Within biology education, our research spans many different contexts and topics but is united by a core set of theoretical commitments and assumptions that shape the specific questions we ask and the methods we use.
Broadly, we assume that human cognition, behavior, and learning are dynamic and context-sensitive. That is, rather than assume people’s thinking or activity can be explained in terms of the knowledge, skills, or dispositions they have or do not have, we seek to understand what allows people to think or behave in different ways: How do different environments or situations evoke or constrain how people behave, think, or feel?
In attempting to understand these dynamics, we tend to rely on qualitative methods including observations, interviews, and analysis or writing or other artifacts. Often, our research involves designing new learning environments or experiences and trying to understand how these designs make new ways of being and learning possible.
On this page, I’ve tried to give some examples of different projects — some new, some more developed and ongoing, and some completed or abandoned — to give a flavor of the kinds of things we do.
Conceptual Dynamics of Students’ Reasoning about Natural Selection
How does context change the way students think? In this project, we use resource-based modeling approaches to examine shifting patterns in how students think about natural selection.
“Hybrid Labs”: Integrating experimental and computational practices in introductory biology
In this design-based research project, we explore how working at the intersection of experiments and computational models supports students’ scientific practices and agency.
Learning about Disciplinary Values
What do students learn about the values of a discipline and how those values are aligned with or in tension with their own? How does grappling with disciplinary values influence students’ identities and future trajectories?
