Hyun Ji Lee

Dr. Hyun Ji Lee is an Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology at Hunter College, CUNY. She received her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Korea University and completed her postdoctoral training at The Ohio State University. She is an active member of the Motivation in Education Special Interest Group (SIG) and Division C (Learning and Instruction) of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). She also serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Experimental Education and on the mentoring committee of the Korean-American Educational Researchers Association (KAERA). She is a certified reviewer for the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC), Group Design Standards (Version 5.0), of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES).

• Ph.D. in Educational Psychology (Korea University, 2022)
• M.A. in Educational Psychology (Korea University, 2016)
• B.A. in Education & B.S. in Brain and Cognitive Science (Korea University, 2014)

• SEDF 720 – Educational Psychology: Learning and Motivation

Dr. Lee’s research focuses on learning motivation and self-regulated learning, with the overarching goal of empowering children and adolescents from all backgrounds to become intrinsically motivated, confident, and persistent lifelong learners. Specifically, her work examines mechanisms of motivation and self-regulated learning, investigates social and cultural influences, and designs and evaluates motivation interventions. She employs survey and experimental research designs, as well as advanced quantitative methods, including large-scale, multilevel, and longitudinal data analysis. Leveraging her domain and methodological expertise, she also actively engages in interdisciplinary collaborations with researchers from diverse fields in education. Dr. Lee has received notable recognition for her research, including the Paul R. Pintrich Memorial Award and the Graduate Student Research Excellence Award from the American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) Motivation in Education SIG and Division C.

Motivation Interventions

• Lee, H. J., Kim, S., & Bong, M. (2025). Testing the dynamics between parent-child relationship and parent-belief intervention on children’s math motivation: A replication study with 3-month follow-up. Journal of Educational Psychology, 117(3), 411–433. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000908
• Lee, H. J., Lee, J., Song, J., Kim, S. & Bong, M. (2022). Promoting children’s math motivation by changing parents’ gender stereotypes and expectations for math. Journal of Educational Psychology, 114(7), 1567–1588. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000743
• Lee, J., Lee, H. J., Song, J., & Bong, M. (2021). Enhancing children’s math motivation with a joint intervention on mindset and gender stereotypes. Learning and Instruction, 73, Article 101416. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2020.101416
• Lee, J., Lee, H. J., & Bong, M. (2022). Boosting children’s math self-efficacy by enriching their growth mindsets and gender-fair beliefs. Theory Into Practice, 61(1), 35–48. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2021.1932156

Social and Cultural Influences on Motivation

• Lee, H. J., & Mendoza, N. B. (2025). Does parental support amplify growth mindset predictions for student achievement and persistence? Cross-cultural findings from 76 countries/regions. Social Psychology of Education, 28, Article 88. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-025-10038-4
• Lee, H. J., Kim, S., & Bong, M. (2025). Socializers’ mindsets and expectations as predictors of children’s mindsets, motivation, and achievement in math. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 95, 849–870. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12764
• Kim, S., Lee, H. J., Bong, M. (2024). Parental mindsets as determinants of children’s achievement goals and performance in math. Social Psychology of Education, 27, 2943–2965. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-024-09953-9
• Lee, H. J., Shin, D. D. & Bong, M. (2020). Strengthening adolescents’ confidence to learn: Considering sociocultural influences. In G. A. D. Liem & D. M. McInerney (Eds.), Promoting Motivation and Learning in Contexts: Sociocultural Perspectives on Educational Interventions (pp. 37–61). Information Age Publishing.
• Shin, D., Lee, H. J., Ha, J. E., Park, J. H., Son, E., & Bong, M. (2018). Why aren’t Korean students happy? Tracing back to the sources of their academic distress. In G. A. D. Liem & S. H. Tan (Eds.), Asian Education Miracles: In Search of Sociocultural and Psychological Explanations (pp. 124–138). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315180625-8

Motivational Mechanisms and Self-Regulated Learning

• Wolters, C. A., Brady, A. C., & Lee, H. J. (2025). Time management and achievement motivation: A review of what we know and directions for where to go. Educational Psychology Review, 37, Article 58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-025-10032-4
• Lee, H. J., Park, Y., & Bong, M. (2024). Differences in the longitudinal relationship between self-efficacy and interest across domains and student characteristics. Learning and Individual Differences, 113, Article 102462. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2024.102462
• Lee, H. J., & Bong, M. (2023). Self-efficacy. In R. Tierney, F. Rizvi, & K. Ercikan (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Education: Vol. 6. Learning, Cognition, and Human Development (4th ed., pp. 250–257). Elsevier. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818630-5.14028-X
• Shin, D., Lee, H. J., Lee, G., & Kim, S. (2019). The role of curiosity and interest in learning and motivation. In A. K. Renninger & S. E. Hidi (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Motivation and Learning (pp. 443–464). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316823279.020

Interdisciplinary Collaborations

• Shin, Y., Jung, J., & Lee, H. J. (2024). Exploring the impact of concept-oriented faded WOE and metacognitive scaffolding on learners’ transfer performance and motivation in programming education. Metacognition and Learning, 19, 147–168. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11409-023-09362-x
• Anderman, E. M., Perry, A. H., Lee, H. J., McMahon S. D., Astor, R. A., Espelage, D. L., Martinez, A., Reddy, L. A., & Worrell, F. C. (2024). School goal structures and violence against educators before and during COVID-19. Journal of School Violence, 23(4), 433–447. https://doi.org/10.1080/15388220.2024.2318703
• Lee, J. Y., Lee, H. J., Masters, A. S., Fletcher, K. K., Suh, D. D., Golinkoff, R., & Hirsh-Pasek, K. (2023). Bringing playful learning to South Korea: An alternative pedagogical approach to promote children’s learning and success. International Journal of Educational Development, 97, Article 102710. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2022.102710