Jacqueline Leighton, Ph.D., R.Psych

Area of Study / Keywords

Human Development and Cognition Educational Measurement of Learning Critical Thinking Research Methodology

About

PDF - Psychology, Yale University, 1999 - 2001 (funded by SSHRC)

PhD - Psychology, University of Alberta, 1999 (funded by SSHRC)

MEd - Educational Psychology, University of Alberta, 1995 (funded by NSERC)

BA (Hon) - Psychology, University of Alberta, 1993 (funded by NSERC)

Research

Dr. Leighton’s research focuses on human development and cognition, including investigating children's (and adults') achievement and wellbeing against the backdrop of humanistic psychological principles, children's human rights as informed by the United Nation's Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and her own Learning Errors and Formative Feedback (LEAFF) model. Dr. Leighton's research involves the interplay of affective, cognitive and social variables in the learning environments in which human beings develop and grow. An increasingly important focus in Dr. Leighton's research is the human need (right) for free expression in learning environments for the development of critical thinking and emotional wellness. A secondary research focus is the methodological and theoretical underpinning of think-aloud/cognitive interview techniques, and assessments in support of claims about student achievement (Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing, 2014).

Dr. Leighton’s research is and has been consistently funded by Tri-Council research grants, including the Canadian Education Statistics Council (CESC), National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

She is past winner of the American Educational Research Association, Division D (Educational Measurement & Research Methodology) Significant Contribution to Educational Measurement and Research Methodology for the Cambridge University Press book – Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment: Theory and Applications, and is former editor-in-chief of Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice (EMIP), a flagship journal for the National Council on Measurement in Education.

Recognized by the Canadian Council of Learning as a Minerva Scholar, Dr. Leighton collaborates with scholars around the globe, including key partnerships with Learning Environments Across Disciplines (LEADS), and the International Collaborative for Performance Assessment of Learning in Higher Education (iPAL). As a testing specialist and registered psychologist, she has served as a member of technical advisory committees to many leading educational measurement organizations, including ACT, College Board, Educational Testing Service, and Pearson.

Teaching

EDPY 302 (Child Development)

EDPY 304 (Adolescent Development)

EDPY 500 (Introduction to Data Analysis in Educational Research) 

EDPY 501 (Research Methods in Education)

EDPY 505 (Advanced Univariate Statistics in Educational Research) 

EDPY 510 (Learning, Cognition, and Education) 

EDPY 610 (Selected Topics in Learning, Cognition, and Instruction)

EDPY 644 (Consultation in School and Clinical Psychology)

Not accepting any graduate students at the present time.