Current Projects
The projects below encompass my research and consulting portfolio. Each project contributes to the science education community by exploring factors that influence and enhance students' learning or support the growth and development of science teachers.
Integrating Chemistry and Earth Science
This project will develop and research an instructional unit that integrates local Earth science phenomena into a high school chemistry curriculum. Working with Baltimore City Schools and the Cary Institute, we will learn about how students engage in science practices within this innovative context and learn about the challenges and successes of the teachers during implementation. Click here to read more about this project.
GWNoyce - STEM Teaching Excellence in High Need Schools: Teacher Preparation in the Nation’s Capital
This project supports the recruitment of talented STEM majors to pursue studies in education with the outcome of developing more high-quality teachers committed to teaching in high need settings. Through collaboration between the GW Columbian College of Arts and Science, the GW Graduate School of Education and Human Development, the GWTeach program as well as local school systems, we will strengthen the STEM teacher workforce and the quality of STEM education in the DMV region. Click here to read more about this project.
Mentored Experiences to Expand Opportunities for Research for High School
Teachers engage in summer research experiences at Children's National Hospital, providing authentic opportunities to participate in and learn about scientific practices. We will study how these experiences inform teachers' understanding about essential scientific practices and how the experiences influence and transform their science instruction.
Previous Projects
Charles E. Smith STEM Curriculum Integration Project
Through a focus on the crosscutting concepts of science, this project will result in a series of integrated K-5 curricular materials that span multiple disciplines. Charles E. Smith teachers will engage in professional development centered on crosscutting concepts and STEM instruction to serve as teacher leaders among their peers to lead the curriculum development efforts. The GW team will student the development and implementation efforts as well as student learning outcomes. Click here to read more about this project.
DC FUSION Professional Development Consortium
Working in collaboration, the four District of Columbia universities will develop a consortium to investigate the professional development needs of the local DC K-12 stakeholders. The consortium will provide responsive and evidence-based STEM PD for the DC K-12 stakeholders.
Consulting
Investigating the Effects of Socioscientific Argumentation Development on Student Academic Success
This project aims to reform the undergraduate STEM courses at Bethune-Cookman University to emphasize scientific argumentation centered on socioscientific issues. Bethune-Cookman STEM faculty will work in consultation with George Washington University faculty (Grooms) and University of South Florida faculty (Dana Zeidler) to develop curricular experiences that center on local issues of interest using the SSI framework and incorporate scientific argumentation discourse. Click here to learn more about this project.
X-Labs: Cross-Disciplinary Practice Focused Undergraduate Laboratory Transformation
This project project will transform undergraduate STEM laboratory courses at East Carolina University to emphasize scientific practices through the implementation of Argument-Driven Inquiry. I serve as external project evaluator and work collaboratively with STEM faculty at ECU to ensure that the project team makes satisfactory progress toward its stated goals with regard to curriculum development and implementation and data collection and analysis. Click here or here to learn more about this project.
Asynchronous Discussions to Engage Students in Scientific Argumentation
This project project will investigate aspects of scientific argumentation in face-to-face and asynchronous online learning environments to learn about the challenges that occur and how to overcome them. I serve as external project evaluator and work collaboratively with STEM faculty at ECU and Illinois State University to ensure that the project team makes satisfactory progress toward its stated goals with regard to curriculum development and implementation and data collection and analysis. Click here to learn more about this project.
