January 12, 2022

As a Research Professor and Co-Director of The Methods Lab, I am part of many exciting new projects this year! In addition to building interdisciplinary research teams and partnerships, the most current project is a collaborative project among Drexel University, Bowling Green State University, and Clarity Assessment Systems. This research focuses on Developing and Evaluating the Assessment of Problem Solving in Computer Adaptive Testing Environments (DEAP-CAT). Funded as a Level III grant under Discovery Research PreK-12 through the National Science Foundation, this is a five-year effort. Using a Design-Based Research Methodology, our aims are to a) benchmark the previously established problem-solving measures (PSM), b) develop, calibrate, and validate criterion-referenced CAT for each PSM, c) construct score reports for integration into the CAT system, and d) investigate teachers’ capacity for implementing, interpreting, and using PSM-CAT assessments and results in STEM learning settings. In addition to this project, I look forward to mentoring and learning alongside our doctoral students in the Lab: Dara Bright, Yiyun (Kate) Fan, and Christopher Fornaro. The Methods Lab provides a wide range of practical applications in research, evaluation, and measurement through research, evaluation, service work, and partnerships. Dr. May (Co-Director) and I value creating experiences for each student to have an opportunity to innovate and take a leadership role. It is exciting to see our students become empowered as methodologists. A fun personal fact is that I have three children who call themselves the ABCs (Audrey, Brooklyn, & Collin) and a Newfoundland puppy, Norma Newf!