CV & RESUME

• Adolescent literacy and development (focus on online research and information literacy)

• Effects of digital environments on adolescent development and learning

• Mixed methods study of adolescent information-seeking through social media

  • • Pilot study underway

    • Application for grant to expand study in progress

    • Joint project with researchers at the University of Kansas

• The effects of frequency of use, identity (inc. self-presentation, social comparison, and self-esteem) and media literacy among parents of adolescent social media users

  • • Survey data & analysis

    • In data-collection phase

    • Joint project with researchers at Fordham University

Ph.D., Fordham University 2020 Contemporary Learning and Interdisciplinary Research

Dissertation: The effects of social media use and self-esteem on possible selves throughout adolescence
Capstone Dissertation: Digital and print reading habits, preferences, and associated skills amongst emerging adults

M.S. Ed., Fordham University 2012 Literacy Education 5-12

B.S. Ed., St. John’s University 2007 Secondary Education, U.S. History & Political Science

Wesleyan University
Middletown, CT • 2023-Present

Associate Professor of the Practice, College of Education Studies

Wesleyan University 

Middletown, CT • 2021-2023

Visiting Assistant Professor, College of Education Studies

Courses offered:

• Social Media and Adolescent Psychosocial Development

  • • Course explores psychosocial developmental models of adolescents and examines the potential effects of developing within online contexts.

    • Celebrating Learner Differences

    • Course explores various factors relating to differences in cognitive development and external factors that affect literacy learning in classroom environments.

• Contemporary Literacy

  • • Course explores the changing nature of literacy in contemporary society, beginning with the traditional developmental models of literacy and spanning to include media, digital, critical, and other contemporary literacies within the context of research.

Fordham University

New York, NY • 2020-2021

Adjunct Professor

• Teaching graduate and undergraduate students in face to face and remote settings

Courses offered:

• Psychology of Child and Adolescent Development

• Historical, Philosophical, and Multicultural Foundations of American Education

Graduate and Career Coordinator & Advisor

Wesleyan University • Middletown, CT • 2022  -Present

• Coordinating graduate and career events on campus, including panel discussions and speaker engagements for student information

• Advising for post-graduation

Grant Coordinator, NOYCE

Fordham University • New York, NY • 2019 - 2020

• Overseeing reporting and compliance for Noyce Grant (supporting teachers in training for STEM subjects)

• Completing and reviewing reports for Noyce and NSF

Graduate Assistant

Fordham University • New York, NY • 2016 - 2020

• Working directly with the head of Curriculum & Teaching, managing the five-year track for teacher certification program

• Training in EdTPA assessment and implementation

• Designing Master’s level academic modules for online content

• Maintaining records for accelerated Master’s program

• Planning and applied research tasks for publication

Frank B. Weeks Visiting Assistant Professor of Education Studies

Wesleyan University • Middletown, CT • 2022

Mid-Wes Education Grant

Wesleyan University • Middletown, CT • 2022

• Funds for conducting research within the Middletown Public School

Besharat Mann, R. (2023). What teaching strategies relate to increasing student self-regulation in online learning environments?: Reflections on “This is a weird time we’re in”: How a sudden change to remote education impacted college student’
self-regulated learning. AERA SSRL Time Magazine. https://ssrlsite.files.wordpress.com/2023/05/times-magazine-aera-ssrl-sig-may-2023.pdf

Besharat Mann, R. (2022). Translating learning sciences research to the classroom [webinar]. American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE). https://aacte.org/events/translating-learning/

Besharat Mann, R. (2020, February 21). How to support digital literacy in adult learners. Digital Promise. https://digitalpromise.org/2021/02/08/how-to-support-digital-literacy-in-adult- learners/

Besharat Mann, R. (2020, February 20). Helping students navigate online sources with critical literacy. Digital Promise. https://digitalpromise.org/2020/02/10/guest-post-helping-students- navigate-online-sources-with-critical-literacy/

Besharat Mann, R. (upcoming - April 2024). Bridging literacies: Adolescent processes of seeking information online [roundtable]. American Education Research Association (AERA), Philadelphia, PA.

Keener, K.A. & Besharat Mann, R. (Nov. 16-19, 2023). Broad-casting student voice: Amplifying reading and writing workshop practices with podcasting, National Council for the Teachers of English (NCTE), Columbus, Ohio.

Besharat-Mann, R & colleagues. (March  23-25, 2023). Developmental findings and considerations to inform media literacy instruction. Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD), Salt Lake City, Utah.

Besharat-Mann, R and colleagues. (March  9-11, 2023). Current approaches to future selves: Philosophical and Psychological Perspectives (Adolescents and media literacy within the context of identity development). Invited Symposium – Southern Society for Philosophy & Psychology, Louisville, KY.

Besharat Mann, R. (December 2022). Strategies to address multilingual learners. Southern Connecticut State University Graduate Symposium.

Besharat Mann, R. (November 2021). “You can say anything you want online”: Helping adolescents manage messages on social media through critical and media literacy practices [Conference presentation]. National Council of Teachers of English, Virtual.

Besharat Mann, R., Tare, M., & Xiao, W. (November 2020). Understanding the whole student: How learner differences can affect adolescent literacy across content areas. [Conference presentation]. National Council of Teachers of English, Virtual.

Besharat Mann, R. & Blumberg, F. (2020, June 1-Sept 1). The effects of online identity-building behaviors and self-esteem of the development of possible selves throughout adolescence [Conference presentation]. Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention, Chicago, IL. [virtual]

Levy-Cohen, R., Arevalo, J., Battaglia, D., Besharat Mann, R., Bondie, R., Turner, K., Van Owen, G., & Zusho, A. (2019). Urban teens’ use of self-regulated learning strategies: A comparison of survey and diary measures. Poster presented at the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Toronto, Canada.

Besharat Mann, R. (2019, November). Adolescents and emerging adults: A comparison of reading format preferences and literacy skills. In Turner, K. and O’Byrne, I. (Eds.), Medium matters: connecting research and practice in print and digital reading. Paper presented at the NCTE Annual Convention, Baltimore, MD.

Consulting Research Scientist

Digital Promise, Learner Variability Project • 2019 - Present

• Developing models of learning development using extensive research

• Completing multiple literature reviews on varying factors for adolescent literacy development and adult learning

• Working as part of a research team to support cognitive, literacy-specific, social-emotional factors, and personal background factors contributing to literacy development during adolescence 

• Assessing strategies related to developing each factor with supporting research

Social Studies Teacher and Department Chair

Bronx Community High School • Bronx, NY • 2010 - 2016

• Taught a range of NYS Social Studies curriculum, including United States and World History, Economics, and Participation in Government

• Designed curriculum for Global and U.S. History Sequence

• Developed online curriculum for alternate accreditation

• Developed elective curriculum for social studies and literacy

• Coordinated Virtual Enterprise program

• Participated in city-wide competitions

• Managed relationships with business contacts

• Facilitated foreign and domestic student exchange

• Supervised Learn-to-Work Internships for students

• Designed meaningful literacy based professional development for staff

• Improved Regents Scores

• Managed parent relationships

• Maintained excellent staff and administration relationships

Literacy Coach

Bronx Community High School • Bronx, NY • 2010 - 2016

• Oversaw professional development related to literacy instruction

• Developed digital literacy curriculum with teachers

• Worked with individual teachers to improve literacy instruction across content areas

• Managed Achieve3000 online differentiated reading platform use

Wesleyan University, Media literacy investigation, ongoing

Managing research team to collect data, academic literature search, data analysis

Wesleyan University Mid-Wes Grant: Media literacy and source evaluation, 2022

Supervised research team to collect data in a public-school setting

Data analysis

Fordham University Research Coordinator, 2019 - 2021

Lab coordinator for research on coding games for elementary students

• Reviewer: Social Education Research 2024

• Reviewer: Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace 2022

• Reviewer: Technology, Mind, & Behavior (APA) 2022

• Wesleyan English Language Learners Program Co-Chair 2022  -Present

• Communications Committee 2022 - 23

• Colloquia Committee 2021 - 22

• NYS Social Studies 7-12

• NYS Literacy 5-12

• American Educational Research Organization (AERA)

• National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)

• Society for Research on Child Development (SCRD)

• National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE)

• International Literacy Association (ILA)

• American Psychological Association (APA)