CV
Rachel Besharat Mann CV.pdfOVERVIEW
RESEARCH FOCUS
● Adolescent literacy and development (focus on online research and information literacy)
● Effects of digital environments on adolescent development and learning
CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS
● Mixed methods study of adolescent information-seeking through social media
o Pilot study underway
o Application for grant to expand study in progress
o Joint project with researchers at the University of Kansas
● The effects of frequency of use, identity (inc. self-presentation, social comparison, and self-esteem) and media literacy among parents of adolescent social media users
o Survey data & analysis
o In data-collection phase
o Joint project with researchers at Fordham University
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Fordham University 2020 Contemporary Learning and Interdisciplinary Research
Dissertation: The effects of social media use and self-esteem on possible selves throughout adolescence
Capstone Dissertation: Digital and print reading habits, preferences, and associated skills amongst emerging adults
M.S. Ed., Fordham University 2012 Literacy Education 5-12
B.S. Ed., St. John’s University 2007 Secondary Education, U.S. History & Political Science
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
Wesleyan University 2023-Present
Associate Professor of the Practice, College of Education Studies
Wesleyan University 2021-2023
Visiting Assistant Professor, College of Education Studies
Courses offered:
● Social Media and Adolescent Psychosocial Development
Course explores psychosocial developmental models of adolescents and examines the potential effects of developing within online contexts.
● Celebrating Learner Differences
Course explores various factors relating to differences in cognitive development and external factors that affect literacy learning in classroom environments.
● Contemporary Literacy
Course explores the changing nature of literacy in contemporary society, beginning with the traditional developmental models of literacy and spanning to include media, digital, critical, and other contemporary literacies within the context of research.
Adjunct Professor 2020-2021
Fordham University, New York, NY
● Teaching graduate and undergraduate students in face to face and remote settings
Courses offered:
● Psychology of Child and Adolescent Development
● Historical, Philosophical, and Multicultural Foundations of American Education
ADMINISTRATIVE POSITIONS
Graduate and Career Coordinator & Advisor 2022-Present
Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT
● Coordinating graduate and career events on campus, including panel discussions and speaker engagements for student information
● Advising for post-graduation
Grant Coordinator, NOYCE 2019-2020
Fordham University, New York, NY
● Overseeing reporting and compliance for Noyce Grant (supporting teachers in training for STEM subjects)
● Completing and reviewing reports for Noyce and NSF
Graduate Assistant 2016-2020
Fordham University, New York, NY
● Working directly with the head of Curriculum & Teaching, managing the five-year track for teacher certification program
● Training in EdTPA assessment and implementation
● Designing Master’s level academic modules for online content
● Maintaining records for accelerated Master’s program
● Planning and applied research tasks for publication
AWARDS & GRANTS
Frank B. Weeks Visiting Assistant Professor of Education Studies 2022
Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT
Mid-Wes Education Grant 2022
Wesleyan University, Middletown CT
● Funds for conducting research within the Middletown Public School
PUBLICATIONS
PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
Manuscript in preparation: Scaffolding civil discourse in the classroom through digital practices.
Besharat Mann, R. (under review). Understanding the impact of social intelligence on problematic social media usage. (New Media +Society)
Turner, K.H., Besharat Mann, R., & Zucker, L. (forthcoming 2024). Connected digital reading: Adolescents’ engagement with a variety of
texts. In Cremin, T. & McGeown (Eds.) Reading for pleasure: International perspectives from research. Routledge.
Besharat Mann, R. (accepted, pre-print). Can I trust this information: Using adolescent narratives to uncover online information seeking
processes. Journal of Media Literacy Education.
Besharat-Mann, R. (2022). Social distancing: Closing the gap between digital and social media literacy practices and literacy instruction. New Jersey English Journal, 11(2022), 2.
Besharat Mann, R., & Blumberg, F. (2022). Adolescents and social media: The effects of frequency of use, self-presentation, social
comparison, and self esteem on possible self imagery. Acta Psychologica, 228, 103629.
Besharat Mann, R. (2020). The effects of social media use and self-esteem on possible selves throughout
adolescence (Publication No. 27743668). (Doctoral Dissertation, Fordham University). ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
PUBLIC SCHOLARSHIP
Besharat Mann, R. (2023). What teaching strategies relate to increasing student self-regulation in online learning environments?: Reflections on “This is a weird time we’re in”: How a sudden change to remote education impacted college student’ self-regulated learning. AERA SSRL Time Magazine. https://ssrlsite.files.wordpress.com/2023/05/times-magazine-aera-ssrl-sig-may-2023.pdf
Besharat Mann, R. (2022). Translating learning sciences research to the classroom [webinar]. American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE). https://aacte.org/events/translating-learning/
Besharat Mann, R. (2020, February 21). How to support digital literacy in adult learners. Digital Promise. https://digitalpromise.org/2021/02/08/how-to-support-digital-literacy-in-adult- learners/
Besharat Mann, R. (2020, February 20). Helping students navigate online sources with critical literacy.
Digital Promise. https://digitalpromise.org/2020/02/10/guest-post-helping-students- navigate-online-sources-with-critical-literacy/
CONFERENCES AND SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
Besharat Mann, R. (upcoming - April 2024). Bridging literacies: Adolescent processes of seeking
information online [roundtable]. American Education Research Association (AERA), Philadelphia, PA.
Keener, K.A. & Besharat Mann, R. (Nov. 16-19, 2023). Broad-casting student voice: Amplifying reading and writing workshop practices with podcasting, National Council for the Teachers of English (NCTE), Columbus, Ohio.
Besharat-Mann, R & colleagues. (March 23-25, 2023). Developmental findings and considerations to inform media literacy instruction. Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), Salt Lake City, Utah.
Besharat-Mann, R and colleagues. (March 9-11, 2023). Current approaches to future selves: Philosophical and Psychological Perspectives.
(Adolescents and media literacy within the context of identity development). Invited Symposium – Southern Society for Philosophy &
Psychology, Louisville, KY.
Besharat Mann, R. (December 2022). Strategies to address multilingual learners. Southern Connecticut State University Graduate
Symposium.
Besharat Mann, R. (November 2021). “You can say anything you want online”: Helping adolescents manage messages on social media
through critical and media literacy practices [Conference presentation]. National Council of Teachers of English, Virtual.
Besharat Mann, R., Tare, M., & Xiao, W. (November 2020). Understanding the whole student: How learner differences can affect adolescent
literacy across content areas. [Conference presentation]. National Council of Teachers of English, Virtual.
Besharat Mann, R. & Blumberg, F. (2020, June 1-Sept 1). The effects of online identity-building behaviors and self-esteem of the development of possible selves throughout adolescence [Conference presentation]. Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention, Chicago, IL. [virtual]
Levy-Cohen, R., Arevalo, J., Battaglia, D., Besharat Mann, R., Bondie, R., Turner, K., Van Owen, G., & Zusho, A. (2019). Urban teens’ use of self-regulated learning strategies: A comparison of survey and diary measures. Poster presented at the American Educational Research
Association (AERA), Toronto, Canada.
Besharat Mann, R. (2019, November). Adolescents and emerging adults: A comparison of reading format preferences and literacy skills. In
Turner, K. and O’Byrne, I. (Eds.), Medium matters: connecting research and practice in print and digital reading. Paper presented at the NCTE Annual Convention, Baltimore, MD.
RELATED EXPERIENCE
Consulting Research Scientist, 2019-Present
Digital Promise, Learner Variability Project
● Developing models of learning development using extensive research
● Completing multiple literature reviews on varying factors for adolescent literacy development and adult learning
● Working as part of a research team to support cognitive, literacy-specific, social-emotional factors, and personal background factors contributing to literacy development during adolescence
● Assessing strategies related to developing each factor with supporting research
Social Studies Teacher and Department Chair, 2010-2016
Bronx Community High School, Bronx, NY
● Taught a range of NYS Social Studies curriculum, including United States and World History, Economics, and Participation in Government
● Designed curriculum for Global and U.S. History Sequence
● Developed online curriculum for alternate accreditation
● Developed elective curriculum for social studies and literacy
● Coordinated Virtual Enterprise program
● Participated in city-wide competitions
- Managed relationships with business contacts
- Facilitated foreign and domestic student exchange
● Supervised Learn-to-Work Internships for students
● Designed meaningful literacy based professional development for staff
● Improved Regents Scores
● Managed parent relationships
● Maintained excellent staff and administration relationships
Literacy Coach, 2010- 2016
Bronx Community High School, Bronx, NY
● Oversaw professional development related to literacy instruction
● Developed digital literacy curriculum with teachers
● Worked with individual teachers to improve literacy instruction across content areas
● Managed Achieve3000 online differentiated reading platform use
SUPERVISORY RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
THESIS ADVISEMENT & REVIEW
Fordham University Doctoral Committee, In-progress
The moderating effect of peer-to-peer support between online social comparisons and general belongingness in adolescents
Wesleyan University Graduate Thesis Reviewer, 2023
Topic: Development of numeracy skills in pre-school
Wesleyan University Undergraduate Thesis Reviewer, 2022
Topic: Fidelity of research implementation for preschool math games
RESEARCH
Wesleyan University, Media literacy investigation, ongoing
● Managing research team to collect data, academic literature search, data analysis
Wesleyan University Mid-Wes Grant: Media literacy and source evaluation, 2022
● Supervised research team to collect data in a public-school setting
● Data analysis
Fordham University Research Coordinator, 2019-2021
● Lab coordinator for research on coding games for elementary students
SERVICE TO PROFESSION
Reviewer: Social Education Research 2024
Reviewer: Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace 2022
Reviewer: Technology, Mind, & Behavior (APA) 2022
UNIVERSITY SERVICE
Wesleyan English Language Learners Program Co-Chair 2022-Present
Communications Committee 2022-23
Colloquia Committee 2021-22
TEACHING CERTIFICATION
NYS Social Studies 7-12
NYS Literacy 5-12
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
● American Educational Research Organization (AERA)
● National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
● Society for Research on Child Development (SCRD)
● National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE)
● International Literacy Association (ILA)
● American Psychological Association (APA)