Zinskie collaborates with Griffin and Rea on AERA presentations in Canada

May 6, 2019

Cordelia D. Zinskie, Ed.D., professor in the Department of Curriculum, Foundations and Reading, presented alongside colleagues Marlynn Griffin, Ph.D. and Dan Rea, Ed.D., during the annual meeting of the American Research Association held in Toronto, Canada in April.

Zinskie and Griffin collaborated on “Trend Study of Pre-Service Teachers’ Social Media Use and Behaviors,” a poster presentation detailing their study on if any differences existed in pre-service teachers’ use of social media, posting behaviors, and the images they conveyed on social media sites in the years 2012–2013, 2016, and 2018. This study was prompted by the increase in use of social media content in hiring decisions as well as increased scrutiny of personal social media sites of employees in some professions (e.g., K–12 education). Results showed that changes in social media use for pre-service teachers over time reflected similar change in social media use seen for young adults in the U.S. Preservice teachers in 2012–2013 were less cautious with what they posted on social media while preservice teachers in 2016 and 2018 were more reticent to share personal information on social media. However, some of the preservice teachers in later years still were likely to convey inappropriate images and share problematic content on their social media sites. Teacher education programs must educate pre-service teachers about programmatic, ethical, and professional impacts of social media postings.

Zinskie and Rea hosted a roundtable discussion on “Exploratory Factor Structure of a Holistic Instrument assessing Need and Readiness of “Forgotten Middle” Students.”