Past Research Projects

Teacher stress during the COVID-19 pandemic

Collaborators:

• Dr. Christopher Bryan, New York University Abu Dhabi (co-PI)

Funded by:

• Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research, Ras Al-Khaimah

Project Summary

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted education at all levels in various ways. Institutions and teachers had to quickly respond to an unexpected and ‘forced’ transition from face-to-face to remote teaching. In particular, expatriate teachers may be highly vulnerable to experiencing high levels of stress because of their specific situation. Insights into the demands that additional stressors may play in altering teachers’ likelihood of burnout are much needed to better support teachers transition into life back in the classroom post pandemic. The primary aim of this research is to investigate the variables effecting expatriate teachers’ stress delivering education during the COVID-19 pandemic in rural and urban settings in the UAE. The secondary research aim is to explore whether the added burden on expatriate teachers has “gone under the skin” after one year of disrupted education since the COVID-19 outbreak, that is, can be seen at a physiological level. Together, the research aims to identify risk and resilience factors that may help explain role that stressors may play in altering teachers’ effectiveness. By collecting survey data over two time points during the pandemic from 500 teaching staff in conjunction with physiological data from a subsample of 50 teachers in schools from Ras Al Khaimah and Dubai, the proposed research can provide important information about the resources that might help mitigate the possible negative effects of serious mental health problems, such as burnout in expatriate teachers. Together, the research has the potential to expand our knowledge on psychological and biological mechanisms of stress processes which could help explain future burnout implications within expatriate teachers post pandemic.

Life During COVID-19: Young Children and Their Families Survey

Collaborators:

• Professor Jocelyn Bélanger, New York University Abu Dhabi (lead PI)

Funded By:

• Early Childhood Authority Abu Dhabi

Project Summary

The purpose of this research is to investigate how young children and their parents living in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi are experiencing the current COVID-19 pandemic. Guiding our inquiry are research questions related to the impact of the pandemic on family well-being and psychological adaptation to the current context, especially as these relate to mental and physical health, education, social interactions, work, and time spent on electronic devices.

Can the KiQ Program Change the Quality of Educational Dialogue during STEM Lessons? Effectiveness, Dissemination, and the Role of Internal and External Factors

Collaborators:

• Professor Caterina Gawrilow, Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Germany

Funded By:

• Stiftung "Haus der Kleinen Forscher" (Foundation "Little Scientists’ House”)

Project Summary

The project aims to (1) elucidate the effects of the professional development intervention (KiQ program) on teachers’ and preschool center directors’ interactions with children, parents, and teachers in their daily routines with a multi-informant, multi-assessment approach and to (2) provide valuable information for future research and practice with the KiQ program (i.e., ‘What module works when and for whom?’). Therefore, we will (1) test whether participation in the KiQ program leads to changes in the quality of educational dialogue in classrooms of teachers participating in the tandem modules. Addressing the question of potential dissemination of the pedagogical approach of learning through discovery and experience into the entire team of teachers in an institution, we also aim to (2) explore potential changes in the quality of educational dialogue in classrooms of teachers who do not participate in the tandem modules. Finally, we plan to (3) investigate factors that might facilitate or hinder KiQ program effects and dissemination applying an ambulatory assessment design. A central focus will be on preschool center directors because of their important role for the success of the implementation of pedagogical approaches in preschools.

Teacher stress: Understanding behavioral and psychophysiological correlates of high-quality teacher-child interactions (A multi-country project)

Collaborators:

• In the UAE: Professor Lydia Barza, Zayed University Abu Dhabi
• In Finland: Professor Marja-Kristiina Lerkkanen, University of Jyväskylä
• In Kosovo: Dr. Fitim Uka, University of Prishtina “Hasan Prishtina", Kosovo

Funded By:

• Zayed University Research Incentive Fund # R15114
• New York University Abu Dhabi Research Enhancement Fund 2017

Project Summary

The primary goal of the study is to understand role that stress response regulation plays in potentially promoting or inhibiting a teacher’s ability to provide positive teacher-child interactions. More specifically, the project aims to explore whether the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis regulation relates to the quality of teacher-child interactions through its impact on teachers’ executive functioning. Moreover, it aims to explore similarities and differences in the patterns of associations across four different educational contexts. The second goal of the study is to investigate direct and indirect relations between teacher-child interactions and kindergarten students’ emerging academic outcomes.

For a subsample of teachers from the UAE and Finland, mobile eye-tracking glasses were used to measure teachers’ visual attention during classroom interactions. This part of the project aims to contribute to a new model of understanding the mechanisms underlying teacher professional vision, as barriers or facilitators, to high-quality instruction. The goal is (1) to explore teachers’ visual attention during classroom interactions and to link teachers’ eye gaze to key events in classroom interactions and students’ learning; and (2) to investigate the cultural nature of teachers’ visual attention and identify specific differences and similarities among patterns of visual attention in a sample of teachers from the United Arab Emirates and Finland.

Research Brief —Patterns of Dialogic Teaching (PDF)

Selected Publications

• Suchodoletz, A. v., Larsen, R. A. A., Uka, F., Nadyukova, I., Pakarinen, E., & Lerkkanen, M.-K. (2020). Investigating quality indicators of early childhood education programs in Kosovo, Ukraine and Finland. International Journal of Early Years Education. Online  first: https://doi.org/10.1080/09669760.2020.1848527
• Pakarinen, E. K., Lerkkanen, M.-K., Viljaranta, J., & Suchodoletz, A. v. (2020). Investigating bidirectional links between the quality of teacher–child relationships and children’s interest and pre- academic skills in literacy and math. Child Development. First published: 08 August 2020; https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13431
  
• Pakarinen, E. K., Lerkkanen, M.-K., & Suchodoletz, A. v. (2020). Teacher emotional support in relation to social competence in preschool classrooms. International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 43(4), 444-460. 
  https://doi.org/10.1080/1743727X.2020.1791815
  
• Penttinen, V., Pakarinen, E. K., Suchodoletz, A. v., & Lerkkanen, M.-K. (2020). The role of teacher stress and work engagement in the quality of teacher-child interactions. Early Education and Development, 31(7), 994-1010. 
  https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2020.1785265
• Elomaa, M., Pakarinen, E., Eskelä-Haapanen, S. Halttunen, L., Suchodoletz, A. v., & Lerkkanen, M.-K. (2020). Directors' stress in day care centers: related factors and coping strategies. International Journal of Educational Management.
  
  
• Suchodoletz, A. v., Barza, L., & Larsen, R. A. A. (2020). Examination of teacher-child interactions in early childhood education programmes in the United Arab Emirates. International Journal of Early Years Education, 28(1), 6-21. 
  https://doi.org/10.1080/09669760.2019.1594720
• Suchodoletz, A. v., Rojas, N., Nadyukova, I., Larsen, R. A. A., & Uka, F. (2019). Exploring diurnal cortisol rhythms of kindergarten teachers in Kosovo and Ukraine. American Journal of Community Psychology, 63(3-4), 286-297.
  https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12308
• Pakarinen, E., Salminen, J., Lerkkanen, M.-K., & Suchodoletz, A. v. (2018). Reciprocal associations between social competence and language and pre-literacy skills in preschool. Journal of Early Childhood Education Research, 7, 207-234.
  
  
• Muhonen, H., Pakarinen, E., Lerkkanen, M.-K., Barza, L., & Suchodoletz, A. v. (2020). Patterns of dialogic teaching in kindergarten classrooms of Finland and the United Arab Emirates. Learning, Culture, and Social Interaction, 25, 100264.
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2018.11.011

Through parents’ eyes: Exploring parents’ eye gaze during parent-child interactions (A cross-cultural comparison)

Collaborator:

• In Germany: Professor Joscha Kärtner, Westfälische Wilhelms-University Münster
• In China: Professor Florrie Ng, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Funded By:

• New York University – University Research Challenge Fund

Project Summary

Exploring parents’ eye gaze can shed light on how parents cognitively process key events in parent-child interactions. Such knowledge is essential for understanding the dynamics of social processes or interactions between a parent and the child. Eye movements are thought to provide an indicator of the focus of attention at any given moment. The project uses advanced mobile eye-tracking technology to measure parents’ eye gaze in real-time while they interact with their child. The goal of the project is to explore parents’ visual attention during three different everyday parenting situations (play, book-reading, receiving a gift) and link parents’ eye gaze to key events in parent-child interactions.

Selected Publications

• Kärtner, J., & Suchodoletz, A. v (2021). The role of preacademic activities and adult-centeredness in mother-child play in educated urban middle-class families from three cultures. Infant Behavior and Development, 64. doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2021.101600
  
• Leyva, D., Suchodoletz, A. v., Shroff, D. M., Hinojo, A., & Kärtner, J. (2021). Maternal book sharing styles and goals and children’s verbal contributions in three communities. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 54(1), 228-238.
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2020.09.010
• Muhonen, H., Suchodoletz, A. v., Doering, E., & Kaertner, J. (2019). Facilitators, teachers, observers,
  and play partners: Exploring how mothers describe their role in play activities across three communities. Learning, Culture, and Social Interaction, 21, 223-233. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2210656118303441?via%3Dihub
• Doering, E., Schluter, K., & Suchodoletz, A. v. (2019). Features of speech in German and US-American mother-toddler dyads during toy play and book-reading. Journal of Child Language, 47(1), 112-131.
  https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000919000461

Exploring the feasibility of physiological measures in the study of caregiver-child interactions in humanitarian and fragile settings

Collaborators:

• In Jordan:
  
  • Dr. Rana Dajani, We Love Reading and  Hashemite University (Co-Investigator)
• Dr. Alice Wuermli, NYU Steinhardt School, Global TIES for Children
• Professor Paul Hastings, UC Davis

Funded By:

• 2019 Global TIES for Children: NYU Abu Dhabi Faculty Seed Award

Project Summary

In recent years, intervention research identified program implementation as key aspect to gain insights into a program’s effectiveness. The project aims to have a careful look at the feasibility of assessment procedures in humanitarian and fragile settings. A major challenge is the development of sensitive and accurate yet culturally-appropriate measures. This might be particularly relevant for physiological measures that can provide proxies for underlying psychological processes, such as stress. Recent technological innovations make it possible to take classically lab-based physiological measures into real-life settings. Yet, most measures have been used thus far in predominately stable, economically developed contexts. Implementing physiological measures in humanitarian and fragile settings may involve cultural challenges regarding the measures’ applicability and feasibility. The goal of this project is (1) to test physiological measures in the study of caregiver-child interactions in humanitarian and fragile settings, and (2) to investigate caregiver-child synchrony (or asynchrony) as physiological covariation (i.e., the amount of correlation between caregiver’s and child’s physiology within a single time period that is believed to result from shared experiences or environments). 

The project is aligned with a larger initiative at NYU’s Global TIES for Children, i.e., Sesame Seeds, a large-scale early childhood development program in humanitarian and fragile settings (PIs Drs. Hirokazu Yoshikawa and Alice Wuermli), to inform the implementation of the Sesame Seeds Home component. Sesame Seeds Home, a caregiving program delivered through home visits and mobile messages, targets the most high-risk families with children ages 8 and younger affected by the Syrian humanitarian crisis; a main goal is to reduce the impact of stress on the well-being of the family and to support caregivers in providing their children with a nurturing environment to help them reach their full developmental potential.

Selected Publications

• Hastings, P. D., Partington, L. C., Dajani, R. & Suchodoletz, A. v. (2021). Adrenocortical and psychosocial responses of families in Jordan to the COVID-19 pandemic. Child Development. doi: 10.1111/cdev.13662
  
• Mahasneh, R., Suchodoletz, A. v., Larsen, R. A. A., & Dajani, R. (2020). Reading for pleasure among Jordanian children: A community-based reading intervention. Journal of Research in Reading. Article DOI: 10.1111/1467-9817.12342
  Randa Mahasneh and Antje von Suchodoletz Equal contribution; co‐first authors.
  

Promoting excellence in secondary science education: Teacher-student interactions as a pathway to improve student performance

Collaborators:

• Dr. Irene Skuballa, New York University Abu Dhabi
• Professor Lydia Barza, Zayed University Abu Dhabi
• Professor Fiona Baker, Emirates College for Advanced Education Abu Dhabi

Funded By:

• Abu Dhabi Education Council ADEC Award for Research Excellence A2RE

Project Summary

The project aims to investigate teachers’ cognitive and metacognitive processes throughout the process of science education in secondary schools in Abu Dhabi to ascertain in how far these processes are moderated or mediated by classroom heterogeneity and level of teachers’ expertise. Building on these findings we aim to conceptualize and pilot a training tailored to teachers’ and students’ needs to foster instructional quality in science education.

Individual Differences in Children’s Self-Regulation in Response to Classroom Activities and Interactions

Collaborator: Professor Lydia Barza, Zayed University Abu Dhabi

The goal of the study was to:

• describe the quality of teacher-child interactions, as assessed by the CLASS Pre-K, in public and private early childhood education programs in the United Arab Emirates,
• explore within-morning variability in the quality of teachers’ interactions with children, and
• investigated relations between the three domains of teacher-child interactions and children’s behavioral and physiological functioning.

We selected children’s behavioral self-regulation and stress physiology because of their importance for children’s school readiness. Participants were 26 kindergarten teachers and, on average, five children per classroom (in total 115 five-years-old children).

• Research Brief - English (PDF)
• Research Brief - Arabic   (PDF)
• SRCD Poster (PDF)

School-aged Children’s Learning- and Health-related Behavior: Social, Motivational, and Societal Influences

The goal of the study was to:

• describe variation of learning- and health-related behaviors of school-aged children,
• investigate associations between learning- and health-related behaviors and students’ reported school connectedness, and
• examine the effects on students’ educational aspirations.

Data was collected from over 1,700 10-18-years old students from private and public schools in Abu Dhabi. Students completed a survey to assess their self-reported learning- and health-related behaviors.

• Research Brief — English (PDF)
• Research Brief — Arabic (PDF)

Mindset Effects on Academic Achievement Motivation

Collaborators: Professor Lydia Barza, Zayed University Abu Dhabi; Professor Anja Achtziger, Zeppelin University, Germany

The objective of the study was to examine the relationship between different states of mind (mindsets) and academic achievement motivation.

The project aimed to test the effects of the deliberative and implemental mindset on goal commitment and goal attainment among college students. In addition to a sample of international students at NYUAD, data was also collected at Zayed University Abu Dhabi. The gender-segregated educational background at Zayed University Abu Dhabi provided a valuable angle since separate educational settings can change learning attitudes as well as behavior.

With these two data sets, we will be able to compare the results of two different systems and to explore if mindset effects have the same impact. Since mindset effects are supposed to be universal, this experiment may provide much-needed data on cultural applicability of the mindset theory.

Selected Publications

• Suchodoletz, A. v., Rahn, J., Nadyukova, I., Barza, L., & Achtziger, A. (2019). Can mindsets influence college students’ motivation to learn? Findings from the United States and the United Arab Emirates. Higher Education, 79(4), 731-748.
  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-019-00434-z