While much of education research is focused on student performance, this research turns the focus to the development of the teacher.

Almost all K-12 instructors receive in-depth training on how to teach. This is not true for college, where professors are hired for being content experts, not for being experts on how to teach. This research investigates how smart classrooms can sense in-class activities and provide feedback and teaching training to novice college instructors. Currently, we focus on teaching better discursive practices, such as asking more content-based questions instead of just lecturing in order to increase student participation. In these classrooms, both the students and the instructors are learning and practicing new things.

The project recently earned a Teachers as Learners grant (created in 2017 to “fund education research on the science of teaching and expand our understanding of teachers as learners and as agents of change in education”) from the McDonnell Foundation.  Full story: $2.5m grant received to study the science of teaching