This fall, I am starting my first year as an assistant professor on the tenure track at Purdue University in the School of Engineering Education, and I am affiliated with the INSPIRE research institute for Pre-College Engineering and the Center for Advancing the Teaching and Learning of STEM (CATALYST) at Purdue.
I am serving as the course curator for the first semester course for engineering majors that serves over 2600 students each semester. In this course, we focus primarily on data analytics, modeling, and engineering design. This year, I was awarded an educational equipment grant to purchase microcontrollers, robotics, and 3D printers to integrate computational thinking and scientific inquiry into the engineering design components of the first-year courses.
Prior to my current position, I served as a visiting assistant professor for three years at Purdue University in both the School of Engineering Education and the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. During that time, I was awarded with two grants from the National Science Foundation to investigate how to improve student studying for STEM exams and to transform physics lab experiences by integrating them with engineering design and computer science. My research focuses on the application of principles of learning derived from cognitive science and the learning sciences to the design and evaluation of learning environments and technologies that enhance learning, interest, and engagement in STEM.
I was awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation in 2022 to develop an adaptive physics assessment platform that will help teachers to deliver individual instruction at scale, while still maintaining autonomy and control of course content and pedagogy. We aim to develop a computerized adaptive testing platform that integrates cognitive diagnostics to provide instructors and students formative feedback about course proficiency, as well as feedback about content mastery and skill mastery.
The training that I received from my time at Illinois still drives my work today. I am particularly grateful for the skills that I was able to develop in collaborating with colleagues across multiple disciplines. In my research and teaching, I continue to build upon what I learned at Illinois, with an appreciation for how to design technology and curriculum to enhance learning in STEM.