewithmetacognition.com/unskilled-unaware-metacognitivebias/

Paper Presentations
Jennings, E., & Taraban, R. (May, 2014). Note-taking in the modern college classroom: Computer, paper and pencil, or listening? Midwestern Psychological Association (MPA), Chicago, IL.

Jennings, E., & Taraban, R. (April, 2014). Note-taking benefits college students. Southwestern Psychological Association (SWPA), San Antonio, TX.

Jennings, E., & Taraban, R. (October, 2013). Benefits of notetaking vs listening. College Academic Support Program Conference (CASP), Amarillo, TX.

Taraban, R., & Jennings, E. (October, 2013). Learning from expository text. College Academic Support Program Conference (CASP), Amarillo, TX.

Jennings, E., & Taraban, R. (April, 2013). Absence of testing effect in text recall: It pays to study. Southwestern Psychological Association (SWPA) conference, Fort Worth, TX.

Jennings, E., & Taraban, R. (April, 2012). Effects of coherence and multiple tests on expository text recall. Southwestern Psychological Association (SWPA), Oklahoma City, OK.

Poster Presentations
Cancemi, A., & Jennings, E. (March, 2018). Does laptop notetaking reduce proactive interference during lecture? Texas Tech University Undergraduate Research Conference, Lubbock, TX.

Swift, T., & Jennings, E. (March, 2018). Some like it r(t)ough: The relationship between perceived content difficulty, mental effort, and interest in a neuroscience lecture. Texas Tech University Undergraduate Research Conference, Lubbock, TX.

Birdsong, B. B., & Jennings, E. (March, 2018). Absolutely interested: Individual differences in subjective content familiarity and interest predict absolute accuracy when learning from a science video lecture. Texas Tech University Undergraduate Research Conference, Lubbock, TX.

Metwally, A., & Jennings, E. (March, 2018). The ‘senioritis’ effect: Completed course credits predict mind-wandering during lecture. Texas Tech University Undergraduate Research Conference, Lubbock, TX.

Akers, E., Schumacher, J. R., & Taraban, R. (November, 2016). Studying lecture notes increases overconfidence as measured by JOLs and recall scores. Psychonomic Society, Boston, MA.

Akers, E., Taraban, R., Paniukov, D., Schumacher, J., Dominguez, S., & Parker, T. (April, 2015). When teachers lecture, what do students recall with and without notes? Southwestern Psychological Association in Wichita, KS.

Akers, E., & Serra, M. J. (February, 2015). Is there a real reason to ban laptops in classrooms? Advanced Teaching and Learning Conference in Lubbock, TX.

Akers, E., & Taraban, R. (November, 2014). Recall based note-taking aided by transcription fluency. Psychonomic Society, Long Beach, CA.

Paniukov, D., Taraban, R., Schumacher, J., & Jennings, E. (March, 2014). Text segmentation and the testing effect. Graduate Student Research Poster Competition, Texas Tech University.

Marshall, P. P., Chang, J., Zeng, X., Jennings, E., & Donato, F. (May, 2013). The commonality of religious and aesthetic experiences. Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.

Jennings, E., & Taraban, R. (March, 2013). Note-taking method in the college classroom: Computer, paper and pencil, or listening? Graduate Student Research Poster Competition.
*Awarded Second Place for category Multidisciplinary II.

Jennings, E., & Taraban, R. (November, 2012). Absence of a testing effect in immediate and delayed recall. Psychonomic Society, Minneapolis, MN.
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Jennings, E., & Taraban, R. (March, 2012). Effects of coherence and multiple tests on expository text recall. Graduate Student Research Poster Competition, Texas Tech University.
*Awarded Third Place for category Arts and Sciences I.