Meet our SoTL Scholars

ANNA BOROVSKAYA-ELLIS

Assistant Professor, Slavic Languages and Literatures, College of Arts & Sciences

Research Interest: In what ways, if any, does experience in a Conversation with Native Speakers program influence Russian students’ language development? How, if at all, do students’ perceptions of their language development, and their priorities in language learning, change within the course of their Conversations with Native Russian speakers? How, if at all, do students’ perceptions of their language development align with their actual language gains?

HEZE CHEN

Assistant Professor, Applied Mathematics, School of Engineering

Research Interest: How effective are student-created interactive visualization apps in supporting students’ understanding of statistical concepts and their problem-solving capabilities in applied statistics?

LORIANN GARCIA

Associate Director for STEM Student Success

Research Interest: What types of insect collection assignments do instructors assign? What perceptions about insect collection assignment modalities do instructors have regarding teaching students about insect biology, stimulating student motivation to study biology, and whether or not their students are informally disseminating entomological knowledge outside the classroom? How does participating in insect collections in a biology course encourage undergraduate students to communicate about insects with their community outside the course? How does participating in insect collections in a biology course impact undergraduate student motivation to engage with biological information?

NATASHA HENY

Associate Professor, Curriculum, Instruction, & Special Education, School of Education and Human Development

Research Interest: What benefits and challenges, if any, do pre-service English teachers perceive when integrating generative AI into the instructional design process? What role do they perceive generative AI to have in supporting their development of differentiated and culturally responsive instruction for 6-12 English students? How, if at all, do pre-service English teachers' acceptance and usage of generative AI in instructional design change between the beginning of their English Methods course to the start of their student teaching?

MICHELLE HOCK

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Curriculum, Instruction, & Special Education, School of Education and Human Development

Research Interest: What are students’ self-reported levels of engagement and connectedness in an online teacher education course? What elements of an online teacher education course, if any, do students perceive as being related to their engagement and connectedness? What is the relationship, if any, between students’ self-reported levels of engagement and connectedness in an online teacher education course and their learning management system interaction metrics, perceptions of the utility value of course assignments/content, grades, course completion, and program retention?

S. KELLOGG LELIVELD

Director of Career Education and Advising, Darden School of Business

Research Interest: How, if at all, do peer discussions prior to reflection activities (i.e., course assignments that include reflection as a deliverable) relate to the depth of student reflection captured in student assignments and perceived values about reflection?

ASIF MAHMOOD

Assistant Professor, Applied Mathematics, School of Engineering

Research Interest: How, if at all, do students perceive watching pre-class videos and completing pre-class assignments to help them prepare to learn in class and spark interest in understanding the content of the following lecture? And how, if at all, does completing this pre-class work relate to students' performance in the course?

ANN MASSEY

Assistant Professor, Biology, College of Arts & Sciences

Research Interest: To what extent can students identify metacognitive strategies that improve their learning in large biology courses? What relationship, if any, exists between the use of metacognitive strategies and metacognitive skills development and performance in these courses?

UPSORN PRAPHAMONTRIPONG

Associate Professor; Computer Science; School of Engineering

Research Interest: How, if at all, does student’s involvement in the customization of course logistics and activities, and introducing interactive activities impact students’ sense of belonging, attendance, in-class engagement, and course performance? How do attendance, in-class engagement, and course performance differ by student demographics?

JULIE SPENCER

Assistant Professor; Applied Mathematics; School of Engineering

Research Interest: How, if at all, does graduate students’ performance on an Engineering Mathematics diagnostic assessment relate to their use of optional review material and subsequent performance on future quizzes and in the course? Do outcomes and materials use differ by course modality, such as remote vs in-person students?

ESTHER TIAN

Associate Professor, First Year Engineering Center, School of Engineering

Research Interest: How, if at all, do prior engineering design experiences in high school relate to student learning of the design process in the first-year Engineering Foundations? To what extent, if at all, does students’ practice of the design process through projects in the first-year Engineering Foundations prepare them for their capstone design, and how does their preparation compare to the preparation of those students who took a traditional Introduction to Engineering course where the design process was not systematically implemented?

TERRI YOST

Associate Professor of Nursing, School of Nursing

Research Interest: Do graduate family nurse practitioner students who participate in an active, narrative case-based learning assignment have greater long-term knowledge retention compared to online/interactive case-based learning?

ANNA BOROVSKAYA-ELLIS

Assistant Professor, Slavic Languages and Literatures, College of Arts & Sciences

Research Interest: In what ways, if any, does experience in a Conversation with Native Speakers program influence Russian students’ language development? How, if at all, do students’ perceptions of their language development, and their priorities in language learning, change within the course of their Conversations with Native Russian speakers? How, if at all, do students’ perceptions of their language development align with their actual language gains?

ERIN EAKER

Assistant Dean & Assistant Professor, Philosophy, College of Arts & Sciences

Research Interest: Do students perceive explicitly and critically engaging with the social, political, ecological, and economic context of their short-term study abroad program as contributing positively to their experience? Do they perceive this as helping them to achieve their self-determined pre-departure goals in participating in the short-term study abroad program? Do they perceive this as causing them to reevaluate their pre-departure goals in participating in the program? Do they perceive this as contributing to lasting effects on their attitudes or behaviors?

MEG HEUBECK

Director of Instruction, Center for Politics

Research Interest: How, if at all, does past civic experience affect teachers’ confidence in teaching civics and government? How, if at all, does using Youth Leadership Initiative resources as a novice in teaching civics provide teachers confidence in teaching the subject? To what extent, if any, does greater teacher confidence relate to greater student acquisition of civic skills?

CHARLOTTE HOOPES

Assistant Professor, McIntire School of Commerce (Former Faculty)

Research Interest: What relationship, if any, do student goal orientation (mastery vs performance), prior business knowledge/experience/coursework, intent to major/minor in commerce (business), and career confidence have with student perceptions of utility value of course material overall, as well as for content knowledge compared to professional skills? What impact, if any, do utility-value interventions have on subject interest, course satisfaction, and perceived utility value (both overall and for specific course topics)?

ROBBIE HOTT

Assistant Professor, Computer Science, School of Engineering

Research Interest: How, if at all, do student self-reported biases toward a programming language change over the course of a semester where they {have a choice to use or not use that language, are required to use the language} on assignments during the semester? What role, if any, does a student’s prior knowledge of and biases toward a programming language play in their choice of language for programming assignments and knowledge gain of algorithms topics in an upper-level algorithms course? What role, if any, does a student’s prior knowledge of and biases toward a programming language play in their knowledge gain of the language and related course material in an upper-level elective?

S. KELLOGG LELIVELD

Director of Career Education and Advising, Darden School of Business

Research Interest: How, if at all, do peer discussions prior to reflection activities (i.e., course assignments that include reflection as a deliverable) relate to the depth of student reflection captured in student assignments and perceived values about reflection?

MEIQIN LI

Assistant Professor, Applied Mathematics, School of Engineering

Research Interest: How, if at all, do students’ perceptions of MATLAB as a program and as a tool to learn Linear Algebra change over the semester? Do these perceptions differ based on different factors, such as major, gender, race/ethnicity, and/or prior programming experience? To what extent, if any, do students perceive that MATLAB reinforces their understanding of linear algebra concepts, and does such perception differ according to different factors?

HA DO BYON

Assistant Professor of Nursing, School of Nursing

Research Interest: Is there an association between the elapsed years since students complete the statistics prerequisite and their performance in a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) statistics course? Is there a period after which students’ course performance starts to decline? What is the optimal time frame, if any, within which students are to take a prerequisite statistics course before their admission to the DNP program?

DAN MELIZA

Associate Professor, Psychology, College of Arts & Sciences

Research Interest: Does pair programming increase confidence and improve scientific programming skills for upper-level undergraduates and first-year PhD students in computational neuroscience?

RICHARD RIDGE

Assistant Professor of Nursing, School of Nursing

Research Interest: What is the impact, if any, of a patient-as-faculty pedagogy intervention on empathy and patient-practitioner orientation? Is previous experience as a patient caregiver related to empathy or Patient-Practitioner Orientation?

JELENA SAMONINA

Assistant Professor, Chemistry, College of Arts & Sciences

Research Interest: How well, if at all, do students recognize their metacognitive skills in organic chemistry? How may the introduction of metacognitive tools to the course curriculum help students to retain and reinforce the most important course information?

SPYRIDON (SPYROS) SIMOTAS

Assistant Professor, French, College of Arts & Sciences

Research Interest: How do beginner French students perceive Google Translate (GT) as a vocabulary learning tool? What is the relationship, if any, between the use of GT and vocabulary acquisition in the lower-level French language courses?

READ SPYROS' SoTL SCHOLAR SPOTLIGHT >

EMILY WETTSTEIN

Assistant Professor, Landscape Architecture, School of Architecture

Research Interest: In what ways, if at all, do a series of self-reflective visualization exercises, performed in parallel to design studio site analysis exercises, impact landscape architecture students' metacognition and sense of learning agency? In what ways, if at all, do these exercises inform the instructors' teaching approaches and strategies?

READ EMILY'S SoTL SCHOLAR SPOTLIGHT >

RAN ZHAO

Associate Professor of Chinese, East Asian Languages, Literatures, & Cultures, College of Arts and Sciences

Research Interest: How, if at all, does student choice of typing vs. handwriting characters for assignments influence their performance in writing assessments that require handwritten or typed works? And how, if at all, does student choice of typing vs. handwriting characters for assignments influence their learning experience and perceived learning gains?

KIERA ALLISON

Assistant Professor, English, College of Arts & Sciences

Research Interest: How do students experience a monologue-swap activity, and what, if anything, does that experience tell us about vicarious learning in a college writing context? What, if any, relation exists between this experience of learning and students’ overall writing self-efficacy beliefs?

READ KIERA'S SoTL SCHOLAR SPOTLIGHT >

SHANNON BARKER

Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering

Research Interest: What, if any, role does participation in a team-based multi-disciplinary humanitarian engineering project have on students’ ability to apply the engineering design process to solve engineering problems? What, if any, role does participation in a team-based multi-disciplinary humanitarian engineering project have on students’ self-reported engineering identity, sense of belonging, and feelings of inclusion in the School of Engineering community?

DEBORAH BARRY

Assistant Professor, School of Medicine

Research Interest: What impact, if any, does the "partially worked example" method of teaching problem sets to pre-clinical medical students have on student learning?

JULIE BERGNER

Professor, Mathematics, College of Arts & Sciences

Research Interest: What are graduate student perceptions of the objectives of the general exams? What do graduate students perceive is promoting or preventing their success on these exams?

BRENDAN BOLER

Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy

Research Interest: Do students’ business analytics/statistics skills improve when instruction is provided through a flipped classroom format?  

YOON HWA CHOI

Senior Lecturer of Korean, East Asian Languages, Literatures, & Cultures, College of Arts & Sciences

Research Interest: How does one-on-one immersive online communication with native speakers affect students’ linguistic proficiency and cultural competence?

LYSANDRA COOK

Associate Professor of Education, Curriculum, Instruction, & Special Education, School of Education and Human Development

Research Interest: How, if at all, do students’ attitudes towards people with disabilities change across the semester while taking a disability in the media course? In what ways do student perceptions about representation of disability in the media evolve across the semester and which, if any, pedagogical decisions made by the course instructor do students' perceive as impacting their development of new understandings of disability?

DIANA FRANCO DURAN

Assistant Professor, Engineering Systems and Environment, School of Engineering

Research Interest: In what ways, if any, does the case study method help students to develop or improve essential skills in Construction Engineering and Management (CEM)? In what ways, if any, has the case method affected/changed students' approaches to learning?

GIANLUCA GUADAGNI

Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics, Engineering and Society, School of Engineering

Research Interest: How can we design math tests to test ownership of  knowledge and prevent cheating?

LATISHA HAYES

Associate Professor of Education, Curriculum, Instruction, & Special Education, School of Education and Human Development

Research Interest: How, if at all, do mixed reality simulations (MRS) impact teacher candidates’ learning and perceptions of learning? What are teacher candidates’ perceptions of MRS in a reading methods course? To what extent does self-efficacy change over time as teacher candidates apply new skills during MRS? What is the relationship between self-efficacy and content knowledge for the teaching of reading for teacher candidates? 

ANNE JEWETT

Assistant Professor of Education and Director of M.Ed. in Curriculum & Instruction, Curriculum, Instruction, & Special Education, School of Education and Human Development

Research Interest: How, if at all, does providing onboarding instruction impact online adult learners’ perceptions of online learning self-efficacy in a graduate education course? How, if at all, does previous experience with online learning impact online adult learners’ perceptions of online learning self-efficacy in a graduate education course?

KATE NEFF

Lecturer of Spanish, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese, College of Arts & Sciences

Research Interest: What are students’ perceptions of intercultural competence in an intermediate-level Spanish class? What does the term mean to students? How do they perceive their own intercultural competence at the start of the course? How do these perceptions change throughout the course, and which (if any) class experiences might play a role in changing these perceptions? Does students’ motivation for learning in the course affect their perception of intercultural competence development, and if so, how? 

ELIZABETH OPILA

Professor, Materials Science & Engineering and Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, School of Engineering

Research Interest: How, if at all, does engineering students’ curiosity change after taking one required inquiry-based lab course? How, if at all, does engineering students’ curiosity change after participating in one semester of an optional research experience?

ESTHER POVEDA MORENO

Senior Lecturer of Spanish, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese, College of Arts & Sciences

Research Interest: In what ways do students in the Community-Based Language Learning (CBLL) course sequence express empathy and compassion in their guided reflections on community work and in other course artifacts? How, if at all, do these expressions of empathy and compassion change in frequency and quality over the duration of the course sequence? Do these changes differ based on students’ gender, race, class, year of study, and major and minor?

CHRISTIAN STEINMETZ

Assistant Professor, Leadership, Foundations, & Policy, School of Education and Human Development

Research Interest: How do students in a course focused on college student development express their understanding of themselves and others? How, if at all, do students’ personal, social, and professional identities evolve during the course?

CAITLIN WYLIE

Assistant Professor of Science, Technology, and Society, Engineering and Society, School of Engineering

Research Interest: How, if at all, does engineering students’ curiosity change after taking one required inquiry-based lab course? How, if at all, does engineering students’ curiosity change after participating in one semester of an optional research experience?

SHU-CHEN CHEN

Associate Professor, East Asian Languages, Literatures, & Cultures, College of Arts & Sciences

Research Interest: How, if at all, does an interview assignment promoting conversation with native speakers support students' developing Chinese language proficiency?

GIANLUCA GUADAGNI

Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics, Engineering and Society, School of Engineering

Research Interest: Has cheating increased—or been perceived to have increased—at UVA in the online COVID era? What has led to actual or perceived increases in cheating at UVA in the online COVID era?

ELIZABETH HALL

Assistant Professor, French, College of Arts & Sciences

Research Interest: Who is our French language curriculum serving and who are we leaving behind and why? In what areas are students meeting and not meeting expectations for the required components of French language courses and how can we start to identify obstacles to student learning and paths to greater success?

READ ELIZABETH'S SoTL SCHOLAR SPOTLIGHT >

SARA HALLOWELL

Associate Professor of Nursing, School of Nursing

Research Interest: How, if at all, did the curriculum changes made during the COVID-19 pandemic affect the ATI Fundamental exam scores of 2nd year BSN students as compared to the previous two years?

DIANE HOFFMAN

Associate Professor, Leadership, Foundations, & Policy, School of Education and Human Development

Research Interest: How, if at all, does student learning about anthropological perspectives differ in the online and face-to-face versions of an anthropology of education course?

JAMIE JIROUT

Assistant Professor of Education, Leadership, Foundations, & Policy, School of Education and Human Development

Research Interest: How does the content of discussion prompts given to students relate to and perhaps influence the content and quality of students’ responses? What impacts do instructor- and student-generated questions have in promoting interaction in asynchronous discussions?

GARY KOENIG

Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering

Research Interest: What is the change in test outcomes in a statistics course for students who choose credit/no credit compared to those who choose to be graded when offered the option in the middle of the semester? How do grades from prior courses correlate with grades in the statistics course of interest? For those prerequisite courses with the greatest correlation, when applied to the students in the statistics course, how well does it match outcomes for students who chose to take the course credit/no credit compared to those who took the course for a grade? How do grades from the statistics course of interest correlate with later courses in the curriculum for the students? To what extent might the selection of a credit/no credit option impact student grades in later courses?

GARRICK LOUIS

Associate Professor, Engineering Systems and Environment & Engineering and Society, School of Engineering

Research Interest: How is social justice content integrated into undergraduate Engineering courses?

INDU OHRI

Preceptor, English, College of Arts & Sciences (Former Faculty)

Research Interest: What impact does the quality of peer feedback and the dialogue between peer reviewers and students have on student performance? How does reading works by British authors of color and their regional folklores affect student learning about writers from diverse backgrounds? How can students diversify the study of British literature in the role of undergraduate researchers (UR) creating a digital anthology?

RAN ZHAO

Associate Professor of Chinese, East Asian Languages, Literatures, & Cultures, College of Arts & Sciences

Research Interest: How, if at all, does student choice of typing vs. handwriting characters for assignments influence their performance in writing assessments that require handwritten or typed works? And how, if at all, does student choice of typing vs. handwriting characters for assignments influence their learning experience and perceived learning gains?

PANAGIOTIS APOSTOLELLIS

Assistant Professor, Computer Science, School of Engineering

Research Interest: How does self-selecting a problem during a semester-long project and subsequent sense of personal relevance affect students’ connection with their teammates and production of improved learning outcomes?

PAUL BOURDON

Professor, Mathematics, College of Arts & Sciences

Research Interest: Does requiring students to reflect on the extent to which they have met pre-class learning goals contribute to their flipped-classroom learning of calculus in measurable ways? Does the format of outside-of-class learning materials for a flipped-classroom course substantially influence learning?

SHU-CHEN CHEN

Associate Professor, East Asian Languages, Literatures, & Cultures, College of Arts & Sciences

Research Interest: How, if at all, does students’ acquisition of hard-to-learn grammar expressions in Chinese differ when one section is a traditional seminar and the other section has a weekly small-group session with individualized instructor feedback?

MEREDITH CLARK

Assistant Professor, Media Studies, College of Arts & Sciences (Former Faculty)

Research Interest: How do members of a community of practice negotiate contributions, access, and use as they collaboratively construct a community archive?

BETHANY COYNE

Associate Professor of Nursing, School of Nursing

Research Interest: Within the 2nd year traditional undergraduate nursing program, in what ways did students use the library of iPads? What suggestions of ways, if any, would students have for use of the library of iPads? What exercises and assignments did faculty design for use of the library of iPads? And what added value for student engagement and confidence do students and faculty perceive a library of iPads adds to the classroom/course/learning?

DEVIN DONOVAN

Associate Professor, English, College of Arts & Sciences

Research Interest: How, if at all, do student attitudes about the value of writing change over the course of a first year writing class?

ALICIA FRANTZ

Assistant Professor, Chemistry, College of Arts & Sciences

Research Interest: What relationship, if any, exists between students’ active engagement with undergraduate teaching assistants and higher content knowledge in a large-enrollment organic chemistry course? Do students’ perceptions of organic chemistry change over the course of one semester when actively engaged with UTAs?

AHMED IBRAHIM

Assistant Professor, Computer Science, School of Engineering (Former Faculty)

Research Interest: To what extent do students value practical, hands-on homework assignments and projects? How does students’ value relate to their understanding of network security concepts?

MIEKO KAWAI

Senior Lecturer of Japanese, East Asian Languages, Literatures, & Cultures, College of Arts & Sciences

Research Interest: How, if at all, do foreign language learners’ perceptions of oral exams change as a result of experiences of student-student conversation instead of traditional instructor interviewing format?

MELISSA LEVY

Assistant Professor, Human Services, School of Education and Human Development

Research Interest: How, if at all, does a unit on race, racism, and white supremacy support both White students and students of color in processing their experiences of race, racism, and white supremacy; examining their own relationship to race, racism, and White supremacist ideology; changing behavior to reflect acknowledgement of the role of race, racism, and white supremacy in their own lives and the lives of people of color; and understanding of the racial/ethnic history of UVA and Charlottesville?

READ MELISSA'S SoTL SCHOLAR SPOTLIGHT >

S. KELLOGG LELIVELD

Director of Career Education and Advising, Darden School of Business

Research Interest: What elements of online courses are motivating to students?

ELIZABETH OZMENT

Assistant Dean and Assistant Professor, Music, College of Arts & Sciences

Research Interest: How, if at all, does an academic bridge program influence transfer student perceptions about their emotional and academic preparation for the 2-year- to 4-year college transition? Does available academic evidence support or counter their feelings?

MAREK-JERZY PINDERA

Professor of Applied Mathematics, Engineering Systems and Environment, School of Engineering

Research Interest: To what extent does student use of computer animation technology improve problem solving skills in introductory mechanics courses relative to traditional learning? See animations and instructional modules that complement this project.

UPSORN PRAPHAMONTRIPONG

Assistant Professor, Computer Science, School of Engineering

Research Interest: What effect, if any, does in-class and out-of-class activities and self-paced practice have on students’ motivation and engagement? What effect, if any, does frequent practice in software testing have on students’ perspective on the use of software testing concepts in their software development? What differences, if any, exist between female students’ motivation and engagement and male students’ motivation and engagement as a result of in-class and out-of-class activities and self-paced practice? What differences, if any, exist between female students’ perspective and male students’ perspective on the use of software testing concepts in their software development? What differences, if any, exist between majority students’ motivation and engagement and URM students’ motivation and engagement as a result of in-class and out-of-class activities and self-paced practice? What differences, if any, exist between majority students’ perspective and URM students’ perspective on the use of software testing concepts in their software development?

READ UPSORN'S SoTL SCHOLAR SPOTLIGHT >

GEORGE PRPICH

Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering

Research Interest: Can a step-wise approach to teaching laboratory report writing in Chemical Engineering improve the quality of the reports? How do students perceive the effectiveness of the step-wise approach? To what extent, if any, does the step-wise method improve the quality of laboratory reports? To what extent do students incorporate instructor feedback in report writing? How do students engage with feedback and instructor support?

ANN REIMERS

Assistant Professor of Engineering, Engineering & Society and Mechanical & Aerospace, School of Engineering

Research Interest: How, if at all, can a published, validated assessment tool for measuring students’ conceptual understanding of rotational kinematics in physics classes be changed to accommodate engineering dynamics students, to decrease the possibility of students misinterpreting the questions?

• ASEE Annual Conference “2020 Best Paper Award” Mechanics Division - READ OUR STORY >

BARBARA REYNA

Associate Professor of Nursing, School of Nursing

Research Interest: What are graduate neonatal nurse practitioners’ perceptions of connectedness in a hybrid seminar course?

LAURA SERBULEA

Associate Professor, Chemistry, College of Arts & Sciences

Research Interest: How, if at all, do hands-on pre-laboratory activities affect students’ development of experimental skills in the organic chemistry laboratories?

SARAH CRAIG

Assistant Professor of Nursing, School of Nursing

Research Interest (with Jennifer Kastello): What is the effect, if any, of a medication enhancement safety program (MSE) with simulation on undergraduate nursing students’ knowledge of fundamental practices of medication safety and demonstrated competency in administering medications safely? What are students’ perceptions of the MSE?

LATISHA HAYES

Associate Professor of Education, Curriculum, Instruction, & Special Education, School of Education and Human Development

Research Interest: What differences, if any, exist between peer feedback and instructor feedback of video-taped practicum assignments in a graduate-level course for K-12 reading specialists? What differences in student perceived support, if any, exist between self-reflection, peer-supported reflection/feedback, and instructor-supported reflection/feedback?

JENNIFER KASTELLO

Assistant Professor of Nursing, School of Nursing

Research Interest (with Sarah Craig): What is the effect, if any, of a medication enhancement safety program (MSE) with simulation on undergraduate nursing students’ knowledge of fundamental practices of medication safety and demonstrated competency in administering medications safely? What are students’ perceptions of the MSE?

KARLIN LUEDTKE

Assistant Dean and Associate Professor, Women, Gender & Sexuality, College of Arts & Sciences

Research Interest: How, if at all, does enrollment in an academic strategies and skills course for students who have incurred academic probation (ELA 2110) affect self-efficacy, utilization of University resources, and academic performance during the semester in which the course is taken and subsequent semesters? How, if at all, are demographic/academic background factors related to self-efficacy, utilization of resources, and academic performance in semesters preceding and following academic probation?

HUI MA

Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics, Engineering and Society, School of Engineering

Research Interest: How, if at all, does students’ performance differ between calculus sequence classes using the redesigned curriculum and traditional curriculum? And what are students’ perceptions on how different aspects of class contributed most to their learning?

MAUREEN METZGER

Assistant Professor of Nursing, School of Nursing (Former Faculty)

Research Interest: What are relationships among the incorporation of specific inclusive teaching strategies, students’ self-reports of belongingness in the classroom and clinical setting, satisfaction and self-confidence in learning, and competence and self-efficacy in the clinical setting, in 4th-year nursing students during their final academic year? What are students’ experiences and perspectives on inclusive classroom environments?

DIANA MORRIS

Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics, Engineering and Society, School of Engineering

Research Interest: How, if at all, does students’ self-efficacy in mathematics change over the course of a semester when they use MATLAB to solve problems for their linear algebra course, and how do these changes differ between students who do and do not use the technology? What are the differences, if any, in content-knowledge at the end of the semester between students who do and do not take the computational linear algebra lab alongside the course?

ANDREW PENNOCK

Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy

Research Interest: What generates learning that endures? How does experiential learning differentially impact the student performance? Does giving students control in course design impact their long-term learning?

STACIE PISANO

Senior Lecturer of Applied Mathematics, Engineering and Society, School of Engineering

Research Interest: To what extent do students complete reading assignments before class as assigned in an active-learning applied math class? Does the extent of student engagement in pre-class reading assignments have an effect on student outcomes as measured by final exam scores?

JULIE SPENCER

Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics, Engineering and Society, School of Engineering

Research Interest: How, if at all, does students’ math self-efficacy differ when feedback approaches on group activities differ?

JEFFREY WOO

Assistant Professor, Statistics, College of Arts & Sciences

Research Interest: What study and learning habits characterize students who do well in a large introductory statistics class that uses problem-based learning?

PUBLICATIONS

• Apostolellis, P., Taggart, J., & Schwartz, R. X. (2023). Creating effective project-based courses: Personal relevance and its relations to successful group work. European Journal of Engineering Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2023.2245772

• Burke, R., Jirout, J., & Bell, B. (2024). Understanding cognitive engagement in virtual discussion boards. Active Learning in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1177/14697874241230991

• Byon, H., Park, S., Quatrara, B. A., Taggart, J., & Wheeler, L. B. (2024). Examining the evidence on the statistics prerequisite for admission to Doctor of Nursing Practice programs: Retrospective cohort study. Asian/Pacific Island Nursing Journal, 8(1), e57187. 10.2196/57187

• Craig, S., Kastello, J., Cieslowski, B., & Rovnyak, V. (2021). Simulation strategies to increase nursing student clinical competence in safe medication administration practices: A quasi-experimental study. Nurse Education Today, 96, 104605. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2020.104605

• Craig, S., Whitlow, M., Quatrara, B., Kastello, J., Ackard, R., Mitchell, E., & Kools, S. (2022). A focused checklist for constructing equitable, diverse, and inclusive simulation experiences. Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 71, 87-91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecns.2022.05.004

• Metzger, M., Taggart, J., & Aviles, E. (2020). Fourth-year baccalaureate nursing students' perceptions of inclusive learning environments. Journal of Nursing Education, 59(5), 256-262. https://doi.org/10.3928/01484834-20200422-04

• Metzger, M., & Taggart, J. (2020). A longitudinal mixed methods study describing 4th year baccalaureate nursing students' perceptions of inclusive pedagogical strategies. Journal of Professional Nursing. doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2019.12.006

CONFERENCE PAPERS & PRESENTATIONS

• Barker, S., & Taggart, J. (2023, June). Teaching engineering design through a team-based multi-disciplinary humanitarian engineering project: Effects on engineering identity and sense of belonging [Paper Presentation]. ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore, MD.

• Byon, H., Park, S., Quatrara, B., Taggart, J., & Wheeler, L.  (2024, May).  Exploring the relevance of statistics prerequisite for DNP program admission [Podium Presentation]. Asian American/Pacific Islander Nurses Association Annual Conference. Seoul, South Korea.

• Chen, S., & Taggart, J. (2021, November). Benefits of proactive feedback in college intermediate Chinese class [Paper Presentation]. ACTFL 2021 Virtual.

• Chen, S., & Taggart, J. (2020, September). Can individualized attention support students in going beyond typical grammar mistakes when learning Chinese? Institute of World Languages Roundtable Series, Charlottesville, VA.

• Craig, S., Kastello, J., & Cieslowski, B. (2019, June). Use of high-fidelity simulation and integrated information technology to promote safe medication administration practices among nursing students [Talk]. INACSL Conference, Phoenix, AZ.

• Evans, N., Jirout, J., Scoville, J., Wylie, C., & Opila, E. (2023). Student curiosity in engineering courses and research experiences: “I'm kind of torn between being a decent student and a decent engineer”. Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education.

• Evans, N., Jirout, J., Scoville, J., Wylie, C., & Opila, E. (2022). “Where could this take me and what kind of interesting stuff could I do with that?”: The role of curiosity in undergraduate learning. Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education.

• Hall, E. (2021, October). Curriculum design and equity in the language classroom. [Paper presentation]. ISSOTL21, Virtual. https://issotl.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ISSOTL-21-Program.pdf

• Jewett, A. (2023, August). How do I get around? Onboarding instruction for online learning. ITLC Lilly Conference-Asheville, Asheville, NC.

• Jewett, A. (2023, September). A SoTL project: Understanding the influence of onboarding instruction for online adult learners. Presentation at the 30th Annual Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Summit.

• Jewett, A. (2023, October). Onboarding instruction for adult learners. Presentation at the Online Learning Consortium Accelerate Conference.

• Kastello, J., & Craig, S. (2019, September). Use of high-fidelity simulation and integrated information technology to promote safe medication administration practices among nursing students. Beta Kappa Research invited presentation, UVA School of Nursing, Charlottesville, VA.

• Levy, M., Taggart, J., & Cortez, K. (2020, December). Creating learning environments to support undergraduates’ explorations of race. Roundtable at the Lilly Online Conference.

• Li, M., & Taggart, J. (2024, June). Student perceptions of the effectiveness of incorporating numerical computations into an engineering linear algebra course [Paper Presentation]. ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, OR.

• Metzger, M., & Taggart, J. (2020, May). Inclusive teaching strategies and outcomes in 4th-year baccalaureate nursing students: A mixed methods study. Presentation at Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Education Research Conference, Washington D.C.

• Metzger, M., Taggart, J., & Aviles, E. (2019, May). Relations among inclusive teaching strategies and student outcomes in 4th-year nursing students [Podium Presentation]. Innovations in Pedagogy Summit, Charlottesville, VA.

• Metzger, M. (2019, May). Bringing pedagogy to life in the classroom [Podium Presentation]. University of Virginia School of Nursing Volunteer Boards Retreat, Charlottesville, VA.

• Morris, D. (2019, August). Adding a computational component to a traditional linear algebra course [Talk]. Lilly Conference, Asheville, NC.

• Pennock, A. (2019, May). Open inquiry in the public policy classroom [Podium Presentation]. Innovations in Pedagogy Summit, Charlottesville, VA.

• Poveda Moreno, E. (2023, November). Tracking empathy and compassion in community-based language learning courses: A case study [Paper Presentation]. ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) Convention, Chicago, IL.

• Praphamontripong, U., Floryan, M., & Ritzo, R.  (2020, October). A preliminary report on hands-on and cross-course activities in a college software testing course [Talk]. TestEd 2020, online.

• Reimers, A., & Beeler-Duden, S. (2020, June). Modification of a rotational kinematics concept inventory to improve reliability and discrimination for use with Engineering Dynamics students. ASEE Annual Conference Proceedings, Montreal, Canada.

• Reyna, B. A. (2020, October). Graduate NNP students' perceptions of connectedness and engagement in a hybrid taught format [Poster Presentation]. National Association of Neonatal Nurses Virtual Annual Conference, online.

• Ridge, R. (2023, May). The impact of patient as teacher pedagogy on student nurse empathy [Talk]. Innovations in Pedagogy Summit, Charlottesville, VA.

• Smith, C., & Praphamontripong, U. (2021, August). Analysis of the transition to a virtual learning semester in a college software testing course [Paper Presentation]. International Workshop on Education through Advanced Software Engineering and Artificial Intelligence (EASEAI, co-located with ESEC/FSE'21), online. https://doi.org/10.1145/3472673.3473967