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Alina Reznitskaya
Professor, Educational Foundations, College for Education and Engaged Learning
- Office:
- University Hall 2129
- Email:
- reznitskayaa@montclair.edu
- Phone:
- 973-655-4080
- Degrees:
- BA, University of Illinois
- MAS, University of Illinois
- MEd, University of Illinois
- PhD, University of Illinois
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Profile
Alina Reznitskaya is a scholar of educational psychology whose work focuses on the development and assessment of argumentation. Her research examines how students learn to generate and evaluate arguments, and how teachers can be supported in facilitating high-quality classroom discussions around controversial issues. She integrates insights from philosophy, psychology, linguistics, and computer science to design theory-driven, practically useful tools for teaching and assessment.
Alina Reznitskaya received her doctoral degree in Educational Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and did her post-doctoral research at Yale University. Alina has acquired expertise in educational psychology, quantitative research methodology, and educational measurement, and she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on these topics.
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Research Projects
ArgCoach: AI-Powered Simulation for Teacher Learning
ArgCoach is an AI-driven simulation and tutoring system designed to support teachers in learning how to facilitate argumentation. Teachers engage in simulated discussions with student avatars, identify weaknesses in student reasoning, and practice targeted facilitation strategies. The system draws on three analytic tools from prior research: argument chains, which represent minimally sufficient lines of reasoning; the Rational Force Model, which evaluates chain links in terms of their acceptability and relevance; and the Argumentation Rating Tool, which connects four criteria of argument quality to facilitation practices and talk moves.
Automated Writing Evaluation of Argumentative Writing
This line of work aims to develop an automated writing evaluation system for elementary students’ argumentative writing. The system is grounded in the Rational Force Model and uses argument chains and argumentation networks to evaluate both the structure and content of students’ reasoning. A central goal is to provide teachers with transparent, diagnostic feedback that supports instruction.