Faculty

Joseph R. Boyle, PhD received his PhD from the University of Kansas in special education. His current research is focused on examining the effectiveness of teaching techniques and interventions for students with high-incidence disabilities in general education, inclusive and special education classrooms. Dr. Boyle currently serves as the Project Director of Project ASPIRE: Advancing Specialized Professionals Who Integrate Research Evidence. Project ASPIRE prepares new PhD scholars in evidence-based knowledge and skills in special education. He also currently serves as the co-editor of the Journal of Special Education Technology. Dr. Boyle was also selected as a Fulbright Scholar in 2022, and spent the fall semester participating in research at the University of Poitiers, France. Dr. Boyle has authored over 50 publications including books, chapters, research articles and research-to-practice articles. His early experience as a special education teacher helped shape his early research career, and later, as a researcher and faculty member, led him to co-author the textbook: Methods and Strategies for Teaching Students with High Incidence Disabilities: A Case-Based Approach (2E). Dr. Boyle has developed several classroom interventions for students with high-incidence disabilities in the areas of reading, writing, note-taking and technology. His research on note-taking was funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. His current research examines how students with disabilities use smart pens to improve their learning and note-taking in content-area classes. In another research strand, he is examining the effects of a scientific argumentative strategy to support the learning and writing skills of students with disabilities in inclusive science classrooms.

Art Dowdy, PhD, BCBA-D is a faculty member at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who teaches in both the Applied Behavior Analysis and Special Education programs. Dowdy, a first-generation college graduate, has been fortunate to experience the professions of special education and applied behavior analysis both as a practitioner and researcher. Prior to his current appointment, Dowdy was a clinical Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA-D) where he implemented behavioral interventions to support children who displayed severe challenging behaviors. Dowdy has developed positive behavior intervention plans to address challenging behavior and teach adaptive skills in the school, home and community settings across age ranges. He has also spent years as a certified special education teacher. Dowdy has presented meta-analytic and single case experimental design research at both national and international conferences. Positioned at the intersection of special education and applied behavior analysis, samples of Dowdy's research can be found in peer-reviewed academic journals such as Autism, Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Behavior Analysis in Practice, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, and Perspectives on Behavior Science, among others. Dowdy currently serves on the editorial boards of Remedial and Special Education, Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Behavior Analysis in Practice, and Child and Family Behavior Therapy. Dowdy is currently accepting potential advisees who are interested in pursuing their masters or PhD degree and can be contacted at dowdy@temple.edu.

Matt Tincani, PhD, BCBA-D focuses on the application of behavioral principles to improve outcomes for people with disabilities and other special learning needs. His interests include systematic reviews of behavior science research, teaching job-related skills to neurodivergent people, smart technologies to improve special education, single-case designs, meta science, and open science. His recent work has explored questionable and improved research practices in single-case designs. He currently serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, the Journal of Special Education Technology, and Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, and as consulting editor to Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities. He has also served in several prominent regional and national leadership roles, including as Appointee to the Nevada Governor's Councils on Development Disabilities and Autism, and as founding president of the Positive Behavior Support SIG of the Association for Behavior Analysis International. He has published over 85 scholarly publications, including the books Classroom Management and Positive Behavior Support (2nd edition; Routledge) and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Evidence-Based and Promising Practices (Guildford Press). He is currently co-principal investigator of a $2.3 million NSF-funded research project to explore support for people with neurodevelopmental disorders in attaining employment in information technology fields.

Jason Travers, PhD, BCBA-D, is a professor of special education and applied behavior analysis at Temple university where he also serves as coordinator for the undergraduate and graduate degree programs in special education. A former public school teacher for students with autism, Jason is an expert in autism and developmental disabilities, particularly the education and treatment of children and youth with developmental disabilities. His research has focused on various topics related to special education including sexuality education, under-identification of racially diverse children with autism in special education, evidence-based practice, unproven and pseudoscientific interventions, and meta-scientific issues and trends in single case experimental research. He has published over 70 journal articles and book chapters, one book on sexuality education for learners with ASD, and articles in other outlets for organizations like American Speech Hearing Association and Skeptical Inquirer. He currently is a consultant for the United States Department of Justice investigations of unjustified restraint and seclusion of students with disabilities in public schools. Jason lives in a suburb of Philadelphia with his wife and three daughters. He enjoys walking his two dogs and playing video games with his wife.