School of Education

Education

• Ph.D. in psychological studies in education, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• M.A. in educational psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• B.S. in elementary education, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Research interests

Motivation, belonging, self-regulated learning, and engagement

Career highlights

• Principal Investigator for the Spencer Foundation Research Grant (2020-2022)
• Principal Investigator for the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Fund Research Grant (2022-2024)
• Recipient of VCU School of Education Distinguished Service Award (2022)
• Recipient of VCU School of Education Distinguished Scholarship Award (2021)
• Developer, RoboCogger metacognition and motivation software VCU News article
• Recipient of the VCU School of Education’s Distinguished Teaching Award (2014)
• Recipient of the VCU School of Education’s Distinguished Junior Faculty Award (2011)
• Co-Director, Motivation in Context Research Lab

Select Recent publications

• Zumbrunn, S., & Nicolai, K. D. (in press). Affordances and drawbacks of mixed methods research. In B. A. Bell, A. D. Anders, M. E. Yingling, & A. L. Sjogren (Eds.), Handbook of Research Methods and Methodologies for the Social Sciences, Routledge.
• Strunk, K. K., Zumbrunn, S., & Shelton, S. A. (2026). Gender and sexuality in educational psychology research: Possibilities of queer and trans perspectives. In F. A. López, J. T. DeCuir-Gunby, & D. L. Gray (Eds.), Handbook of race, equity, and asset-based research in educational psychology (pp. 31-47). Routledge.
• Berry, D. N., Taylor, M. L., Nicolai, K. D., Koenka, A. C., Barnes, N., de Oliveira, L. C., & Zumbrunn, S. (2025). Reading and writing feedback perceptions across K-20 contexts: A systematic review. Learning and Instruction, 95, 102022.
• Zumbrunn, S., & Bruning, R. (2023). Evaluating the effectiveness of writing interventions: Motivational outcomes. In F. De Smedt, R. Bouwer, T. Limpo, & S. Graham (Eds.), Conceptualizing, designing, implementing, and evaluating writing interventions. Brill.
• Mitchell, K. M., Zumbrunn, S., Demczyk, L., & Berry, D. (2023). Writing self-efficacy in post-secondary students: A systematic review. Educational Psychology Review.
• Zumbrunn, S. (2020). Why aren’t you writing?: Research, real-talk, strategies, and shenanigans. SAGE Publications.

Bio

As a former elementary school teacher, Dr. Sharon Zumbrunn’s broad research interests include understanding student learning and motivation, and the contexts that foster student success. Current projects include longitudinal, experimental and mixed method investigations that examine student belonging, motivation, and self-regulation across developmental levels (elementary through college). She also works with educators to understand the ways in which their beliefs, emotions and instructional practices influence student motivation, engagement and achievement.

Zumbrunn teaches courses in motivation, educational psychology, social processes in education, mixed methods, and teaching, learning and success in higher education.

Curriculum Vitae