Nir Madjar STEPS Research Fellow Faculty of Education, Bldg 6 Monash University, Clayton Campus Melbourne VIC 3800 AUSTRALIA Email: nir.madjar@monash.edu Office Tel: +613 9902 4960

Prior Qualifications

2011 PhD Education (Dissertation Title: Personal epistemology and achievement goal orientations among students)
2009 MA Educational Psychology
2006 BA Behavioural Sciences and Education
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel

Background

Currently I am a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. In 2011 I completed a doctoral degree in Education at Ben-Gurion University, Israel. During the past six years I have been teaching and supervising students in various levels. I developed a research seminar for undergraduate students titled Student Motivation and Personal Epistemology, tutored and taught Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods for undergraduate and postgraduate levels at Ben-Gurion University and Sapir College. In addition, I taught Introduction to Psychology and Theories of Personality at Sapir College. My main research interests are contextual factors (such as classroom goal structure, teacher gender and expectations) which affect students’ motivation, engagement and performance in school. My study is based primarily on the theoretical frameworks of Achievement Goal Orientations and Expectancy-Value Theory. I am also highly interested and have experience in the implementation of advanced and contemporary research methods (such as growth curve models, hierarchical linear modeling, and structural equation modeling) in educational research.

Research Interests

• Student motivation
• Personal epistemology
• Self-regulated learning strategies
• Contextual and personal factors affecting students’ engagement

Future Plans

My future goal is to elaborate my study within the field of educational psychology in a research-oriented institute.

Publications

Journal Articles

• Madjar, N., Bachner, G. Y., & Kushnir, T. (accepted). Can goal orientation theory be  implemented in medical students’ education? Associations between achievement goals, psychosocial abilities and low frustration tolerance. BMC Medical Education.
• Madjar, N., Kaplan, A., & Weinstock, M. (2011). Clarifying mastery-avoidance goals in high school: Distinguishing between intrapersonal and task-based standards of competence. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 36, 268-279.
• Kushnir, T., Madjar, N., & Gopas, J. (2010). Mentoring in health sciences: Associations between graduate students' assessment of mentors' attributes, and satisfaction from research studies, research skills development and motivation for research. Journal of the World Universities Forum, 3, 95-106.

Book Chapters

• Madjar, N. & Assor, A. (in press). Two types of perceived control over learning : Perceived efficacy and perceived autonomy. In J. Hattie & E. Anderman (Eds.), International Handbook of Student Achievement. NY: Routledge Publishers.

Selected Conference Presentations

• Madjar, N., Nave, A., & Hen, S. (November, 2011). Are teachers’ psychological control, autonomy support and suppression, associated with students’ achievement goals? A paper to be presented at the Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) annual conference, Hobart, Australia.
• Madjar, N., & Watt, H. M. G. (accepted for April, 2012). Multidimensional engagement: exploring individual and contextual factors in the secondary math and English classroom. A paper to be presented at the International conference on Interpersonal Relationships in Education (ICIRE) Annual Conference, Vancouver, Canada.
• Madjar, N., & Sinai-Glazer, H. (May, 2011). Qualitative methods in educational psychology: Methodological aspects and future directions. Paper presented at the Seventh International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA.
• Madjar, N., Kaplan, A. (April, 2011). Goal structures, personal goals and self regulated learning: “Adaptive Mastery Goal Structure” versus “Goal Structure–Personal Goal Concordance” hypotheses. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA, USA.
• Madjar, N., Voltisis, M., & Weinstock, M. (April, 2011). Structural equation modeling of the associations between perception of parents' behaviors, perfectionism, and achievement goals. Poster presented at the American Education Research Association (AERA) Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA, USA.
• Madjar, N., Assor, A., & Dotan, L. (April, 2010). Fostering value/goal formation and the capacity for inner valuing: Two under-emphasized yet important aspects of autonomy support in education and parenting. Paper presented at the American Education Research Association (AERA) Annual Conference, Denver, Colorado, USA.
• Madjar, N. (December, 2008). An alternative approach to comprehend the relations of personal epistemology and achievement goal orientations. Paper presented at the National Educational Counselors Convention, Tel-Aviv University, Israel.

Nir is associated with the STEPS program of research