Cassendra Bergstrom

Contact Information

Education

Post Doc - Math and Science Teaching Institute, University of Northern Colorado

Ph.D. - Educational Psychology, University of Northern Colorado

M.S. - Experimental Psychology, Emporia State University

B.S. - Psychology, Baker University

Professional/Academic Experience

Cassie Bergstrom completed her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology at the University of Northern Colorado, where she now holds the position of assistant professor. After completing her Ph.D, she held a position as a post-doctoral research associate through the Math and Science Teaching Institution, also at UNC. Within the context of her post-doctoral training in the context of an NSF funded project, she focused on how the experiences of students, and especially female students, differed for students attending geoscience departments that graduated a high number female students compared to departments that graduated a low number female students.

Dr. Bergstrom was hired as a full-time assistant professor in the School of Psychological Sciences in August 2015. She teaches courses in the undergraduate psychology B.A. program as well as graduate courses in Educational Psychology.

Research/Areas of Interest

 Dr. Bergstrom has taught many undergraduate and graduate courses. She has taught Intro to Psychology, Human Growth and Development, Child and Adolescent Psychology, Maturity and Aging, Educational Psychology for Elementary/Secondary Teachers, and Cognitive Psychology for undergraduate courses, and Introduction to Educational Psychology, Lifespan Developmental Psychology, Educational Assessment, Special Topics in Educational Psychology, Cultural Issues in Educational Psychology, Motivation in Education, and Cognition and Instruction 1 as graduate courses.

Her research program focuses on the intersection between motivation and learning environments with a more recent concern for gender issues as well. She has been involved in and has presented at a number of conferences the results from a variety of research projects on the topics of transformative experience, achievement goal orientation, and problem-based learning (PBL) environments.

Dr. Bergstrom continues to be very interested in how the context of the environment and the instructional methods used impact the motivation and experience of students. In the future, she would like to focus her research in a few directions, including investigating the impact of level of measurement of motivational constructs, how different educational environments might be more or less beneficial for students with diverse demographic and individual characteristics, and how students and teachers work in conjunction to develop classroom culture. Overall, Dr. Bergstrom aims to continue to use both quantitative and qualitative methods to understand how the classroom environment impacts the engagement, motivation, and learning of students.

Publications/Creative Works

Pugh, K. J., Bergstrom, C. M., Heddy, B. C., & Krob, K. E. (2017). Supporting Deep Engagement: The Teaching for Transformative Experiences in Science (TTES) Model. The Journal of Experimental Education.

 Pugh, K. J., Bergstrom, C. M., & Spencer, B. (2017). Profiles of Transformative Engagement: Identification, Description, and Relation to Learning and Instruction. Science Education.

Bergstrom, C., Pugh, K. J., Phillips, M., & Machelev, M. (2016). Effects of Problem-Based Learning on Recognition Learning and Transfer Accounting for GPA and Goal Orientation. The Journal of Experimental Education.