Research News

Thu
May
17

International Society of Learning Sciences recognizes Nathan, Puntambekar

UW-Madison’s Mitchell Nathan and Sadhana Puntambekar each were recently elected as a Fellow of the International Society of Learning Sciences (ISLS). Both are faculty members with the School of Education’s No. 1-ranked Department of Educational Psychology, and the honor is in recognition of their “substantial contributions to the learning sciences.”
Fri
May
04

UW-Madison undergrads recognized at Experimental Biology meeting in San Diego

Four talented undergraduates from UW-Madison were recently recognized during the American Physiological Society’s Experimental Biology meeting in San Diego. Alexandra Carl, Karly Katchen, Rachel Harradine and Caitlin Jarrard each were 2018 Barbara A. Horwitz and John M. Horowitz Outstanding Undergraduate Abstract Awardees. These awards are presented annually to undergraduate students presenting their research at the April 21-25 Experimental Biology event. Carl, Katchen and Jarrard also were awarded the Excellence in Undergraduate Research Awards based on their oral presentations.
Fri
May
04

Hillman's research on education funding cited by St. Louis NAACP

Research from UW-Madison's Nick Hillman was cited by the St. Louis NAACP about performance-based public funding for universities in Missouri. The St. Louis NAACP said in a news release that Missouri is underfunding its two historically black institutions, Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis and Lincoln University in Jefferson City. In his research cited by the NAACP, Hillman reported that the Missouri universities that have seen the lowest budgetary gains over the last 40 years are the universities with higher percentages of black students and students receiving financial need-based Pell Grants.
Thu
May
03

Stern's new book examines historical intersection of race, education in New Orleans

UW-Madison’s Walter Stern has spent most of his academic career focusing on the historical intersection of race and education in the urban United States. And in May his new book, “Race and Education in New Orleans: Creating the Segregated City, 1764-1960,” was officially released. “I hope my historical work shines a light on how deeply rooted these disparities are and how they’ve been reinforced over long periods of time,” says Stern, whose research interests developed out of his experiences teaching public high school in Mississippi, covering education for a daily newspaper in Georgia and working as a consultant for multiple education initiatives in Louisiana. “This look back helps us better understand just how bold new strategies will need to be in order to undo such an entrenched and unequal system.”
Tue
May
01

Hora receives grant to assist travel to China to conduct college internship study

UW-Madison's Matthew Hora recently received a $10,000 grant from Tianjin University in eastern China that will support him through a month-long visit to study college internships early next fall. Hora will conduct the "College Internship Study," which recently launched in three U.S. institutions, in two Chinese colleges. The study includes an online survey of seniors about whether or not they’ve taken an internship and, if so, specific aspects of its design.
Fri
Apr
27

UW-Madison's Connolly discusses goals, indicators in monitoring STEM education

The term STEM, adopted by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in 1998, has become increasingly familiar throughout the United States due to the thousands of programs launched to produce more science, technology, engineering and mathematics professionals. But how successful are these programs? With no national systems in place to answer that question, the NSF asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) to develop indicators for monitoring undergraduate STEM education. Mark Connolly, an associate research scientist at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research in UW–Madison’s School of Education, was among the 15 academics who served on the committee tasked with creating the indicators.
Tue
Apr
24

Bal delivers keynote at International Congress on Early Childhood Intervention in Turkey

UW-Madison's Aydin Bal delivered a keynote at the 2nd International Congress on Early Childhood Intervention in Antalya, Turkey, on March 31. Bal is an associate professor with the School of Education’s Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education. Bal presented culturally responsive, school-wide behavioral intervention and support models to educators, psychologists, rehabilitation counselors, social workers, physiotherapists and researchers. He also presented his research on the implementation of Learning Labs in Wisconsin to facilitate equity-oriented partnerships between schools, communities and universities for systemic transformation.
Tue
Apr
24

UW-Madison's Bell taking part in high school sports panel sponsored by Cap Times on May 8

UW-Madison's David Bell will be featured on a Capital Times-sponsored panel on May 8 titled "Should high schools be in the sports business?" Bell is an assistant professor with the Department of Kinesiology’s Athletic Training Program and the director of the Wisconsin Injury in Sport Laboratory (WISL). The Department of Kinesiology is housed within the School of Education. The panel will explore questions of high school sports as a focus of community life in Wisconsin, and how that role has changed in "an era of elite club teams, brain injury concerns and education reform."
Thu
Apr
19

UW-Madison's Apple delivers presentations during travels to Chile and Brazil

UW-Madison's Michael W. Apple has recently delivered several presentations during his travels to Chile and Brazil. He gave an address at the book launch to honor the publication of the Spanish edition of his book, "Can Education Change Society? " in Santiago, Chile. He also gave the Paulo Freire Memorial address at Universidad Technologica Metropolitana in Santiago. Apple then went on to give addresses on "Can Education Change Society?" and "The Politics of a National Curriculum" at universities in Porto Alegre and Itajai in Brazil.
Wed
Apr
11

UW-Madison alum Min Yu receiving AERA Division B book award

UW-Madison alumna Min Yu is receiving the American Educational Research Association’s Division B Outstanding Book Recognition Award for her work, “The Politics, Practices, and Possibilities of Migrant Children Schools in Contemporary China.” Min Yu earned her Ph.D. from the School of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction in 2013. Today she is assistant professor in the Teacher Education Division in the College of Education at Wayne State University.
Fri
Apr
06

School of Education researchers examining ways to bolster out-of-school science activities

School of Education graduate students and faculty members Leema Berland, Rosemary Russ and Noah Weeth Feinstein on April 7 took part in UW-Madison's Science Expeditions event. But unlike many of their counterparts from across campus, this group not only delivered interesting and interactive learning activities — it also spoke with families about their everyday experiences and the science underlying them in an effort to bolster and improve out-of-school science ventures. This is part of their Grand Challenges Engage project, “Curiosity Practice: A powerful new lever for science engagement across Wisconsin.”
Fri
Apr
06

AERA Literature SIG recognizes dissertation work of UW-Madison alum Quast

UW-Madison alumna Erin Quast is receiving recognition for her dissertation work from the American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) Literature Special Interest Group (SIG). Quast, who received her Ph.D. from the School of Education’s No. 1-ranked Department of Curriculum and Instruction, is being honored for her dissertation titled, “Racial Meaning Making in 4K: An Ethnographic Collective Case Study.” She is the second place winner of the Shelby Wolf AERA Literature SIG Award for Outstanding Dissertation. Quast today is an assistant professor of elementary literacy at Illinois State University.
Tue
Apr
03

Kaplan delivers Bayesian Methods workshop at the Instituto de Investigacion y Desarrollo Educativo

UW-Madison’s David Kaplan was in Ensenada, Mexico, last month delivering a workshop on Bayesian Methods to faculty, staff and students at the Institute for Educational Research and Evaluation. Kaplan is the Patricia Busk Professor of Quantitative Methods with the School of Education’s No. 1-ranked Department of Educational Psychology and the author of the 2014 book, “Bayesian Statistics for the Social Sciences.” While visiting the institute in Mexico from Feb. 28 to March 4, Kaplan was briefly interviewed by the staff for the Instituto de Investigacion y Desarrollo Educativo YouTube channel about his visit and work.
Thu
Mar
29

Ladson-Billings to receive AERA’s 2018 Distinguished Contributions to Research in Education Award

UW-Madison’s Gloria Ladson-Billings is receiving the American Educational Research Association’s 2018 Distinguished Contributions to Research in Education Award. This prestigious honor from AERA recognizes meritorious contributions to education research and is intended to publicize, motivate, encourage and suggest models of education research at its best. "This is a tremendous honor and I am deeply appreciative to be selected at this time in my career,” says Ladson-Billings, who was a faculty member with the School of Education from 1991 until her retirement earlier this year.
Thu
Mar
29

New paper from UW-Madison’s Otting examines education reform in Kosovo

UW-Madison’s Jennifer Otting is the author of a new study examining education reform in Kosovo that was published in the journal, Compare: Journal of Comparative & International Education. Otting is a Ph.D. student with the School of Education’s Department of Educational Policy Studies. Her paper is titled, “Rendering technical the responsible citizen: implementing citizenship education reform in Kosovo." This work is a product of her master’s thesis.
Tue
Mar
27

Bassett to deliver annual Safrit Lecture on ‘The Science of Step Counting’

UW-Madison’s Department of Kinesiology is hosting its annual Safrit Lecture on Thursday, April 12, and this year’s presentation will be delivered by the University of Tennessee’s David Bassett, Jr. Bassett, a professor and chair of the Department of Kinesiology, Recreation and Sport Studies, will be examining “The Science of Step Counting” in his talk, which begins at 4 p.m. in room 1140 of the UW Natatorium. Bassett is an alumnus of the Department of Kinesiology, having completed his Ph.D. in exercise physiology in 1988.
Mon
Mar
26

Ladson-Billings to receive Lifetime Achievement Award from AERA’s Division B

UW-Madison's Gloria Ladson-Billings will be accepting a significant honor at the American Educational Research Association’s Annual Meeting next month when she receives the Lifetime Achievement Award from AERA’s Division B, a diverse and eclectic group of scholars who raise questions, study issues and explore possibilities related to curriculum. Ladson-Billings was a faculty member with the School of Education from 1991 until her retirement earlier this year. Today, the professor emerita is serving a four-year term as president of the National Academy of Education.
Thu
Mar
22

'What makes math hard?' Nathan speaks at Chaos and Complex Systems Seminar

UW-Madison's Mitch Nathan gave a talk at the Chaos and Complex Systems Seminar on Tuesday, March 20, ​titled "What makes math hard? Hint: It's not the math." Nathan is the director of the Center on Education and Work and is a professor of the learning sciences with the School of Education’s No. 1-ranked departments of Educational Psychology and Curriculum and Instruction. Nathan's talk challenged the well-entrenched idea that mathematics is hard to learn.
Wed
Mar
21

Mathieu receives WARF Named Professorship, Jones earns Romnes Faculty Fellowship

Thirty-three faculty members from across the UW-Madison campus are receiving 2018 faculty fellowships, including the School of Education's Robert Mathieu and Tom Jones. Mathieu is receiving a WARF Named Professorship, an award that comes with $100,000 to honor faculty members who have made major contributions to the advancement of knowledge. Jones is receiving a Romnes Faculty Fellowship, which comes with $60,000 that may be spent over five years.
Mon
Mar
19

Study from UW-Madison's Hora, Smolarek published in Journal of Higher Education

UW-Madison's Matt Hora and Bailey Smolarek published a new research paper in the Journal of Higher Education titled, "Examining Faculty Reflective Practice: A Call for Critical Awareness and Institutional Support." The paper hones in on an often-forgotten key process of data-driven decision-making in education: teachers' reflective practice.

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