Published Work
Articles and Presentations
Links to published articles and posters are included when available
Published Articles
Lawson, A. P., & Mayer, R. E. (in press). Role of individual differences in executive function for learning from distracting multimedia lessons. Journal of Educational Computing Research.
Lawson, A. P., & Martella, A. M. (2023). Critically reflecting on the use of immersive virtual reality in educational settings: What is known and what has yet to be shown? Journal of Applied Learning and Teaching.
Caetano, A., Lawson, A., Liu, Y., & Sra, M. (2023). An outdoor augmented reality application for Portuguese vocabulary learning. DIS ’23: Proceedings of the 2023 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference, 1224-1235. https://doi.org/10.1145/3563657.3596090
Pataranutaporn, P., Leong, J., Danry, V., Lawson, A. P., Maes, P., & Sra, M. (2022). AI-generated virtual instructors based on liked or admired people can improve motivation and foster positive emotions for learning. 2022 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, 1-9, https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE56618.2022.9962478
Lawson, A. P., & Mayer, R. E. (2022). Does the emotional stance of human and virtual instructors in instructional videos affect learning processes and outcomes? Contemporary Educational Psychology, 70, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2022.102080
Lawson, A. P., Mayer, R. E., Adamo-Villani, N., Bedrich, B., Lei, X., & Cheng, J. (2021). The Positivity Principle: Do positive instructors improve learning from video lectures? Educational Technology: Research and Development, 69(6), 3101-3129. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-021-10057-w
Lawson, A. P., & Mayer, R. E. (2021). The power of voice to convey emotion in multimedia instructional messages. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 32(4), 971-990. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40593-021-00282-y
Lawson, A. P., & Demeke, E. (2021). Developmental mathematics students’ anxiety, mindset, and performance in algebra. MathAMATYC, 13(1), 46-53.
Lawson, A. P., Ayala, B., Son, J. Y. (2021). Priming students to calculate inhibits sense-making. Journal of Cognitive Science, 22(1), 41-70. https://doi.org/10.17791/jcs.2021/22/1/41
Lawson, A. P., & Mayer, R. E. (2021). Benefits of writing an explanation during pauses in multimedia lessons. Educational Psychology Review, 33, 1859-1885. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-021-09594-w
Lawson, A. P., Mayer, R. E., Adamo-Villani, N., Benes, B., Lei, X., & Cheng, J. (2021). Do learners recognize and relate to the emotions displayed by virtual instructors? International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education. https://doi.org/10/1007/s40593-021-00238-2
Adamo, N., Benes, B., Mayer, R. E., Lei, X., Wang, Z., Meyer, Z., & Lawson, A. (2021). Multimodal affective pedagogical agents for different types of learners. In D Russo et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of IHSI 2021, AISC 1322 (pp. 1-7). Springer Nature Switzerland.
Lawson, A. P., Mayer, R. E., Adamo-Villani, N., Benes, B., Lei, X., & Cheng, J. (2021). Recognizing the emotional state of human and virtual instructors. Computers in Human Behavior, 114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106554
Lawson, A. P., Davis, C., & Son, J. Y. (2019). Not all flipped classrooms are the same: Using learning science to design flipped classrooms. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 19(5), 77-104. https://doi.org/10.14434/josotl.v19i5.25856
Lawson, A. P., Mirinjian, A. & Son, J. Y. (2018). Preventing calculations helps students learn mathematics. Journal of Cognitive Education and Psychology, 17(2), 178-197.
Upcoming Articles
Investigating the Role of Immersive Virtual Reality in STEM Education: A Meta-Analysis
Systematically Reviewing the Rigor of Immersive Virtual Reality Research in STEM Education: A Deep Dive into Threats to Internal Validity
Strawmen Are for Cornfields Not STEM Education Research: A Critical Review of the Instructional Conditions in Immersive Virtual Reality Research
Combining Generative Learning Strategies in Online Learning
The Comparability of In-Person and Online Research
Individual Differences in Executive Function Affect Learning With Immersive Virtual Reality
The Novelty Effect and Role of Individual Differences in Learning with Immersive Virtual Reality
Talks
Lawson, A. P. (2023, May). Is there a novelty effect in learning with Immersive Virtual reality? [Oral presentation]. 34th Association for Psychological Sciences Annual Convention, Washington DC.
Lawson, A. P. (2022, May). Executive function in learning from distracting lessons. [Oral Presentation Competition]. 2nd Annual Pitch Perfect Competition at 34th APS Annual Convention, Chicago, IL.
Lawson, A. P. (2022, March). It’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it: Investigating the Positivity Principle in learning. [Oral Presentation Competition]. 2022 UCSB Grad Slam, Santa Barbara, CA.
Lawson, A. P., & Mayer, R. E. (2021, May). Inhibition skill in working memory affects learning from a distraction-filled multimedia lesson. [Flash talk]. 33rd Association for Psychological Sciences Annual Convention, virtual.
​Lawson, A. P. (2021, January 15) Explain it: Using self-explanation for deeper learning. [Oral presentation]. UCSB Lunch & Learn of Winter 2021, virtual.
Posters
Lawson, A. P., & Mayer, R. E. (2023, May). Is there a novelty effect in learning with Immersive Virtual reality? [Poster presentation]. 34th Association for Psychological Sciences Annual Convention, Washington DC.
Lawson, A. P., & Mayer, R. E. (2023, April). When productive failure fails. [Poster presentation]. 2023 Annual Meeting of American Educational Research Association, Chicago.
Lawson, A. P., & Mayer, R. E. (2022, November). Role of executive function in learning from immersive virtual reality. [Poster presentation]. Psychonomic Society 63rd Annual Meeting, Boston, MA.
Lawson, A. P., & Mayer, R. E. (2022, May). Role of executive function in learning from distracting lessons. [Poster presentation]. 34th Association for Psychological Sciences Annual Convention, Chicago, IL.
Lawson, A. P., & Mayer, R. E. (2021, November). Combining generative learning strategies in online learning. [Poster presentation]. Psychonomic Society 62nd Annual Meeting, virtual.
Lawson, A. P., Wells, A., & Mayer, R. E. (2021, April). Understanding the Positivity Principle with human and animated instructors. [Poster presentation]. 2021 Annual Meeting of American Educational Research Association, virtual.
Lawson, A. P., & Mayer, R. E. (2020, June). Adding generative strategies to explanations to improve student understanding of a multimedia lesson. [Poster presentation]. 32nd Association for Psychological Sciences Annual Convention, virtual.
Lawson, A. P., & Mayer, R. E. (2020, April). A happy online instructor causes higher ratings but not better learning. [Poster presentation]. 2020 Annual Meeting of American Educational Research Association, virtual.
Lawson, A. P., & Mayer, R. E. (2019, May). Generative learning strategies that promote understanding of a multimedia lesson. [Poster presentation]. 31st Association for Psychological Sciences Annual Convention, Washington, DC.
Lawson, A. P., Ayala, B., Rodriguez, D. S., & Son, J. Y. (2018, May). Why do students make procedural errors? [Poster presentation]. 30th Association for Psychological Sciences Annual Convention, San Francisco, CA.
Lawson, A. P., Mirinjian, A., & Son, J. Y. (2018, April). Blocking the compulsion to calculate. [Poster presentation]. 2018 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York, NY.
Demeke, E., Lawson, A. P., & Samaniego, K. (2018, February). Cooperative learning and its impact in developmental mathematics courses: A case study in a minority-serving institution. [Poster presentation]. The 21st Annual Conference on Research on Undergraduate Mathematics Education, San Diego, CA.
Lawson, A., & Hocker, L. (2017, April). Modality effect on online learning. [Poster presentation]. Western Psychological Association 97th Annual Convention, Sacramento, CA.
Hocker, L., & Lawson, A. (2017, April). The perception of trust in intimate relationships. [Poster presentation]. Western Psychological Association 97th Annual Convention, Sacramento, CA.
Lawson, A., & Son, J. Y. (2017, February). The effect of conceptual and procedural explanation in mathematical transfer. [Poster presentation]. 25th Annual Cal State LA Symposium on Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities, Los Angeles, CA.
Lawson, A., Banayan, T., Fernandez, A., & Walker, J. (2016, April). Effects of explanation on learning. [Poster presentation]. Western Psychological Association, Long Beach, CA.