About

Adriana D Cimetta, PhD, MPH, is an Associate Research Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Arizona. Her expertise encompasses mixed methods research and evaluation, educational measurement and assessment, STEM and early childhood evaluation, and organizational change. Her research focuses on understanding the dynamics and processes of learning and development based on the backgrounds and experiences of young children and students of all ages. She investigates how family, child, and societal characteristics impact school readiness and health outcomes in early childhood. Additionally, her work examines the influence of STEM education and undergraduate research experiences on student retention and persistence in college, specifically exploring factors such as sense of belonging, self-efficacy, identity, relationships, and institutional policies that shape students’ academic experiences. Her research emphasizes the processes through which educational and developmental outcomes are achieved, their sustainability, and variability across different student populations.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Mathematics education
• Psychology
• Medicine
• Medical education
• Social psychology
• Computer Science
• Law
• Developmental psychology
• Pedagogy

Selected publications

• Neuroscience Vertically Integrated Projects Benefit STEM Student Self-Efficacy and Identity

  Scholarship and Practice of Undergraduate Research · 2025-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Vertically integrated project courses (VIPs) are successful models for embedding long-term research participation into engineering curricula. Whether this model can be translated into gains for laboratory-based projects in biological sciences is unknown. Most biological sciences course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are a single semester, prohibiting longer-term assessment of student growth. A neuroscience VIP was designed in which students performed experiments to investigate the causality of genetic variants linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Students could enroll for up to three consecutive semesters. Through precourse and postcourse surveys and qualitative responses, strong gains were found in self-efficacy, science identity, and networking over multiple semesters of participation. The study shows that VIP courses in neuroscience are effective ways of promoting student gains in STEM.

  PublisherDOI

• The influence of relational, political, discursive, and structural dimensions of power on increasing equitable access to undergraduate research experiences

  Journal of Research in Science Teaching · 2024-03-11 · 4 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Attracting and retaining students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics majors, particularly those who are underrepresented, is a national concern. While undergraduate research experiences have been shown to increase retention and engagement, inequities in access exacerbate disparities. Understanding what hinders or facilitates the implementation of undergraduate research experiences is crucial. Using semi‐structured interviews with the project leaders and document analysis, the findings from this project expose the relational, political, discursive, and structural power dimensions hindering or facilitating the integration of research experiences in undergraduate science courses. Revealing these barriers and opportunities will inform future initiatives, such as those focused on implementing course‐based research experiences.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Discerning Obstacles and Opportunities: A Framework for Evaluating Power

  American Journal of Evaluation · 2024-01-17 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Understanding what hinders or facilitates the implementation of change strengthens formative assessments. We propose a framework for interrogating the relational, political, discursive, and structural dimensions of power-shaping change efforts. In addition, we describe the application of this framework to a change initiative to better understand the influences on the project. Although evaluators usually only consider how power affects the evaluation process, exposing how these dimensions of power influence an initiative can reveal obstacles and opportunities and lead to the formation of more effective initiatives.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Examining the links between students' confidence, scientific identity, and belonging in a CUREs lab

  PsycEXTRA Dataset · 2024-01-01

  datasetSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Environmental Factors Predicting Young Children’s Secure Exploration

  Early Childhood Education Journal · 2024-04-12 · 1 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• <scp>JD‐Next</scp>: A valid and reliable tool to predict diverse students' success in law school

  Journal of Empirical Legal Studies · 2023 · 3 citations

  • Political Science
  • Psychology
  • Medical education

  A bstract Admissions tests have increasingly come under attack by those seeking to broaden access and reduce disparities in higher education. Meanwhile, in other sectors there is a movement towards “work‐sample” or “proximal” testing. Especially for underrepresented students, the goal is to measure not just the accumulated knowledge and skills that they would bring to a new academic program, but also their ability to grow and learn through the program. The JD‐Next is a fully online, noncredit, 7‐ to 10‐week course to train potential JD students in case reading and analysis skills, prior to their first year of law school. This study tests the validity and reliability of the JD‐Next exam as a potential admissions tool for juris doctor programs of education. (In a companion article, we report on the efficacy of the course for preparing students for law school.) In 2019, we recruited a national sample of potential JD students, enriched for racial/ethnic diversity, along with a sample of volunteers at one university ( N = 62). In 2020, we partnered with 17 law schools around the country to recruit a cohort of their incoming law students ( N = 238). At the end of the course, students were incentivized to take and perform well on an exam that we graded with a standardized methodology. We collected first‐semester grades as an outcome variable, and compared JD‐Next exam properties to legacy exams now used by law schools (the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT), including converted GRE scores). We found that the JD‐Next exam was a valid and reliable predictor of law school performance, comparable to legacy exams. For schools ranked outside the Top 50, we found that the legacy exams lacked significant incremental validity in our sample, but the JD‐Next exam provided a significant advantage. We also replicated known, substantial racial and ethnic disparities on the legacy exam scores, but estimate smaller, nonsignificant score disparities on the JD‐Next exam. Together this research suggests that, as an admissions tool, the JD‐Next exam may reduce the risk that capable students will be excluded from legal education and the legal profession.

  PublisherDOI

• Designing and implementing Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURES): Lessons learned

  PsycEXTRA Dataset · 2023-01-01

  datasetSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Facilitating Departmental and Institutional Change for Expanding Undergraduate Research Experiences: The Effectiveness of a Microgrant

  Journal of College Science Teaching · 2023-05-01

  articleSenior author

  AbstractIncreased sustainable access to undergraduate research opportunities, particularly for historically underrepresented populations, involves transforming departmental and institutional cultures, which is time-consuming and expensive. Competing university interests and tightening budgets necessitate finding effective and affordable ways to implement this transformation. The purpose of this study was to understand the benefits and limits of a microgrant as a feasible means of change. Overall, the findings suggested that microgrants can be effective catalysts for change in certain conditions, especially if internal resources are available to complement the funding and if the microgrant continues on a desired trajectory. This research will inform future initiatives that aim to expand access to undergraduate research experiences. Additional informationNotes on contributorsRebecca FriesenRebecca Friesen (rfriesen1@arizona.edu) is a research scientist, and Adriana Cimetta is an associate research professor, both in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona.Adriana CimettaRebecca Friesen (rfriesen1@arizona.edu) is a research scientist, and Adriana Cimetta is an associate research professor, both in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona.

  PublisherDOI

• Lessons learned from a summer mentored research program

  PsycEXTRA Dataset · 2023-01-01

  datasetSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• JD-Next: A Randomized Experiment of an Online Scalable Program to Prepare Diverse Students for Law School

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2021 · 3 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Political Science
  • Psychology
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Christina A. Cutshaw

  University of Arizona

  7 shared

• Ronald W. Marx

  University of Arizona

  7 shared

• Ralph Renger

  6 shared

• Christopher T. Robertson

  6 shared

• David B. Yaden

  University of Arizona

  5 shared

• Matt Charles

  University of Arizona

  5 shared

• Rebecca Friesen

  University of Arizona

  4 shared

• Jessica Findley

  3 shared