Our Research
We aim to conduct rigorous research that provides the evidence STEM instructors, departments, and universities need to improve education for everyone. We use social science research methods combined with biology and STEM perspectives to address our research questions.
Our research centers on the question: How can we create educational practices in STEM to better support students and instructors?
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Projects in the Lab
Current projects in the lab focus on characterizing the experiences of STEM students and instructors.
Systematic Reviews
This systematic literature review project aims to compile existing research about STEM students and their instructors. The goal is to use this information to guide future efforts for change based on empirical findings from the literature.
Identity Negotiations
Science identity, or the extent to which an individual sees themselves as a scientist, influences students' persistence in science and science career training pathways. Yet, knowledge about how students see themselves and perceive others to see them as scientists is still developing.
This project, led by Dr. Stephanie Berg, will characterize graduate students' experiences related to their science identity.
Journeys & Structures
To understand how to best support students and instructors in STEM, we need to know where these individuals are coming from and where they intend to go in the future. This project will collect data and artifacts from students and instructors to inform future research efforts.
Job Crafting
Job crafting, a way for employees to shape their work tasks and relationships at work, has been shown to have many benefits. Employees who tailor their jobs to fit their strengths and interests tend to feel better at work and are more likely to want to stay in their current jobs than those who don't. Because of this, there is a growing interest in promoting job crafting to help prevent burnout and turnover. In the field of STEM education, there is a recognized need to create curriculum that helps students develop skills for their future careers. This project aims to use the principles of job crafting from organizational psychology to develop and assess job-crafting educational materials for STEM students and early career researchers.
