Tim Urdan, Ph.D.

Education

Combined Program in Education and Psychology, Ph.D. 1994

Administration, Planning and Social Policy, Ed.M., 1988

Psychology B.A., 1986

Research Interests

My research interests include student academic achievement motivation, standardized testing, school reform, and adolescent development. I am currently conducting research with my colleage, Carol Giancarlo, examining the motivation and critical thinking patterns of high school students. With funding from the W. T. Grant foundation, we are in the final year of a 3-year, longitudinal study that includes a diverse sample of approximately 1,000 students.

Classes Taught

• Developmental Psychology I (Powerpoints) and II (185, 186)
• Adolescent Development (187) (Powerpoints)
• Psychology of Education (134) (Assignments)
• Introduction to Statistics (40) (Powerpoints)
• Advanced Statistics (105)
• Motivation and Emotion (112)
• Research Practicum Capstone (195)
• Eastside Future Teacher Project Seminar

The Eastside Future Teacher Project (EFTP) is a program, launched in 1996, designed to recruit and develop future teachers from the Eastside Union High School District in San Jose. The first class of students in the program completed their credential program last year and will begin their teaching careers this year.

Selected Invited Addresses (Click on the title to view or download the powerpoint presentation)

How Students Learn and How to Teacher Accordingly

Presentation given to SCU Engineering Faculty August 31, 2004

Tips for Teachers: Motivating Students

Presentation given to SCU faculty in October, 2002.

Standardized Testing: Making the Best of a Bad Situation

Presentation given at UCBerkeley School Psychology Conference, May 2002

Selected Publications (Click here for full vita - HTML or PDF)

Pajares, F., & Urdan, T. (Eds.) (2006). Adolescent self-efficacy. Volume 5 in the Adolescence and Education series. Greenwich , CT : Information Age Publishing.

Urdan, T., & Pajares, F. (Eds.) (2004). Educating adolescents: Challenges and strategies. Volume 4 in the Adolescence and Education series. Greenwich , CT : Information Age Publishing.

Pajares, F., & Urdan, T. (Eds.). (2003). International perspectives. Volume 3 in the Adolescence and Education series. Greenwich , CT : Information Age Publishing.

Pajares, F., & Urdan, T. (Eds.) (2002). Adolescence and Education, Volume II: Academic Motivation of Adolescents. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.

Urdan, T., & Pajares, F. (Eds.) (2001). Adolescence and Education, Volume I: General Issues in the Education of Adolescents. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.

Urdan, T., & Schoenfelder, E. (2006). Classroom effects on student motivation: Goal structures, social relationships, and competence beliefs. Journal of School Psychology.

Urdan, T., & Mestas, M. (2006). The goals behind performance goals. Journal of Educational Psychology, 98, 354-365.

Urdan, T. (2004). Predictors of academic self-handicapping and achievement: Examining achievement goals, classroom goal structures, and culture. Journal of Educational Psychology, 96, 251-264.

Urdan, T., & Midgley, C. (2001). Academic self-handicapping: What we know, what more there is to learn. Educational Psychology Review, 13, 115-138.

Urdan, T. (2005). Statistics in Plain English. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Urdan, T. (Ed.) (1999). Advances in Motivation and Achievement, Volume 11: Motivation in Context. Stamford, CT: JAI Press.

Urdan, T., Midgley, C., and Anderman, E. A. (1998). The role of classroom goal structure in students' use of self-handicapping. American Educational Research Journal, 35, 101-122.

Urdan, T. (1997). Achievement goal theory: Past results, future directions. In P.R. Pintrich and M.L Maehr (Eds.) Advances in motivation and achievement, Vol. 10 (pp. 99-141).  Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.