MILES Lab members Jessica Hunter, Cole Johnson, Sanheeta Shankar, and Xinyi Shi pose with MILES Lab alum So Yeon Lee

👀 MILES Lab members & alum at #AERA2026 We had so much fun!

Part 2 of the MILES Lab AERA 2026 schedule: Friday 1:45pm: Real insights from real classrooms: Motivation scholars’ experiences designing for and working with observational data - Co-chaired by Jessica Hunter Iterating Towards Success: The Developmental Process of an Observational Manual for Teachers’ Motivational Supports - Jessica & our entire team! Westin Bonaventure, Lobby Level, Beaudry B Saturday 9:45am: Contextual Influences on Motivation: Values, Beliefs, and Situational Dynamics Discussant: Kristy A. Robinson Westin Bonaventure, Lobby Level, Santa Barbara C Saturday 11:45am: Bridging Equity Gaps in STEM: Insights from the Upcoming Handbook on Gender and STEM Discussant: Kristy A. Robinson Westin Bonaventure, Lobby Level, Beaudry B Saturday 3:45pm: Collective Connections: Predictors and Outcomes of Relatedness Consensus in Large-Lecture Classrooms Cole Johnson & team LA Convention Center Level 2, Poster Hall - Exhibit Hall A You’ll find us all at the Motivation SIG Business Meeting & following social on Saturday evening!

But wait, there's more! Here's part 2 of our MILES Lab happenings at #AERA26

Canva poster (part 1 of 2) titled AERA 2026 Here we come! includes MILES Lab schedule of presentations for Wednesday, April 8 and Friday, April 10 Wednesday 7:45am: Mapping the Weekly Dynamics of Expectancy-Value-Cost Beliefs: Subject-Specific Patterns in Motivational Networks - Xinyi Shi & Yi Jiang JW Marriott L.A. LIVE, Ground Floor, Gold 2, Table 6 Wednesday 9:45am: Too hot, too cold, or just right? Motivational Microclimates and Correlates in Three STEM Courses Kristy A. Robinson, Jessica Hunter, Cole D. Johnson, & Sanheeta Shankar Westin Bonaventure, Level 2, Mt. Washington Wednesday 3:45pm: Motivation in Education SIG In-Progress Research Event - Co-chaired by Sanheeta Shankar See our work from the Bootcamp project led by Samantha Mackie & presented by Jessica Hunter Westin Bonaventure, Lobby Level, Beaudry B Friday 7:45am: Not Just Fitting In: Belonging Opportunity Structures for Black, Latiné, & Indigenous Students Sanheeta Shankar & Kristy A. Robinson Westin Bonaventure, Lobby Level, Beaudry B

#AERA26 here we come! We're so excited to see friends & colleagues in Los Angeles next week. Here's part 1 of what we're up to this year--come check it out! @aera-motsig.bsky.social @aera-motsig-grad.bsky.social

(Please consult the official program/ app for up-to-date location info).

New MILES Lab publication! #edpsych #motivation

Excited to share that @chrisrozek.bsky.social & I are guest editing a special issue of Contemporary Educational Psychology: “Promoting Equitable and Authentic School Belonging: Barriers, Facilitators, and Mechanisms.”

Call for abstracts due March 1, 2026: www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...

Kristy, Arianna, and Tony at a restaurant celebrating Arianna’s successful dissertation defense

Tony and Kristy in front of the ODU College of Education sign

Many thanks to @tonyperez.bsky.social for a fantastic trip to ODU! I enjoyed talking about writing and research with such excellent folks. AND many congrats to the newly minted Dr. @awlevatich.bsky.social who did a fantastic dissertation on emotion profiles!

J'ai passé un moment formidable à l'Université Laval! Un grand merci à tous ceux qui ont assisté à la conférence et qui m'ont si bien accueilli!

I had a wonderful time at @ulaval.ca ! Many thanks to those who attended the talks and who made me feel so welcome!

Excited to share my new paper in CEP! The part I’m most excited about: we modeled how students’ major intentions shift alongside their motivational beliefs (expectancy, value, cost), offering a snapshot of the beliefs students hold as they navigate decisions about their majors.

😍😍

This allowed us to explore how students experience these beliefs in real time and how common/rare different motivational-intentional configurations are. Belonging distinguished the beneficial profile from maladaptive profiles, and profiles in turn predicted long-term persistence. Check it out!

Graphs of the 4-profile solutions are displayed, with names of the profiles being "Moderate Mixed Motivation, Invited In," "Value Focused Mixed Motivation, Weeded Out," Confident and Interested, Stable Intentions," and "Cost Focused Mixed Motivation, Weeded Out"

...we examined co-occurring patterns of motivational beliefs + changes in major intentions during introductory STEM courses. Instead of treating motivation and behavioral intentions as separate or sequential, we modeled how these processes work together during key decision-making periods.

📢Newly published CEP piece "Make or break STEM course experiences: Profiles of situated expectancy, value, cost, and major intentions" led by @sanheeta.bsky.social is FREE for 50 days here: authors.elsevier.com/c/1liIQ,8E16...

To look at how students make STEM decisions... @aera-motsig.bsky.social

MILES Lab representing at #APA25!

No *revisions* 😑

The bride surrounded by McGill grad student and professor guests on the dance floor

MILES lab PI and students, also Krista Muis and Jared Robinson, sitting together at the wedding dinner

MILES Lab proudly celebrates the publication—immediate acceptance with no reckons—of a brand new marriage! 🥂 Many congrats to Jessica and Matt and thank you so much for including us on your beautiful day!

Live footage of our team getting @aeraedresearch.bsky.social submissions finalized:

Pre-sabbatical summer starting off strong--I'm working my way through the important articles (+ their rich reference lists) in the fantastic special issue of CEP on Moving Educational Psychology Towards Anti-Racist Bodies of Knowledge: www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu... HIGHLY recommended!

a batman logo is being projected on a dark background Alt: a batman logo is being projected on a dark background

Heads up that #AERA2026 reviewer invitations are starting to go out! We need YOU--many hands make light work! @aera-motsig.bsky.social @aera-motsig-grad.bsky.social

PhD candidate Sanheeta Shankar standing next to her poster titled "On the same page (mostly): Patterns of student consensus and ratings of goal climates in STEM"

PhD student Jessica Hunter standing next to her poster titled "Factors shaping STEM students’ feelings of autonomy: Insights from survey responses"

MILES Lab students @sanheeta.bsky.social and Jessica Hunter are at @canadianpsychology.bsky.social and shared their posters this morning--way to go!

MA student Romane Monnet next to her poster titled "Best Practices fr the Transmission of Knowledge in Science Laboratories"; she also presented a talk entitled "Data sharing parties: Disseminating classroom research findings and maintaining fruitful partnerships with collaborating instructors"

MA student Marianne Dubé next to her poster "More than just a number: Understanding students’ perceptions of specifications grading"

Outgoing MA student (and PhD student at UQAM this fall!) Florence Lessard next to her poster "Factors shaping students’ feelings of competence in undergraduate STEM education: A thematic analysis"

MILES Lab students had a great time at #SALTISE! Thanks to everyone who asked great questions and provided feedback!

📢 New publication alert! 📢 #AcademicSky #psychology #EduSky #EdPsych

Just published, hooray! psycnet.apa.org/record/2025-...

We learned so much from the process of writing this, and from the AERA session in which we first shared results last year. @aera-motsig.bsky.social @aeradivcgrad.bsky.social @psychscience.bsky.social #AcademicSky #CritQuant #edusky

MILES Lab & friends at AERA 2025 - Denver, CO, USA Associate Professor, motivation enthusiast, reader, runner, and mom

Throwback to some fun times at #AERA25 www.kristyarobinson.com/blog/miles-l...

Celebrating big wins in the @mileslab.bsky.social — federal and provincial funding awards, and graduations! What a great way to end the semester! 😍

Screenshot of where to click to volunteer to review, with an arrow pointing to the link

Great news--you can still volunteer to review for #AERA2026! To do so, go to www.aera.net/Membership/M... and click on "2026 AERA Annual Meeting - Call for Reviewers is Now Open." @aera-motsig.bsky.social @aera-motsig-grad.bsky.social @aeraedresearch.bsky.social

MILES Lab and friends at #AERA2025 ❤️ We loved seeing you all!

#tbt to this poster presentation at #AERA2025 led by Jessica Hunter and assisted by this awesome team, including @sanheeta.bsky.social @samanthamackie.bsky.social Great job, team! And thanks to those who stopped by to discuss!

Dynamics of Student Engagement and Peer Influence in Collaborative Settings Wednesday 10:50 am to 12:20pm Room 404

List of papers being presented in the session, including Cole’s paper « Helpful, Harmful, or Somewhere in Between: Exploring Features of Peer Motivational Climate Among University Mathematics Students »

Happening now #AERA2025: come see Cole present his paper « Helpful, Harmful, or Somewhere Between? Exploring Features of Peer Motivational Climate Among University Mathematics Students »

Room 404!

Congrats to PhD students Jessica Hunter and @sanheeta.bsky.social for winning second place in our department's International Graduate Student poster competition! 🎉

sweating choice meme with the first button labeled "Expectancy-Value Theory" and the second button labeled "Expectancy-Value-Cost Theory"

When you just want to write about your favorite theory without accidentally wading into a controversy. As another plot twist: whether or not to include "situated" in the title. :)

#MotivationScholarMemes #MotivationMonday