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Department ofPsychology

Michelle Rivers

...

Michelle Rivers

Assistant Professor

Education

MA and PhD, Kent State University
BA, University of California, Santa Cruz

Research

Knowing how to assess and manage one’s own learning is critical for becoming an efficient and effective learner in higher education and across the lifespan. However, research suggests that learners are prone to developing incorrect beliefs about how we learn best. Thus, the three primary aims of my research are to (1) identify, (2) develop, and (3) describe the underlying cognitive mechanisms of techniques that improve self-regulated learning and metacognition for learners of all backgrounds. To accomplish these aims, I conduct rigorous laboratory experiments, applied classroom studies, and large-scale analyses of existing data to provide a multifaceted understanding of learning processes in a variety of educational contexts.

Blog: https://cogbites.org/

Courses
  • PSYC 51: Statistics and Methods I
  • PSYC 131: Cognitive Psychology 
Selected Publications

For a complete list, please refer to my CV.
*Denotes Student Co-Author

Rivers, M. L., Babineau, A. L., Neely, K. P.*, & Tauber, S. K. (in press). How do students and faculty consider high ratings and daily quizzing when interpreting student evaluations of teaching?  Teaching of Psychology.

Pan, S. C. & Rivers, M. L. (2023). Metacognitive awareness of the pretesting effect improves with self regulation support. Memory & Cognition, 51(6), 1461-1480.

Rivers, M. L., Dunlosky, J., & McLeod, M.* (2022). What constrains people's ability to learn about the testing effect through task experience? Memory, 30(10), 1387-1404.

Rivers, M. L. (2021). Metacognition about practice testing: A review of learners’ beliefs, monitoring, and control of test-enhanced learning. Educational Psychology Review, 33, 823-862.  

Rivers, M. L., Fitzsimmons, C. J., Fisk, S. R., Dunlosky, J., & Thompson, C. A. (2021). Gender differences in confidence during number-line estimation. Metacognition and Learning, 16, 157- 178.

Rivers, M. L. & Dunlosky, J. (2021). Are test-expectancy effects better explained by changes in encoding strategies or differential test experience? Journal of Experimental Psychology:  Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 47(2), 195-207.

Rivers, M. L., Dunlosky, J. & Persky, A. M. (2020). Measuring students’ metacognitive knowledge and beliefs, monitoring, and control in the pharmacy classroom and experiential settings. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 84(5), 7730.

Rivers, M. L., Dunlosky, J., & Joynes, R. (2019). The contribution of classroom exams to formative evaluation of concept-level knowledge. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 59, 101806.