Psychological Sciences
Education and Behavioral Sciences
Incoming Editor, Newsletter for Educational Psychologists, American Psychological Association (APA) Division 15.
Dr. Allen completed her Ph.D. in Educational Studies – Educational Psychology at The Ohio State University. During her time in graduate school, she also completed an invited research stay at the University of Zürich in Psychology. She was also awarded a dissertation fellowship during her final year of graduate study for her work on motivational costs and how they relate to teacher-student relationships in high school.
Dr. Allen began working as an Assistant Professor at University of Northern Colorado in fall of 2024. She teaches courses in the undergraduate psychology program, the online applied M.A. for teachers in educational psychology, and graduate courses in the master’s/doctoral program in educational psychology.
Dr. Allen’s research focuses on motivation in secondary and post-secondary settings. Her recent work primarily focuses on Situated Expectancy-Value Theory and, specifically, on students’ perceptions of motivational costs, or the negative aspects of task engagement. Much of her ongoing work uses longitudinal methodologies, in which students’ perceptions are measured numerous (four or more) times throughout the course of a study. Her recent publications and works-in-progress include identifying antecedents of students’ cost perceptions, how costs relate to teacher-student relationships over time, and how individuals’ motivational beliefs may differ from class averages.
Dr. Allen’s broader research interests and expertise also include work on self-regulated learning, achievement goal theory, and implicit beliefs such as theories of willpower and mindsets.
Beymer, P. N., Kim, Y-E., Allen, E. C., & Rosenzweig, E. Q. (2025). Examining a weekly cost reduction intervention in calculus. Learning and Instruction, 100, 102211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2025.102211
Beymer, P. N., Allen, E. C., Odaka, S. M. (2025). Students’ costs in chemistry, statistics, and English: Exploring course, time, and gender. The Journal of Experimental Education, 2513248. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220973.2025.2513248
Allen, E. C., Beymer, P. N., & Rosenzweig, E. (2025). Precursors of Students’ Cost Perceptions: Identifying Proximal and Distal Antecedents. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 81, 102374. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2025.102374
Allen, E. C., Perry, A. H., Black, A. L., & Yu, S. L. (2025). Barriers to success: Do achievement goals predict differential cost perceptions and outcomes? Social Psychology of Education, 28, 47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-024-09988-y
Beymer, P. N., & Allen, E. C. (2024). Exploring students’ motivational beliefs across a semester of introductory statistics. Journal of Experimental Education, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220973.2024.2399049
Allen, E. C., Masonheimer, A., & Wolters, C. A. (2023). Do dispositional motivational beliefs predict self-regulated learning strategies? An examination of willpower beliefs. International Journal of Educational Research. 119, 102174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2023.102174
Allen, E. C., Black, A., Lin, T-J., Purtell, K., & Justice, L. M. (2022). Extracurricular activity participation in kindergarten: Who participates, and why does it matter? Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 82C, 101455. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2022.101455
Bachman, H. F., Allen, E. C., Anderman, E. M., Boone, B. J., Capretta, T. J., Cunningham, P. D., Masonheimer, A. T., & Zyromski, B. (2022). Texting: A simple path to building trust. Phi Delta Kappan, 103(7), 18-22. https://kappanonline.org/texting-building-trust-bachman-allen-anderman-boone-capretta-cunningham-masonheimer-zyromski/
Page Last Updated: Today | Contact for this Page: Elena Beckman
Privacy Policy | Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity/Title IX Policy & Coordinator
