Research Projects

Collaborative Research: Amplifying Diverse Voices in STEM Education (ADVISE)

October 2024 – September 2029

ADVISE (Amplifying Diverse Voices in STEM Education) is an NSF IUSE and ECR-EDU Core Research project administered through the NSF’s Racial Equity in STEM program. The collaborative research grant funds an SMU-led partnership among nine colleges and universities to study the role invited guest lecturers can play in promoting diversity, inclusivity, and student success in undergraduate STEM education. Over a five-year period, ADVISE will use a randomized controlled trial to study the causal effects of guest lecturers on individual- and classroom-level outcomes such as student belonging and classroom climate as well as student grades and persistence in STEM majors.

Funding: National Science Foundation (NSF)

PI: Dr. Quentin Sedlacek (SMU)
Co-PIs: Dr. Sara Dozier (CSU Long Beach), Dr. Karla Lomelí (Santa Clara University), Dr. Anthony Muro Villa III (UC Riverside); Claudia Solís-Lemus (UW Madison) Senior Personnel: Dr. Michelle Friend (UN Omaha); Dr. Heather Haeger (University of Arizona); Dr. Joel Alex Mejia (UT San Antonio); Dr. Greses Pérez (Tufts University)

Evaluation of the Early Educator Workforce Development Pipeline: A Partnership between Dallas College and SMU

September 2024 – December 2027

CORE is working in partnership with Dallas College’s School of Education (DC-SOE) to conduct a comprehensive, multi-year evaluation of the early educator workforce development pipeline. This initiative aims to assess and enhance the effectiveness of the pipeline, ensuring it meets the needs of aspiring educators and the educational system. Dallas College’s innovative teacher preparation pipeline stands out as the first community college in the state of Texas to be certified to provide a four-year bachelor’s degree, marking a significant milestone in higher education. The evaluation, which is partially funded by The Moody Foundation’s MPACT initiative, will feature a series of key questions designed to understand what strategies are most effective, for whom they work best, and under what circumstances they yield the best outcomes. This thorough analysis will help inform future improvements and support the development of a robust early educator workforce.

Funding: Dallas College Foundation

PI: Dr. Annie Wright (SMU)
Co-PI: Dylan Farmer (SMU)

Using Artificial Intelligence to Personalize Mathematics Instruction to Students Interests

August 2024 – July 2027

This project aims to explore the impacts and opportunities that emerge when using Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) to construct personalized algebra problems for 7th grade students. The project builds on prior work that established that personalized algebra interventions that connect math to students’ interest in areas like sports or video games could increase both core algebraic knowledge and STEM career interest for students with low academic achievement. Further, this project will gain a better understanding of how to employ AI to support teachers, developing new models for how to make teaching more efficient and effective while still preserving the teachers' agency. This project is funded by the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program, which supports projects that build understandings of practices, program elements, contexts and processes contributing to increasing students' knowledge and interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and information and communication technology (ICT) careers. Specifically, the research questions will investigate the impact of AI-generated word problems (with and without AI-generated images) on student math performance, study the tradeoffs for both students and teachers for the two different GenAI personalization strategies, investigate changes in how teachers understand student interests and posing math story problems as a result of using GenAI, and investigate how teachers can use prompt engineering to produce personalized problems. The project will use participatory approaches to engage teachers in iterative cycles of design, increasing the likelihood that the approach will draw upon learners’ funds of knowledge.

Funding: National Science Foundation (NSF)

PI: Dr. Candace Walkington (SMU)
Co-PIs: Neil Heffernan (WPI); Andrew Lan (UMass); Ryan Baker (Penn); Tiffini Pruitt-Britton (AIR)

Advancing Understanding of How Adult Learner Ecosystems Vary and Influence Decision Making

February 2024 – March 2025

This project utilizes egocentric social network analysis to gain deeper insights into how adult learners of color make decisions regarding (re)enrollment in postsecondary institutions. By focusing on the social networks that surround these learners, the research highlights the significant influence that their "ecosystem"—comprising the communities that support and are supported by them—has on their decision-making processes. Through this lens, the project aims to expand our understanding of the critical role these ecosystems play in shaping educational choices. The findings are expected to provide valuable insights that can help postsecondary institutions refine and enhance their outreach and support strategies by actively engaging not only the learners themselves but also the broader communities that influence their educational journeys.

Funding: Lumina Adult Learners

PI: Mark Hatcher (American Institutes for Research)
Co-PI: Dr. Willis Jones (SMU)

Empowering Students with Choice through Equitable and Interactive Mathematical Modeling (EIM2)

August 2023 – June 2026

EIM2 (Equitable and Interactive Mathematical Modeling) is an NSF DRK-12 project that positions students to use mathematical modeling to analyze and quantify real-world situations through a lens of equity. The project enables collaborations with seventh grade classrooms and a professional learning community of their mathematics teachers. The EIM2 online platform allows students to easily select socially relevant modeling scenarios based on their interests; experience the scenarios with visuals and animations; and compare, synthesize, and refine their mathematical ideas. SMU received supplemental funding for this project, which will enable DISD and other Dallas area schools to be an implementation site for EIM2.

Funding: National Science Foundation (NSF)

PI: Dr. Hyunyi Jung (Univ. of Florida)
Co-PIs: Dr. Corey Brady (SMU); Chonika Coleman-King (Univ. of Florida); Mary Bratsch-Hines (Univ. of Florida)

Increasing Skills in Accessibility through Integration in the Undergraduate Computer Science and Information Technology Curricula

May 2023 – April 2026

This three-year project centers on enhancing software accessibility by equipping college instructors and students with both technical and design skills needed to create accessible software. Dr. Lin Lipsmeyer works with Dr. Stephanie Ludi and Dr. David Keathly to explore shifts in skills and attitudes, both short-term and long-term, by integrating instructional materials, facilitating hands-on activities, and fostering interactions with individuals with disabilities. The anticipated outcome is a greater number of graduates who not only understand the unique needs of people with disabilities but also possess skills that promote inclusivity and are well-trained in designing accessible software. For more information: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2235104&HistoricalAwards=false

Funding: National Science Foundation (NSF)

PI: Dr. Stephanie Ludi (University of North Texas)
Co-PI: Dr. David Keathly (University of North Texas)
Co-PI: Dr. Lin Lipsmeyer (SMU) (served as Co-PI until 1/12/25)
Ci-PI: Dr. Magdalena Pando (SMU) (serving as Co-PI starting on 1/13/25)

McNair Scholars Project

October 2022 – September 2027

McNair Scholars Project provides research and other scholarly support to SMU students annually who meet program eligibility criteria. Participants receive academic support services and participate in research and graduate school workshops. Participants also participate in the McNair Summer Research Institute that includes a research methods course and culminates in the execution of an undergraduate research project. The project serves 26 SMU students annually.

Funding: U.S. Department of Education

PI: Dr. LaChelle Cunningham (SMU)

Partnership for Anticipatory Learning at the Garcia West Dallas STEM School

July 2022 – June 2025

The Garcia West Dallas STEM School Anticipatory and Aligned Learning project is designed to support direct connections to learning from the classroom to home. Our primary focus for aligning family and community learning is through training parents/community members on hands-on STEM activities. Additionally, parents and community members can attend Family Learning Hub events hosted in cooperation with the Garcia WDSS PTA meetings and The Parent Zone, is a series of West Dallas community-wide family learning events.

Funding: United Way of Metropolitan Dallas

PI: Dr. Toni Harrison-Kelly (SMU) (served as PI from July 2022 to December 2024)
Co-PI: Dr. Karen Pierce (SMU) (PI from January 2025 to June 2025)

Collaborative Research: Research on Integrated STEM Self-Efficacy (RISE): A Study of Elementary Preservice Teachers including Noyce Scholars

June 2022 – May 2027

Research on Integrated STEM Self-Efficacy (RISE) will study the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) integration of elementary teachers who experienced ten different teacher preparation programs across the U.S. The project will investigate links between integrated STEM teaching self-efficacy, teacher preparation and development opportunities, teaching effectiveness, and teacher retention. It will also build a community of elementary teachers focused on improving their STEM teaching and support their ongoing professional learning.

Funding: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Award Number: DUE-2151045

PI: Dr. Jeanna Wieselmann (SMU)
Co-PIs: Dr. Deepika Menon (University of Nebraska, Lincoln); Dr. Sarah Haines (Towson University); Dr. Sumreen Asim (Indiana University Southeast)

Advancing Evaluation in Philanthropy

February 2022 – August 2027

CORE is partnering with the Walton Family Foundation to launch The Advancing Evaluation in Philanthropy Fellowship program to help support the next generation of evaluators working in philanthropy. The two-year-long fellowships will focus on developing professionals of color and utilizing more culturally responsive evaluation designs. With the support of the Walton Family Foundation, CORE will be able to help Fellows gain rigorous and real-world experience in research and evaluation in philanthropy.

Funding: Walton Family Foundation

PI: Dr. Annie Wright (SMU)

Personnel Preparation in Mathematics Special Education

October 2021 – September 2026

The LIME (Leaders Investigating Mathematics Evidence) is a project funded by the Office of Special Education Programs to create the next generation of researchers and leaders with PhDs in special education with a focus on mathematics. It will provide tuition and stipend support, travel to conferences, and research support for twelve scholars for four years of doctoral studies. The program will be hosted at three universities: University of Texas, Austin; Southern Methodist University; and University of Missouri.

Funding: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)

PI: Dr. Sarah Powell (University of Texas, Austin)
Co-PIs: Dr. Leanne Ketterlin Geller (SMU); Dr. Erica Lembke (University of Missouri)

Work-Learn: Using Microinternships to Leverage Scalable Learning for STEM Workforce Development Among People Experiencing Homelessness

September 2021 – August 2025

Researchers at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Southern Methodist University will investigate the efficacy of a Work-Learn model for providing individuals experiencing homelessness with the skills and scaffolding that will enable them to enter the job market. The research team will examine the impact of integrating micro-internships with online courses targeting computer science skills for homeless adult learners and analyze the interaction among group dynamics and learner success and barriers and successful learning outcomes. The research goal is to test the efficacy of the Work-Learn model in supporting the ability of people experiencing homelessness to complete a MOOC and successfully transition to information technology (IT) sector jobs. To achieve this goal, the researchers will investigate four research questions: (1) How can the Work-Learn model incentivize learners and support persistence in completing learning tasks and challenges? (2) Do peer learning structures work as effectively with persons experiencing homelessness as with traditional MOOC students? (3) What learner attributes and experiences are associated with success? and (4) How does industry partnership support re-training of persons experiencing homelessness for IT jobs? The research team will develop and implement course modules, in a peer learning context, addressing computational thinking, COBOL, and Python that enable learners to learn by doing in a MOOC environment. They will engage homeless shelter staff and private-sector partners to support skills development and paid micro-internship placement. The team will investigate how these partnerships function to support this population of learners and how learners’ well-being is impacted. The research results will inform interventions that employ scalable technology to re-skill or up-skill adults who do not necessarily have access to workforce training tailored to high-demand and financially stable technology jobs and careers.

The project is supported by the EHR Core Research Program that funds STEM education research projects focused on STEM learning and learning environments, broadening participation in STEM fields, and STEM workforce development.

Funding: National Science Foundation (NSF)

PI: Dr. Michelle Friend (University of Nebraska @ Omaha)
Co-PI: Dr. Alexandra Pavlakis (SMU)

Science Teachers' Experiences Learning about African American English

July 2021 – December 2025 (but extended further)

Racial discrimination is illegal in the United States. However, linguistic discrimination is not similarly prohibited, even though some common beliefs about language are deeply rooted in racism. In recent decades, scholarship that critically examines the relationships between language, race, and racism has had transformative effects on language arts education. However, comparatively little work has explored the effects that critical linguistics can have in science education. This study, funded by a grant from the Spencer Foundation, will explore the influence of critical linguistics in science education by investigating the sensemaking of current and prospective K-12 science teachers as they learn about African American English (AAE) in their teacher education coursework. AAE is a well-documented language variety historically associated with African American communities in the United States. Research on AAE has played a central role in the development of sociolinguistics, and many universities now offer courses which assign readings about AAE. These texts sometimes employ strategic essentialism to debunk racist stereotypes and raise awareness of the ways in which language ideologies reproduce systemic racism. However, some scholars have expressed concerns about strategic essentialism; while it may help to foster critical language awareness, it may also inadvertently reinforce problematic beliefs about racial identity. Essentialist beliefs about race are already a topic of considerable concern in science education. It is therefore crucial to understand how science educators make sense of information about AAE in their teacher education coursework. This study will use repeated-measures surveys and interviews to investigate science teachers’ sensemaking and racial ideologies. Findings will provide practical and theoretical insights to help science teacher educators reap the benefits of critical linguistics while avoiding the pitfall of reifying essentialist ideologies of race.

Funding: The Spencer Foundation

PI: Dr. Quentin Sedlacek (SMU)

Using Pre-Assessment to Customize Adult Literacy Game-Based Learning

January 2021 – December 2026

In 2015, SMU joined with Literacy Instruction for Texas (LIFT) to participate in the Barbara Bush Adult Literacy XPRIZE and develop a game-based mobile application that would change the way low literate adults would learn to read. In 2019, our team of literacy experts, instructional designers, artists, programmers, and game designers won the XPRIZE Grand Prize and Achievement Prize for having the highest gains in literacy among English Language Learners (ELL) from the 109 teams from 15 different countries that participated. Our team developed Codex: The Lost Words of Atlantis, a game where the learner is a great adventurer traveling around the world experiencing new cultures and history while uncovering the secrets of Atlantis. The player finds artifacts and relics and then decodes the cryptic Atlantean language into English. The game is an interactive and engaging story that is fun, while grounded in learning science. We built the game to meet the core concerns and requests that were identified by our focus group. Three focal concepts were integrated into the game: (1) Increase the learner’s knowledge about the world while learning to read, (2) Provide a sense of accomplishment throughout the learning experience, and (3) Help remove the self-consciousness learners often feel when engaging with adult literacy curriculum. In the end, Codex was able to produce over a year’s worth of learning within 9 months through a phone-based video game that utilized adaptive cognitive load theory and difficulty analysis to transform an existing literacy curriculum into game-based learning activities that increased players' engagement and learning.

SMU's team will use this newest grant to continue the development of the application and launch its newest iteration of the game-based curriculum, Enigma. This game will push literacy skills past Codex’s 1st & 2nd and incorporate a pre-assessment tool to customize the learner’s education path in the game. The assessment will allow for identification of literacy gaps for each learner, thus allowing the game to adapt each learners’ specific needs. The incorporation of pre-assessment and customizable gameplay will allow learners to quickly move past areas where they currently have mastery and thus help keep a high engagement within the game. As part of this study, a user reporting and visualization interface will be created to help track and show participants engagement and literacy gains throughout their game play.

Funding: Dollar General Family Literacy Foundation

PI: Dr. Corey Clark (SMU)
Co-PIs: Dr. Anthony Cuevas (SMU); Dr. Diane Gifford (SMU)

Exploring Collaborative Embodiment for Learning (EXCEL): Understanding Geometry through Multiple Modalities

August 2020 – July 2025

This project explores collaborative embodiment in the domain of geometric reasoning, leveraging Augmented Reality (AR) technology. AR is a technology that allows the layering of virtual components onto the physical world, such as projecting a three-dimensional hologram of a cylinder atop a real-world desk. Embodiment encompasses the idea that students can learn mathematics using physical motions, gestures, and their perceptions of objects and shapes. Theories of collaborative embodiment, i.e., theories that account for multiple people working together in an embodied way, are needed that take into account the multi-learner nature of mathematics classrooms, and how learners can jointly embody mathematical ideas using different tools and representations. Recent advances in multi-user instructional technology, namely shared holographic AR or shAR, allow for new and important hypotheses about collaborative embodiment to be tested. ShAR is AR technology where multiple learners can view and manipulate the same holograms together at the same time – in our case, holograms of different geometric shapes and solids. We hypothesize that different modalities for math learning (like a hologram, a set of physical manipulatives, a dynamic geometry system (DGS) on a tablet, or a piece of paper) have different affordances, including the degree to which they can represent dynamic transformations, can represent objects and operations in 3 dimensions, can support joint attention, and can provide situational feedback. This project is developing an experimental platform modeled after the Flatland novella, a piece of mathematical fiction from the 1800s about an imaginary world run by geometric shapes, to test our hypotheses. This platform will facilitate data collection from students, situate experimental tasks in an engaging narrative story, and allow for researchers to control key experimental variables. Our overarching research questions are: How do different modalities for collaborative embodiment, particularly shAR, impact student understanding of geometric principles? How are these effects mediated by gesture, language, and actions, and how are they moderated by student and task characteristics? This project is a collaboration between the Department of Teaching and Learning at SMU, the Guildhall at SMU, the Department of Educational Psychology at UW Madison, and a software company GeoGebra who will create the AR geometry environment.

Funding: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences (IES)

PI: Dr. Candace Walkington (SMU)

A Comprehensive Measure of Reading Fluency: Uniting and Scaling Accuracy, Rate, and Prosody

July 2020 – June 2025 (but extended further)

This project will develop a tablet application to administer the CORE ORF assessment, by integrating a locally optimized automatic speech recognition (ASR) engine and an automated scoring algorithm by applying a machine learning model to score accuracy, speed, and prosody. This project will develop an automated scoring system to measure, unite, and scale the speed, accuracy, and prosody of ORF for students in grades 2 to 4. Research has shown that prosody explains variance in reading comprehension beyond rate and accuracy; however, current ORF assessments neglect the measurement of prosody. This project can increase the reliability and validity of decisions made from ORF scores, resulting in better identification of students in need of reading interventions, and better evaluation of those interventions.

Funding: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences (IES)

PI: Dr. Joseph Nese (University of Oregon)
Co-PIs: Dr. Akihito Kamata (SMU; PI for subcontract to SMU); Dr. Eric Larson (SMU); Dr. Rhonda Nese (University of Oregon); Dr. Leilani Saez (University of Oregon)

Project GROW: Growing Vocabulary Knowledge to Support Comprehension Development through a Kindergarten Dialogic Read-Aloud Intervention

July 2020 – June 2025

Simmons faculty members Stephanie Al Otaiba, Ph.D. and Brenna Rivas, Ph.D. received a development grant from the Institute for Education Sciences ($1,399,721). The purpose of the grant is to design a read-aloud intervention to improve kindergartners’ social and emotional vocabulary and their listening comprehension. The team will develop and field test 16 book units featuring multi-cultural characters and settings. They plan a mixed methods approach to ascertain the feasibility and promise of the intervention for kindergarteners in low-income schools.

Al Otaiba holds the Patsy and Ray Caldwell Centennial Chair in Teaching and Learning. She and Rivas have collaborated over the past eight years on several projects related to literacy interventions and response to intervention funded by IES and the National Institutes of Health. They are joined by post-doctoral researcher Jennifer Stewart, Ph.D., a recent Simmons graduate, to support the project.

Funding: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences (IES)

PI: Dr. Stephanie Al Otaiba (SMU)
Co-PIs: Dr. Brenna Rivas (July 2020 – December 2022); Dr. Kyle Roberts (September 2023 – present)

Integrating Human Computer Interaction, Machine Learning, Game Design, and Educational Assessment in a STEM+C Curriculum

September 2019 – August 2025

National Science Foundation has awarded Corey Clark, Ph.D., Leanne Ketterlin Geller, Ph.D. and Eric Larson, Ph.D. a $1.5 million four year grant to research teaching computer science and computational thinking via Minecraft. Efforts to increase intrinsic interest in math and data science have proven difficult to apply evenly across gender, race, and socio-economic factors. This research project will assist in creating a more stable, ethical, and inclusive data science workforce by broadening the interest in data science to a more diverse population of students. This research spans the fields of game design, human computer interaction, machine learning, curriculum design and educational assessment by integrating essential computer science standards directly into Minecraft. The game and infrastructure produced through this research will serve as a vital computing resource for middle and high school educators that will be sustained beyond the current project.

Funding: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Award #1933848

PI: Dr. Corey Clark (SMU)
Co-PIs: Dr. Leanne Ketterlin Geller (SMU); Dr. Eric Larson (SMU)