Dr. Blush (she/her) has been teaching at Peace since 2019. Student-centered teaching is at the core of her teaching philosophy, along with immersive learning and career preparation. Some of her favorite classes to teach are General Psychology, Cognition and Neuroscience, and Culture and Psychology. While at Peace, Dr. Blush has held several roles, but outside of teaching, the one she finds most meaningful is mentoring students in research. During the 25-26 academic year, she mentored 7 student presentations across 3 different conferences.
Jennifer Blush, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology & Director of Undergraduate Research
Education
Ph.D. in Psychology with a concentration in Social, Cognitive, and Neuroscience, University of Texas at El Paso (2019)
M.A. in Psychology with a concentration in Cognitive Behavioral Science, Illinois State University (2015)
B.A in Psychology and German, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (2012)
Activities & Honors
Alumni Distinguished Advising Award for First Year Students (April 2024) and Outstanding Registered Student Organization Advisor Award (May 2020)
Psychology Club Advisor
Co-Director of the Quality Enhancement Plan, Building TILEs
Co-Facilitator of the First Year Seminar curriculum
Editor and contributor to The Novice Professor teaching website
Research & Publications
Current Research Projects:
1. The study of texting behavior is aiming to investigate factors that could influence people to text in paragraphs (long messages with multiple thoughts or sentences in a single message) or in short-burst fashion (multiple short messages are sent in close succession).
2. For the change blindness study, she is examining whether there are gender differences in people's ability to detect changes in their environment.
Publications and Presentations:
Blush, J. (2026, September). Reimagining the First Year Seminar to Cultivate Critical Thinking. Paper presented at the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Summit, Virtual.
Gailor, H., Witcher, B., & Blush, J. M. (2026, June). Facilitating civil discourse in the classroom. Paper presented at the Community Engagement Administrators Conference, Elon, NC.
Corvette, M., Rittby, K., Blush, J. M., Newhouse, W. (2026, June). From points to possibility: Faculty-led grading innovations for generation alpha learners. Paper presented at The Grading Conference, Virtual.
Gailor, H., Witcher, B., & Blush, J. M. (2026, February). Facilitating civil discourse in the classroom. Paper presented at the Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy, Blacksburg, VA.
Parris, E. G., Blush, J. M., & Dillon, D (submitted). Elements in transition: The evolution of the first-year student experience from pre- to post-COVID-19. Journal of The First-Year Experience & Students in Transition.
Muir, I. L. S. & Blush, J. M. (submitted). Your brain on texting: How working memory, impulsivity, and emotion shape your messages. Discourse Processes.
Blush, J. M. & Muir, I. L. S. (2025, November). Your brain on texting: How working memory, impulsivity, and emotion shape your messages. Poster presented at Psychonomics, Denver, CO.
Blush, J. M. & Corvette, M. N. (2025, August). Assessing the unseen: Effective metrics for immersive learning success. Paper presented at Elon’s Teaching and Learning Conference, Virtual.
Gailor, H., Witcher, B.S., Nye, C., Blush, J. M., & Koch, K. (accepted). Flipping the script and putting students at the forefront of cultural change through “For Students, By Students” dialogues. Journal for Campus Activities Practice & Scholarship.
Blush, J.M., Newhouse, W., Polt, M., & Corvette, M. (2024, August). Impact of experiential learning on student success through strategies across curricula. Paper presented the Lilly Conference, Asheville, NC.
Mocko, M. Wagler, A. E., Lesser, L. M., Francis, W. F., Blush, J. M., Schleicher, K. M., & Barrientos, P. M. (2024). What they remember is not what they understand: A study of mnemonic recall and performance by introductory statistics students. Journal of Statistics and Data Science Education, 1-28. doi: 10.1080/26939169.2024.2334905
Blush, J. M. & Day, B. M. (2023, January). Exploring the relationship between texting and writing quality. Poster presented at the National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology, St. Pete Beach, FL.
Blush, J. M. & Day, B. M. (2023, January). Let’s talk about statistics and research methods: A discussion of instructional approach and transferable skills. Round table discussion held at the National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology, St. Pete Beach, FL.
Blush, J. M., Schleicher, K. M., & Kidder, C. K. (2020). Teaching in the 21st Century: How blogs and other alternative outlets can transform our teaching. In T. M. Ober, E. Che, J. E. Brodsky, C. Raffaele, & P. J. Brooks (Eds.) How We Teach Now: The GSTA Guide to Transformative Teaching (pp. 54-67). Retrieved from the Society for the Teaching of Psychology web site http://teachpsych.org/ebooks/howweteachnow-transformative
