Research

Research Interests/Area of Study

Dr. Besharat Mann’s research interests lie in media, literacy, and adolescent development. Her research seeks to understand how adolescents consume media, specifically social media, and how this may impact their development of self-concept, both in and out of the classroom. Within her focus on media, Dr. Besharat Mann also explores the need for media literacy and the skills adolescents need to efficiently and safely navigate online spaces.  In addition to working to more clearly define the role of educators and other adult mentors in developing these wide-ranging skills in adolescents, her research attempts to reframe society's traditional conceptualization of literacy and expand its definition to meet contemporary needs. Furthermore, Dr. Besharat Mann's research also extends to understanding learner variability in the classroom and adaptive pedagogical strategies useful for supporting learner differences. Dr. Besharat Mann also holds expertise in traditional literacy development, which she has comparatively studied alongside media and new literacies.

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Peer-Reviewed Publications

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(2). https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/nj-english-journal/vol11/iss2022/2 

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. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103629

Besharat Mann, R. (2020). The effects of social media use and self-esteem on possible selves through 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 students' self-regulated learning. AERA SSRL Time Magazine.

Besharat Mann, R. (2021, February 8). 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 10). Helping students navigate online resources with critical literacy. Digital Promise. https://digitalpromise.org/2020/02/10/guest-post-helping-students-navigate-online-sources-with-critical-literacy/