Directory

Richard Duschl

Executive Director of the Caruth Institute for Engineering Education
Texas Instrument Distinguished Chair
214-768-3093
rduschl@smu.edu

Richard Duschl has been President of NARST – International Association for Science Education Research; served as Director, Division for Research on Learning, NSF; Chaired the NRC research synthesis report Taking Science to School: Learning and Teaching Science in Grades K-8 (National Academies Press, 2007). Past academic positions, in reverse order include the Waterbury Chair at Penn State University; Graduate School of Education, Rutgers University; Chair of Science Education at King’s College London Vanderbilt University, University of Pittsburgh, Hunter College-CUNY and University of Houston. So, he is no stranger to Texas. He taught high school earth science in Charles Co. MD and middle school science & math in East Lansing, MI..

In 2014 Richard was awarded the NARST Distinguished Career in Research Award. In 2007 he received the ‘Distinguished Alumnus of the Year College of Education’ award from the University of Maryland Alumni Association where he completed his BS in Earth Science Education and Ph.D. in Science Education.

He served for 10 years as the editor Science Education, an international journal of research and scholarship and was editor of the Teachers College Press book series “Ways of Knowing in Science”. His involvement in informal science education has included being Co-PI of the NSF Center for Informal Learning and Schools, serving on the advisory boards of the NJ Liberty Science Center and the Cumberland Science Center, Nashville, TN and as curator for science exhibits at the Children’s Museum of Houston.

Kelyn Rola

Research Assistant Professor
214-768-1025
krola@smu.edu

Dr. Kelyn Rola is a Research Assistant Professor in the Caruth Institute for Engineering Education in the Lyle School of Engineering at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX. Prior to her appointment in the Caruth Institute, Dr. Rola served as a Lecturer in SMU’s Department of Applied Physiology & Wellness in the Simmons School of Education & Human Development. Her professional experience includes teaching Anatomy & Physiology, Exercise Physiology, and Personal Responsibility & Wellness courses.

Dr. Rola’s career at SMU began in 2010. Prior to joining SMU, she earned her B.A. with honors in Kinesiology from Southwestern University, in Georgetown, TX. Dr. Rola later received her M.S. in Exercise Physiology from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX. At TCU, she taught and assisted a variety of kinesiology classes. She also assisted in data collection for a number of performance and training studies; however, her own research investigated molecular responses and adaptations to performing exercise in the heat. 

Due to her continued interest in research and higher education, Dr. Rola successfully completed a Doctorate in Education Policy & Leadership at SMU in 2018. Her research interests include factors that contribute to and facilitate student success. Specifically, she is interested in improving equity and inclusion on university campuses, as well as supporting student well-being through curricular interventions. Her most recent research has explored social justice outcomes following participation in an undergraduate diversity course, and her additional research interests include the impact that rigorous STEM coursework has on student wellness, how to integrate diversity and inclusion content into STEM coursework, creating a more inclusive environment for female faculty in the sciences, and promoting equity and access for underrepresented populations in higher education.

Alain Mota

Program Manager
214-768-4297
amota@smu.edu

Alain Mota is the STEM Development and Implementation Coordinator at RME and a Program Manager at the Caruth Institute for Engineering Education. In this role, he works across schools supporting the research and implementation goals of several projects at the unit and the institute. As a coach he supports campus leaders and science teachers in the delivery of classroom lessons that focus on the integration of STEM and active learning techniques through individualized coaching, co-planning, facilitating and co-facilitating Professional Learning Communities, and actionable feedback after classroom observations. One of the coaching roles is part of the STEM Academy for Science Teachers & Leaders initiative that is intended to increase student achievement in science, student interest in STEM careers, and students' persistence in STEM coursework by supporting teachers' professional knowledge, skills, and campus administrators' instructional leadership skills. Through coaching he has also supported teachers implementing intensive intervention of Algebra readiness through Project STAIR: Supporting Teaching of Algebra Individual Readiness in middle school. His collaboration on the project has allowed him to contribute to a multi-University effort to increase teacher efficacy support of students. Alain has also supported projects through his experience with design thinking. He has collaborated in the conception and facilitation of workshops aiming to understand the usability of assessment prototypes in the MMaRS project: Measuring Early Mathematical Reasoning Skills.

As part of his goals to contribute across the University Alain also supports Engineering and Science undergraduate students as they serve as camp counselors in his work at the Caruth Institute for Engineering Education. He directly manages the deployment of STEM integrated activities that surface Engineering to Middle and High School students in the Dallas area in an informal learning environment through the Hamon Engineering camps. He is also engaged in outreach programs that are seeking to serve underrepresented populations in Engineering. In his program manager role at the Institute, he contributes in fostering relationships and developing STEM activities for Voices of Hope and Jubilee Park. He is also part of the Maker Education project as his previous experiences developing teachers at the STEM academy leveraged the SMU Maker Truck as part of the training and outreach, one of the major goals to make Engineering accessible for the institute.

Before joining the University, Alain worked at the Dallas Independent School District as both a mathematics and science instructional coach for elementary and middle schools. He served as the inaugural STEM department head for the Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy and was a science campus coordinator for Henry B. Gonzalez Elementary. Prior to becoming an Educator Alain worked in Environmental consulting. In this space his experiences ranged from aquaculture management and research for an aquatic toxicology firm to doing statistical analysis for the nutrient criteria standards at the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality. Alain has a Master of Science in Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies with a focus on Environmental Engineering, Geophysics and Public Health. His research doing microbial risk assessment of import products from Mexico is published on the Journal of Food Safety. He is currently enrolled in the Master of Arts in Design and Innovation at Lyle.

Sandra Garcia

Coordinator
214-768-6261
sandragarcia@smu.edu

Sandra Garcia is joining the Caruth Institute for Engineering Education at SMU Lyle School of Engineering. While obtaining a BS degree in electrical and computer engineering from UTEP, Sandra worked at Boeing’s Space and Missile Division in El Paso.  After completing her undergraduate degree, Sandra moved to Dallas and worked 7 years at Nortel Networks as a product support engineer. During her employment at Nortel and due to her continued interest in telecommunications, Sandra obtained an MS degree in engineering from SMU.  .

Transitioning to education, Sandra became a Certified Texas Educator through Collin College’s Alternative Certification Program.  Sandra worked as a bilingual teacher for over 15 years in Wylie ISD.   During her years at Wylie ISD, she served as the 2nd Grade Department Chair, PLC Teacher Lead, Vertical Team Lead and UIL Math coach. Sandra collaborated with other teachers across grade levels to improve the academic achievement of dual language students.  Most recently, she taught English as a Second Language (ESL) at Collin and Grayson College. 

Sandra is a lifelong learner who loves spending time with her husband and 3 children, volunteering at church, cooking, and creating digital photo albums.

Senior Fellows / Advisory Board

CIEE Fellows

CIEE Associate Fellows