Distinguished University Professor Patricia A. Alexander is an educational psychologist who has conducted notable research on the role of individual difference, strategic processing, and interest in students' learning.
As a result of this dearth of knowledge and interest, acclimating learners lack the strategic processing skills needed to master the content.
Such shifts in knowledge and strategic processing are further associated with increases in individual interest, as learners no longer need to rely on situational features of the environment to draw their attention.
First, whereas other models examine expertise as it manifests in particular activities (e.g., dance, medical diagnosis), the MDL centers on development in academic domains.
Alexander's early writing on the integration of knowledge and strategic process resulted in a highly cited article published in 1988 with Judith Judy in Review of Educational Research.
[14] Alexander is a leader in students' reading and literacy development throughout the lifespan and in connection to prior knowledge and domain learning.
Beyond prior knowledge, Alexander has considered the cognitive processes, including strategy selection and use and metacognition, and motivational experiences, specifically interest and goal-directedness, involved in reading.
To understand students' text processing in these environments, Alexander has drawn the distinction between information management and knowledge building.
She has called for teachers to develop tasks and learning environments that support students' engagement in knowledge building rather than information management.
Responding to the challenging task of self-reporting one's own beliefs, this work by Alexander and colleagues developed innovative measurement techniques that included graphical depictions of the constructs.
Alexander, through her years of teaching experience, noticed that students, particularly those in the [digital age] were more concerned with managing information needed for tests than building knowledge.
In an effort to be culturally unbiased, the assessment contains visual representations of relations, which alleviate the demands of language and content knowledge.
She has also received university-level honors for her teaching, mentorship, and research, including the University of Maryland System Regents Faculty Award for Mentoring.