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Research Spotlight: Carla-Ann Brown

Q & A with Carla-Ann Brown, Ed. D., University School Assistant Professor at the P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School

What research are you currently working on?

My primary research areas are equitable teaching and learning and Culturally Sustaining (CS) practices. Currently, my research focuses on promoting an anti-racist and CS school culture through advancing systems and structures that increase opportunities for faculty of color (FoC). More specifically, as repercussions of the pandemic and racially targeted state laws continue to negatively impact Black educators, research on the simultaneous impact of both external stressors (COVID-19 and racially targeted state laws) is lacking Black educator insights critical to improving educational systems. My goal is to develop robust representation in this research field by creating opportunities for Black K-12 educators to share their authentic experiences and personal truths, including acknowledging the consequences of these challenges on Black educator well-being, efficacy, and tenure. With this goal in mind, if awarded the 23-24 Spencer Postdoctoral fellowship, I intend to continue a cross-cultural and international analysis of how Black educators experience racialized school climates amidst a global COVID-19 pandemic that will begin during my Fulbright experience in the U.K. during the 2023 Spring semester.

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Research Spotlight: F. Chris Curran

Q & A with F. Chris Curran, Ph. D., Director of the Education Policy Research Center & Associate Professor in the School of Human Development and Organizations Studies

What research are you currently working on?

My research applies frameworks and methodologies from the field of public policy to improve outcomes and equity in educational systems. In particular, I seek to examine how the laws, policies, and practices of educational institutions shape experiences and outcomes for students of color, students from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and other marginalized groups. My primary areas of research are school safety and discipline as well as early childhood education, though I have written widely about other education policy topics ranging from teacher labor markets to federal policy adoption.

Currently, I am leading several federally funded research projects including a Department of Justice-funded grant to develop a school safety data dashboard and training materials for the state of Florida as well as a National Science Foundation-funded project examining the elementary school science learning trajectories of multi-lingual students. For the school safety dashboard project, we are working with state and non-profit partners to understand how stakeholders use school safety data and to incorporate that feedback into data visualizations that school personnel can use to facilitate data dialogues and target policy and practice changes. The multi-lingual learners and elementary science project is currently supporting the development of multiple graduate students’ skills in the quantitative analysis of large-scale secondary data and has led to multiple presentations to researchers and practitioners.

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Research Spotlight: Zandra de Araujo

Q & A with Zandra de Araujo, Ph.D., Chief Equity Officer and Mathematics Principal in the Lastinger Center for Learning

What research are you currently working on?

My current research focuses on teacher professional development and equitable mathematics instruction. I currently have two large research grants I am working on. I am the principal investigator of the Practice-Driven Professional Development (PDPD) Project (NSF #2206774, $2,533,289). The PDPD Project researches and develops professional development aimed to help teachers enact incremental changes to their existing instruction in algebra.

On the second project, led by Dr. Hyunyi Jung, I am a co-principal investigator. The project, Empowering Students with Choice through Equitable and Interactive Mathematical Modeling (EIM2, NSF #2200928, $1,978,280), helps students engage in equitable mathematical modeling. Equitable mathematical modeling is the process of using mathematics to analyze and quantify scenarios through a lens of equity and studying the outcomes of that process.

In addition to these two funded projects, I continue to study teachers’ instruction in mathematics with students classified as English learners.

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Research Spotlight: Melinda Leko

Q & A with Melinda Leko, Ph. D., Professor in the School of Special Education, School Psychology, and Early Childhood Studies

What research are you currently working on?

Currently, I am working on an Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Development project in professional development to support students with disabilities. My colleagues and I are developing a professional development (PD) innovation for emergency-certified special educators working in rural settings. The PD is being delivered remotely and includes individualized coaching and a community of practice. The PD content centers on social/emotional/behavioral high-leverage practices (HLPs) to support the needs of students who exhibit challenging behaviors. Read more

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Research Spotlight: Ashley Pennypacker Hill

Q & A with Ashley Pennypacker Hill, Ed. D., Director of Elementary Programs and Associate Professor at P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School

What research are you currently working on?

Currently, I am working on building student leadership opportunities, increasing positive family engagement, building systems of support for students, co-facilitating teacher learning communities, developing strategies to support school climate, and implementing restorative practices with students, teachers, and families.

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Research Spotlight: Nigel Newbutt

Q & A with Nigel Newbutt, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the School of Teaching and Learning

What basic questions does your research seek to answer?

The basic questions that guide my research are associated with how innovative and novel technologies can support autistic people in their lives. For me, the transformative nature of emerging technologies means that there are many applications for under-served groups, and my work locates this with people with disabilities and autistic groups. I would also add; another basic question I consider core to my work is that of how technologies can be informed and co-designed with the communities I support. This has become so central to my work (and the field), especially if we are to fully realize the potential of a range of technologies for under-served groups. Linked to this, I am also exploring meaningful ways that virtual reality technologies can be applied to vocational skill development in better supporting successful work-based skills and transitions into work environments for autistic people.

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Research Spotlight: Frank Fernandez

Q & A with Frank Fernandez, Ph. D., Assistant Professor in the School of Human Development and Organizational Studies in Education

What basic questions does your research seek to answer?

What roles does higher education fulfill in society?  How does higher education work as a social institution?  In what ways do diverse groups have different experiences with higher education as a social institution?

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Rob Moore
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Research Spotlight: Rob Moore

Q & A with Rob Moore, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the School of Teaching and Learning

What basic questions does your research seek to answer?

My research broadly attempts to answer, “What is happening in digital ecologies?” By digital ecologies, I mean any learning environment that is integrating technology. This would include a face-to-face classroom that is using PollEverywhere or Kahoot for engagement; or a massive open online course where tens of thousands of students are engaged in asynchronous discussions; or an online graduate-level course. As we are seeing advances in technology and online learning, understanding learner experiences within these digital ecologies is critical to ensuring that we are creating positive learning experiences. My research looks at the experiences of learners and the tools and resources being used by the learners. Are the tools being used in the way that the instructor intended? Are they producing the outcomes that the instructor wanted? To answer these questions, I leverage techniques including cluster analysis and multilevel modeling that allow me to ask questions such as, “How is learning supported in the environment?” or “How are learners engaging within the environment?” By using this human-centered approach, my research can identify ways to map learner outcomes to the effective design and delivery approaches within these ecologies.

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Research Spotlight: Seyedahmad Rahimi

Q & A with Seyedahmad Rahimi, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the School of Teaching and Learning

What basic questions does your research seek to answer?

My research aims to answer questions such as “how can we assess and enhance hard-to-measure constructs such as creativity at scale using technology-rich environments (e.g., digital games)?” or “what aspects of technology-rich environments can foster or hinder learning?” or “how can we embed learning content in digital games without sacrificing the fun to enhance students’ interest, engagement, and learning?” The list could go on. In general, my research interest is at the intersection of learning sciences, learning analytics, instructional design and technologies, psychometrics, and computer sciences. Specifically, my research focuses on assessing and fostering students’ 21st-century skills (focusing on creativity) and STEM-related knowledge acquisition (focusing on physics understanding). Toward that end, I design, develop, and evaluate immersive learning environments (e.g., educational games) equipped with stealth assessment and educational data mining and learning analytics models. These learning environments can diagnostically assess students’ various competency levels, predict different outcomes, and act accordingly in real-time (e.g., adapt the game challenges to students’ level of competency or support students’ learning by triggering the appropriate learning supports). I am also actively researching various aspects of educational games (e.g., game mechanics, game difficulty, cognitive and affective supports, dashboard design, and incentive systems) and how they affect students’ motivation, performance, and learning.

What makes your work interesting?

When I think about my research, I see the following keywords in a cloud above my head: stealth assessment, validity, reliability, fairness, equity, games, technology, learning analytics, machine learning, improvement, learning, creativity, and STEM-related knowledge. I think the combination of these concepts makes my research interesting. I can categorize these keywords into three groups: (1) methods: stealth assessment, validity, reliability, fairness, equity, learning analytics, (2) tools: games, machine learning, technology, and (3) outcomes: creativity, learning, improving, STEM-related knowledge. Using new methods to develop tools (e.g., games) that can accurately assess and enhance people’s critical skills in life, such as creativity and STEM-related knowledge, makes my research interesting. When it comes to STEM-related knowledge acquisition, I am interested in helping the minority populations build interest in STEM-related topics which can help them in the future. For instance, in our previous studies (with my former advisor Dr. Valerie Shute), girls always had lower prior physics knowledge than boys. However, they had higher or equal posttest scores (after playing Physics Playground—an educational game) than boys—this is very interesting to me. When it comes to creativity (one of the essential skills moving human civilizations forward), I am interested in automatic and accurate ways of assessing creativity or creative potential. Most of the creativity assessments in the literature need human judgment, are time-consuming, costly, limited, and subjective. Using techniques such as stealth assessment and machine learning, I want to develop tools (e.g., video games) that can assess creativity without involving human judgment. These tools can then use the real-time diagnostic assessment to enhance people’s creativity as well. Creativity is not just reserved for a small group of people. We all can be creative. My goal is to create research-based tools available at scale to help more people become creative with practice—this is very interesting to me, which keeps me up at night.

What are you currently working on?

As a fresh assistant professor, I am currently setting up my research lab, Game-based Assessment & Measurement in Education Lab (GAME Lab), at the Institute for Advanced Learning Technologies (IALT) at UF. Read more

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Research Spotlight: Wei Li

Q & A with Wei Li, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the School of Human Development and Organizational Studies in Education

What basic questions does your research seek to answer?

I am a quantitative researcher. My research centers on the development and application of experimental and quasi-experimental methods to address issues in education and policy studies. Currently, my methodological work focuses on the design and analysis of longitudinal interventions and multilevel cost-effectiveness studies. My substantive work encompasses research on class size effects, teacher effects, and the effectiveness of online learning and teaching. I am also interested in the evaluation of education and policy issues in China.

What makes your work interesting?

My methodological work helps applied researchers design rigorous educational interventions. For example, when educational researchers plan their experimental studies, they need to decide what the minimum required sample sizes (e.g., numbers of students, classroom, schools, etc.) are needed to identify the treatment effects with confidence. My work provides methods and free, user-friendly tools for applied researchers to compute the sample sizes when they design longitudinal experiments and multilevel cost-effectiveness studies. In particular, my work on cost-effectiveness analysis might be of interest to some researchers who are working on Institute of Education Sciences grant applications, which now require cost or cost-effectiveness analysis in the proposals.

I also serve as a quantitative methodologist on several intervention/evaluation studies. Working with my collaborators, we are using advanced quantitative methods (e.g., multilevel models, mediation and moderation analyses, experimental and quasi-experimental methods, etc.) to evaluate the causal effects of educational interventions, programs, and policies on student achievement and non-cognitive skills.

What are you currently working on?

Currently, I have several methodological and applied projects in progress. Read more

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Research Spotlight: Lori Dassa

Q & A with Lori Dassa, Ed.D., Director of Clinical Experiences and Partnerships in the School of Teaching and Learning

What basic questions does your research seek to answer?

In my current position, I have the opportunity to work with clinical experiences and key partners (community, district) to develop cohesive and sustainable relationships to better the experiences of our teacher candidates.  These experiences in the teacher preparation arena at the College of Education lead to teacher retention.

Although this is more of an administrative role, it still aligns with my previous research.  My research has always asked the question: how do we develop and sustain the pipeline from teacher preparation to teacher retention?  I have followed an alternative perspective of Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) that specifically relates to pre-service teachers.  The literature defines the idea of the Zone of Teacher Development (ZPTD) as, “the distance between what teacher candidates can do on their own without assistance and a proximal level they might attain through strategically mediated assistance from capable others i.e., methods instructors or supervisors” (Warford, 2001, p. 253).

To expand on this theory, my research question is, how do we develop a teacher preparation and induction program that scaffolds our pre-service teachers to enter and stay in the field, cultivating into strong veteran teachers?

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Research Spotlight: Gage Jeter

Q & A with Gage Jeter, Ph.D., Clinical Assistant Professor in the School of Teaching and Learning

What basic questions does your research seek to answer?

In what ways do online doctoral students experience academic writing processes, and how might structured online writing supports influence their writing processes and products within and beyond their experience in a primarily online program?

How do preservice teachers engage in critical and social justice literacy practices in both online and face-to-face spaces?

What critical incidents influence queer faculty experiences, and how might intentionally and collaboratively reflecting on those experiences act against heteronormative and hegemonic systems and spaces?

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Research Spotlight: Hannah Bayne

Q & A with Hannah Bayne, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the School of Human Development and Organizational Studies in Education

What basic questions does your research seek to answer?

My research is concerned with the overarching question of human connection and understanding. How can we connect with one another in a way that generates genuine relationship, allows for expression and exploration of deepest pain, and facilitates healing? I am interested in exploring this question from a variety of angles — factors that enable connection, as well as factors that complicate or restrict relationship and understanding. For this reason, I am primarily interested in empathy as a skill that fosters deep understanding and connection. I also look at factors that can divide people, such as values conflicts and cultural dynamics, and explore how counselors can work within and beyond these conflicts to build rapport and expand their understanding of clients who may be very different from them.
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Research Spotlight: Christopher Redding

Q & A with Christopher Redding, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the School of Human Development and Organizational Studies in Education

What basic questions does your research seek to answer?

My research uses survey and administrative data to better understand the policies and educator labor market patterns that exacerbate the unequal distribution of high-quality teachers and the reforms intended to reduce this problem. Broadly, this research describes failures in the teacher labor market that impede the learning opportunities for underserved students and the ways in which changes in teacher education, development, and leadership opportunities can lead to better teacher retention and student outcomes, particularly in underserved schools.

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Research Spotlight: Ashley MacSuga-Gage

Q & A with Ashley MacSuga-Gage, Ph.D., Clinical Assistant Professor in the School of Special Education, School Psychology, and Early Childhood Studies

What basic questions does your research seek to answer?

My research is focused on two main issues:

  1. What are the essential skills that teachers need to exhibit in order to effectively manage a classroom?
  1. What are the most efficient and effective ways to support teachers’ (both pre-service and in-service) development of evidence-based classroom management skills?

My background is in positive behavior supports (PBS) and focuses on developing classroom management skills using a proactive versus reactive approach. To date, I have conceptualized and focused on professional development for adults (i.e., pre-service and in-service teachers) utilizing a Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) framework.

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