Ken Springer
Associate Professor
Ph.D., Cornell University
214-768-3829
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Dr. Springer is a developmental psychologist. After
receiving his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1990, he served on the faculty of
SMU's Psychology Department before moving to the Simmons School of Education and
Human Development in 2002. Currently Dr. Springer is part of the school's
Department of Teaching and Learning.
Dr. Springer currently teaches undergraduate classes
in educational psychology, as well as research methods and statistics for
graduate students. Dr. Springer is active as a researcher, with more than 60
scientific publications and presentations, as well as 3 books. His current
research focuses on academic achievement among students from economically
disadvantaged backgrounds. Dr. Springer's administrative work includes serving
as chair of the SMU Institutional Review Board from 2005 to present, chair of
the Faculty Ethics & Tenure Committee from 2008 to present, and secretary of the
Faculty Senate from 2006 through 2008. In addition, Dr. Springer is involved in
substantial community service work. He has been on the board of directors of
several nonprofit organizations that serve families and children, and through
pro bono grant writing, he has raised more than a million dollars on their
behalf. Dr. Springer has served as an expert witness on more than a dozen cases
and has been interviewed by various local and national media, including USA
Today and National Public Radio. He is also the proud father of a Brown
University senior.
Sample Publications and Papers:
Springer, K.
& Diffily, D. (under review). The impact of
intensity, duration, and breadth of after-school program participation on
academic achievement: Evidence from multiple operationalizations.
Springer, K.
& Diffily, D. (under review). Measuring academic achievement: The argument against interchangeability.
Springer, K.
(2010). Educational Research: A Contextual Approach. NJ: Wiley.
Springer, K.
(2001). Perceptual boundedness and perceptual support in conceptual development. Psychological Review, 108,
691-708.
Springer, K. (1999). How a naive theory of biology is acquired.
In M. Siegal and C. Peterson (Eds.) Childrens understanding of biology
and health. Cambridge Series in Perceptual and Cognitive Development.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Springer, K.
(1997). Conceptual coherence in childrens understanding of kinship. Invited paper presented at the 7th annual meeting of
the European Association for Research in Learning and Instruction, Athens,
Greece.
Springer, K. (1996). Young children's understanding of a
biological basis for parent-offspring relations. Child Development, 67,
2841-2856.
Springer, K. (1993). How a naive theory of kinship is acquired.
Invited paper, Symposium on Naive Theories, 12th Biennial Meeting
of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development, Recife,
Brazil