It is imperative that we put equity at the forefront of Chemistry Education Research (CER). My research focuses on re-evaluating what can be done in chemistry environments to utilize the rich knowledge and experiences that marginalized students bring to the classroom and questioning what should be assessed as success. I aim to ask questions that focus on barriers that marginalized populations face to provide more equitable chemistry environments.
Culturally Relevant Education
My current postdoctoral work includes two studies that investigate how middle and high school teachers integrate culture into their curriculum in the science classroom and how students at a tribal college integrate their own culture when participating in a culturally relevant chemistry activity. Both of these projects take place within an Indigenous community in rural Alaska. My involvement in these projects is providing me with invaluable experience in building community relationships and working with sensitive populations in research. This work is supported through NSF grants EHR-Polar #1821884 and CAREER #2045505.
Supporting racially marginalized STEM graduate student science identities through faculty mentors
Recent publications within STEM communities highlight systemic racism in science and call on researchers to better address the disproportionate exit of racially marginalized students from STEM. While there have been studies that broadly explore science identities and its interaction with race in STEM, there is a lack of research reports on the specific influence of faculty mentors in the navigation of science and racial identities. The focus of this research project is to (1) advance our understanding of the development of science identity within racially marginalized STEM students and (2) highlight ways that mentors influence this development. This work is funded through the University of Michigan’s National Center for Institutional Diversity Anti-Racism & Precedents for Action seed grants and the Royal Society of Chemistry Inclusion & Diversity fund.
Development of high-quality assessments
I have employed a multitude of qualitative and quantitative techniques to develop high-quality assessments to measure outcomes in chemistry education such as science and chemistry identity. To evaluate if the assessments we use are measuring the outcomes we believe them to be measuring, the data provided by the measure needs to show evidence of validity and reliability. Validity and reliability are akin to accuracy and precision. The data provided by an assessment needs to show evidence of validity and reliability in a similar manner as the data provided by an analytical instrument, such as a UV-Vis spectrophotometer, needs to show evidence of accuracy and precision through calibration. There are several techniques used to provide evidence of validity and reliability of assessments. I have used many of these techniques in my own research to develop and analyze assessments.