RESEARCH DIRECTIONS

Throughout my career, my research has focused on the intersections of the analysis of materials, learning styles, and teaching strategies in the education of young people. These three have been examined primarily in the social and institutional contexts of school and public libraries. Currently I am exploring how materials are shaped and how young people learn in the new electronic contexts of e-mail and the world wide web.

A major aspect of this research combines literary analysis of materials for young people and reader response studies of children and young adults as they compose, interpret, express, and negotiate meanings in response to texts. My most recent analysis of materials is based on feminist theories and is reflected in my Model of Female Voices in Youth Literature. In my reader response research, I have been exploring how the process of meaning making from texts is influenced by:

·        the respondent's background and life experiences (including age, gender, ethnicity, and culture)

·        previous experiences with texts

·        the nature of the particular text (medium & form)

·        the adult intermediary

·        the responses of others in an interpretive community

Future research will study young people’s responses to feminist discourses identified in youth literature and to the various materials now available on the world wide web. Website development is also the focus on my current research with the intent of identifying how educational websites are designed and developed.