Dr. Stephen W. Smith, "Research in Education and Human Services: The Foundational Necessity of Conceptual Frameworks"

Conceptual frameworks capture the concepts, assumptions, expectations, beliefs, and theories, and the presumed relationships among them, that inform and support any research design. Conceptual frameworks are problem solving devices that can show the complexity of a phenomenon or even its simple elegance. For this presentation, Dr. Smith will describe briefly the use of conceptual frameworks in education research and provide several examples of frameworks and their evolution overtime that have guided his and his students’ research over the years.

Stephen W. Smith is a Professor and University Term Professor of Special Education at the University of Florida (UF). Dr. Smith teaches graduate courses in special education research, emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD), and principles of prevention in education. His research focuses on effective behavioral prevention strategies, executive function, and the self-regulation of behavior (goal directed effortful control of thought, action, emotion), issues related to aggression and violence in schools, and understanding verbal aggression of students with EBD. Dr. Smith and colleagues have received over $17 million dollars to conduct research related to the prevention of and effective interventions for maladaptive student behavior in school settings. Dr. Smith has also obtained over $1.5 million dollars to train pre-service students to work in special education. While at UF, Dr. Smith has received numerous teaching and research awards. In 2018, Dr. Smith was awarded the Distinguished Researcher Award from the American Education Research Association, Special Education special interest group.

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