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Prof Jeff K. SmithEmeritus Professor, University of Otago College of Education
A.B. (Princeton) Ph.D. (Chicago)

Dunedin Campus
Email jeffrey.smith@otago.ac.nz

Biography

Jeff Smith is Professor and former Dean of the College of Education at the University of Otago.  He joined the University in 2005 after having spent 29 years at Rutgers University in New Jersey, where he served as Chair of the Educational Psychology Department and Associate Dean of the Graduate School of Education. While at Rutgers, he also served for 18 years as Head of the Office of Research and Evaluation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

He took over the Deanship in 2020 until the end of 2021; he previously served as Associate Dean, University Research Performance, from 2016 to 2018, coordinating the University's efforts on the 2018 PBRF quality evaluation review.  He was the founding Co-Editor of the journal, Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, and was Editor of Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice.  He is the recipient of the Gustave Fechner Award for Outstanding Contributions to Empirical Aesthetics from the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics, and the Rudolph Arnheim Award for Outstanding Achievement in Psychology and the Arts, from Division 10 of the American Psychology Association.  He is the past president of the Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts.

Research Interests

  • Instructional Feedback
  • Formative Assessment
  • Psychology of Aesthetics
  • Learning in Cultural Institutions

Recent Publication

Tinio, P. P. L. & Smith, J. K. (2014). The Cambridge Handbook on the Psychology of Aesthetics and the Arts.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.  (ISBN: 978-1-107-02628-5)

Publications

Berg, D. A. G., Ingram, N., Asil, M., Ward, J., & Smith, J. K. (2024). Self-efficacy in teaching mathematics and the use of effective pedagogical practices in New Zealand primary schools. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1007/s10857-024-09623-9

Beatson, N., de Lange, P., Tharapos, M., O'Connell, B., Smith, J., Scott, S., & Greatbanks, R. (2023). An examination of self-efficacy and sense of belonging on accounting student achievement. Accounting & Finance, 13160. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1111/acfi.13160

Burnell, K., Pratt, K., Berg, D. A. G., & Smith, J. K. (2023). The influence of three approaches to feedback on L2 writing task improvement and subsequent learning. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 78, 101291. doi: 10.1016/j.stueduc.2023.101291

Berg, D. A. G., Skaalvik, E. M., Asil, M., Hill, M. F., Uthus, M., Tangen, T. N., & Smith, J. K. (2023). Teacher self-efficacy and reasons for choosing initial teacher education programmes in Norway and New Zealand. Teaching & Teacher Education, 125, 104041. doi: 10.1016/j.tate.2023.104041

Cotter, K. N., Rodriguez-Boerwinkle, R. M., Christensen, A. P., Fekete, A., Smith, J. K., Smith, L. F., … Silvia, P. J. (2023). Updating the Aesthetic Fluency Scale: Revised long and short forms for research in the psychology of the arts. PLoS ONE, 18(2), e0281547. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0281547

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