As a developmental methodologist, Dr. Nuttall primarily teaches advanced graduate statistics courses, including courses in Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Longitudinal SEM (LSEM). Dr. Nuttall’s courses are open to HDFS and Psychology doctoral students, and doctoral students from across the university with instructor permission.
Dr. Nuttall’s style of applied teaching of advanced statistics includes a focus on both the conceptual and statistical basis of techniques for analyzing data as well as direct application of concepts to the analysis of data in a structured class environment. In order to facilitate student research productivity, courses culminate in a course project in which students apply models taught in class to their own data and program of research to produce a publication-quality manuscript. As such, course projects often lead to student publications in top-tier journals (14 during 2017-2021), presentations at international conferences, and student research awards.
Dr. Nuttall’s course offerings are SEM (HDFS 961) during fall term and LSEM (HDFS 962) during spring term. Students interested in taking LSEM should note that SEM is a prerequisite for LSEM because applying SEM to the special case of longitudinal data requires a basic knowledge of SEM. This prerequisite can be filled by taking Dr. Nuttall’s SEM course (HDFS 961) or an equivalent course. Please note that Dr. Nuttall’s courses are popular and fill up quickly; you are encouraged to register as soon as registration opens. Both SEM and LSEM culminate in a course project of producing a publication-quality manuscript; therefore, students are expected to enter class with data appropriate for such analyses. Please contact Dr. Nuttall if you have any questions about these courses or about the course project assignment.
Under Dr. Nuttall’s mentorship, past students have been successful in publishing their course projects in top journals. Recent student publications:
Kobayaski, J. E., Bernard, N. K., Nuttall, A. K., Levendosky, A. A., Bogat, G. A., Lonstein, J. S. (2021). Intimate partner violence and positive parenting across early childhood: A comparison of self-reported and observed parenting behavior. Journal of Family Psychology, 35(6), 745-755.
Xie, M., Nuttall, A. K., Johnson, D. J., & Qin, D. B. (2021). Longitudinal associations between mother-child and father-child closeness and conflict from middle childhood to adolescence. Family Relations, 70(3), 866-879.
Liu, S., Wang, Y., & Nuttall, A. K. (2020). Cross-race friendships and psychological well-being trajectories among Asian American adolescents: Variations by school context. Developmental Psychology, 56 (11), 2121-2136
Oh, J., Chopik, W. J., & Nuttall, A. K. (2020). The effects of obligation on relationships and well-being over time in middle adulthood. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 44(6).
Clark, D. A., Donnellan, M. B., Durbin, C. E., Nuttall, A. K., Hicks, B. M., & Robins, R. W. (2020). Sex, drugs, and early emerging risk: Examining the association between sexual debut and substance use across adolescence. PLoS ONE, 5(2), e0228432.
Mitchell, E., Nuttall, A. K., & Wittenborn, A. K. (2019). Maternal depressive symptoms and warm responsiveness across the transmission to parenthood. Journal of Child & Family Studies, 28(6), 1604-1612.
Robinson, K. A., Perez, T., Nuttall, A. K., Roseth, C., & Linnenbrink-Garcia, L. (2018). From science student to scientist: Predictors and outcomes of heterogeneous science identity trajectories. Developmental Psychology, 54(10), 1977-1992.
Luo, X., Nuttall, A. K., Locke, K. D., & Hopwood, C. J. (2018). Dynamic longitudinal relations between binge eating symptoms and severity and style of interpersonal problems in a treatment sample. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 127(1), 30-42.
Dr. Nuttall’s methods courses can be followed on Twitter: @MSUquant.
