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Department of Psychology

Jackie Cerda-Smith

Assistant Professor
Psychology
Office
DEG Degarmo Hall 458
Office Hours
Wednesdays 11 am - 12 pm (Zoom)
Office Phone
(309) 438-4554office
phone
Email
jmcerda@ilstu.eduemail
Website
www.tinyurl.com/cerda-smithwebsite
  • About
  • Education
  • Research

Biography

I grew up in central Ohio, then spent 10 years living in North Carolina where I earned a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from NC State University.

Current Courses

PSY 302.001 Adolescent Development

PSY 404.001 Adolescent Development

PSY 390.032 Advanced Research Apprenticeship

PSY 331.003 Laboratory In Research Methods For Psychology: Developmental

PSY 391.032 Scholarship Of Teaching & Learning Apprenticeship

PSY 290.032 Special Projects: Research Apprenticeship

PSY 291.032 Special Projects:Undergraduate Teaching

PSY 302.001 Adolescent Development

PSY 404.001 Adolescent Development

PSY 390.032 Advanced Research Apprenticeship

PSY 331.003 Laboratory In Research Methods For Psychology: Developmental

PSY 415.003 Laboratory In Research Methods For Psychology: Developmental

PSY 391.032 Scholarship Of Teaching & Learning Apprenticeship

PSY 290.032 Special Projects: Research Apprenticeship

PSY 291.032 Special Projects:Undergraduate Teaching

Teaching Interests & Areas

As a former high school teacher (7 years) and National Board Certified Teacher, I have a passion for teaching. I love getting to know students and helping them connect with course material and each other. My classes are designed to build transferrable skills and knowledge while fostering a welcoming and inclusive class environment.

Research Interests & Areas

I value the lived experiences of students and educators, which is why my interdisciplinary (developmental and educational) research is often grounded in community-engaged approaches. I run two lab groups at ISU: the DARE lab and the RTR lab. The DARE lab aims to understand and promote critical consciousness development, which involves peoples' understanding of oppression and their action to dismantle it. I am especially interested in daily critical consciousness processes and how schools foster and hinder critical consciousness. The RTR lab works closely with high school Psychology partner teachers to design and implement the Ready Through Research program, which pairs local research mentors with high school students to guide them in designing and conducting their own psychological research projects. To learn more about these labs, please visit https://sites.google.com/view/cerdasmithlab/home

PhD Lifespan Development

North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC

BS Adolescent/Young Adult Social Studies Education

Miami University
Oxford, OH

Book, Chapter

Cerda-Smith, J. Find Your Place in the Wolfpack: The Importance of Cultivating MyPacks and Providing Student-Parents with Opportunities to Belong. J. Morton-Aiken & J. Hoermann-Elliott (EDs), Parenting While PhDing: Surviving and Improving the Working Conditions for Graduate Student Parents. Rutgers (2025)
Winter, K., & Cerda-Smith, J. How to get students “Ready Through Research”. H. Scherschel & D. S. Rudmann (EDs), Teaching tips: A compendium of conference presentations on teaching, 2022-23. The Society for the Teaching of Psychology (2023)

Journal Article

Cerda-Smith, J., Grant, C., Yust, P., Mathews, C., & Mulvey, K. “A different pair of glasses”: Impacts of a school-based antiracist program on student and teacher critical race consciousness. Contemporary Educational Psychology (2026)
Cerda-Smith, J. Critical Decision-Making: Bridging Critical Reflection and Critical Action. New Ideas in Psychology 80 (2026)
Cerda-Smith, J., Najafian, S., Neupert, S., & Mulvey, K. Daily Critical Action During the 2024 U.S. Election. Journal of Social Issues (2026)
Cerda-Smith, J., Najafian, S., Neupert, S., & Mulvey, K. Daily fluctuations in adolescents’ political stress. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy (2026)
Cerda-Smith, J., Yust, P., Weeks, M., Asher, S., & Mulvey, K. A novel approach for evaluating a schoolwide antiracist curriculum intervention. AERA Open (2024)
Cerda-Smith, J., Yust, P., & Mulvey, K. Longitudinal associations between critical consciousness, school racial climate, and belonging in school. Applied Developmental Science (2024): 1-17.
Knox, J., Cryer-Coupet, Q., Golden, A., Cerda-Smith, J., Wiseman, A., Barber, S., & Gaona, M. Correlates of adverse childhood experiences and secondary traumatic stress in school personnel.. School Psychology 39.5 (2024): 463-474.
Cerda-Smith, J., Joy, A., Mathews, C., Knox, J., & Mulvey, K. STEM‐related outcomes for adolescents with differing perceptions of school racial climate: A latent class analysis. Science Education (2023)
Cerda-Smith, J., Gonultas, S., & Mulvey, K. Adolescent peer aggression judgments and expected bystander intervention in teen dating violence. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology (2022)