Dr. Gary Phye Iowa State University

Dr. Gary Phye is Professor of Curriculum and Instruction and Psychology at Iowa State University and Director of the Psychology in Education Research Lab. He received BA in psychology and MA in experimental psychology at Wichita State University.  Following two years as a faculty member at Southwest Missouri State, Dr. Phye returned to graduate work and received a Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Missouri, Columbia Missouri.  

His research focuses on the assessment of academic learning, inductive reasoning and problem-solving transfer. This translates into an emphasis on how students acquire and use the knowledge to which they are exposed in the classroom. Research efforts have ranged from basic research identifying the information processing components of academic learning and problem solving to classroom studies involving the training of inductive reasoning skills. These efforts have been recognized by the American Psychological Association (APA). APA conferred the distinction of Fellow of the association in recognition of outstanding contributions to the science and profession of psychology. The American Education Research Association (AERA) has also conferred the distinction of Fellow of the association in recognition of sustained achievement in educational research.

Educational research efforts also include the development of large scale educational field studies in Iowa determining the impact of teacher’s professional development on student achievement. Current examples include providing accountability data for Iowa’s Reading First initiative that includes 105 elementary schools. These data are used for the development of state and local educational policy pertaining to instructional and curriculum issues.  A three year longitudinal study funded by the Carver Foundation is determining the impact of teaching for transfer on student problem solving performance in algebra I, geometry, and algebra II courses. These secondary students will be followed into college. Approximately 60 secondary schools across Iowa are participating in this effort. Numerous school districts and all ten area education agencies are participating in the Enhancing Education Through Technology initiative and the Evaluating State Educational Technology Programs initiative.  

Scholarship and teaching efforts involve authoring or editing several books, numerous journal articles, conference presentations, and setting on the several editorial boards of educational psychology journals and serving as editor of the educational psychology book series published by Elsevier/Academic Press.  Dr. Phye expresses a deep honor to be recognized as a member of the educational community of Iowa.