Conversations in STEM Education presented by SEIRI

In this conversation, Pratibha Varma-Nelson will discuss her early years as a chemistry instructor and how her persistent drive to improve her teaching led to her becoming a national leader in Peer-Led Team Learning. She will reflect on her academic journey and how she was shaped as a scholar. She will also discuss her time as a program director at NSF, which led to her becoming executive director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, and then the founding executive director of the STEM Education Innovation and Research Institute. She will also share her insights on faculty development and how such work can transform institutions.

In this conversation, Dean John DiTusa will reflect on his evolution as a science educator, from early encounters with conceptual physics instruction and evidence-based teaching methods to his current role leading the School of Science. He will discuss how mentorship, retreats, and emergent tools transformed his classroom practice during his years as a physics instructor. He will also explore how his move into administration shifted his focus toward data, faculty development, and building programs that foster widespread adoption of effective teaching.

In this conversation, Anusha S. Rao, assistant director at the Center for Teaching and Learning, will discuss her experiences assisting instructors with evidence-based, discipline-centered, and course-specific teaching practices. She will describe how she uses discipline-based education research and the scholarship of teaching and learning to transform evidence into classroom practice. She will also examine her collaborative work in program design and development, specifically her scholarly approach to program creation. Through these topics, the conversation will explore the pathways and benefits of using evidence and collaboration in the transformation of teaching and learning.

In this conversation, David Malik will discuss his experiences as a learner, scholar, and educator in STEM education. He will reflect on the power of active learning, asking questions, teaching to learn, and other topics through the lens of two decades of implementing Peer-Led Team Learning. The conversation will explore how and why instructors should embrace curiosity and adventurousness as educators and benefit from their students’ successes.

Join Daniel Walzer for a conversation on music technology education and research, with a focus on his scholarship at the intersection of both fields. He will share insights from his informal STEAM learning outreach and research projects, highlighting his work with IU Indianapolis’s Music Technology Academy (MTA). The discussion will also explore his mixed-methods research on the outcomes associated with MTA and similar interventions. Through these topics, the event will examine the benefits of integrating STEM with the arts and the impact of fostering communication and leadership skills among students.

In this conversation, Dr. Lyniesha Ward will discuss her experiences as a discipline-based education researcher in Chemistry. She will first explore how her experiences have led to her interest in questioning how students make connections across chemistry topics and across disciplines and what challenges might hinder such conceptual border-crossing. She will also share insights from her scholarship on the integration of augmented reality and artificial intelligence in chemistry.

In this conversation, Dr. Samuel Nyarko will discuss his experiences in geoscience, education, and research. He will describe his formative years, his early research projects in Ghana, and his current research on the teaching of the nature of geoscience. As he walks the audience through his scholarship, Dr. Nyarko will examine the complex ways that students engage in climate science education, as well as how they benefit from a deeper understanding of the nature of science and the role of teamwork in the practices of geoscientists.

In this conversation, Dr. Amy Pearce will discuss her experiences as a practitioner and researcher in STEM education outreach contexts, where science communication skills are performed and developed. She will describe several novel programs she has been involved in through the years, how those programs were evaluated, and the outcomes associated with those programs. This conversation will close with an exploration of how faculty and staff might enhance their science communication to attract others to learn more about STEM fields.

​​​​In this conversation, Dr. India Johnson will discuss her experiences as an intergroup relations researcher at the intersection of Psychology and STEM education research. She will describe her research on identity-safety and belonging among minoritized individuals within organizations, such as institutions of higher education. This conversation will close with an exploration of how faculty and staff can convey allyship and thereby contribute to attracting and retaining minoritized students. 

In this conversation, Dr. Gautam Vemuri will discuss his experiences innovating physics instruction and assessing those innovations. He will describe how he has collaboratively introduced computational physics into the curriculum, as well as how he has pursued the transformation of physics labs. In conclusion, Dr. Vemuri will discuss his recent experiences with physics education assessment, research, and publishing.