Department
Education
College
College of Education and Human Development
Start Year at LSUS
2015
Terminal Degree/Yr
PhD/2012
Office Location
BE 370
Curriculum Vitae

Biography

Melissa Hawthorne is an assistant professor in the School of Education at Louisiana State University-Shreveport. She has seven years of teaching experience as a professor and five years experience as a doctoral assistant-teaching. In her time as a professor, she has mentored numerous doctoral students and has the distinction of having taught for every department in the College of Education and Human Development. Her primary research interests are in the area of psychopedagogy and using research on human learning and behavior in developing interventions to support student achievement. Being a first-generation college student herself, she is particularly interested in finding ways to help first-generation students overcome the obstacles that keep them from graduating. She is currently working on a manuscript investigating how academic advising can be used to improve student retention and is completing a project examining how well students apply meta-cognition in their studies. On the fun side, Melissa enjoys all things nerdy (Doctor Who, the MCU, Harry Potter) and enjoys writing fan fiction. Loki is her favorite fictional character (the MCU version; not the Norse mythology version).

Degrees

Research Interests

My research interests include student  academic success and application of cognitive research to the educational setting. My side-interest is in the psychology of decision making and how various cognitive abilities (e.g. working memory, executive function) affect it.

Selected Publications

Hawthorne, M. J. & Chikeleze, C. M (2022). Trait emotional intelligence and
decision-making: An exploration of TEI and mood on a real-world decision-making task, North American Journal of Psychology, 22(3), 397-410.

Hawthorne, M. J., Zhang, A., & Cooper, A. (2021). Advising undergraduate students: An exploration of how academic advising impacts student success. Research in Higher Education Journal

Hawthorne, M. J., Cooper, A., Chavis, K., Burrell, T., & Evans, C. (2021). Ability and  responsibility: The role of need for cognition and student study habits in academic achievement. Research in Higher Education Journal, 39, 1-13.

Teaching Assignments

EDL 740 Intro to Graduate research
EDL 720 Creating a Professional Learning Community
ED 720 Curriculum and Instruction

Office Hours

Monday             5-7 virtual
Tuesday            2-6
Wednesday      1-5

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