Dr. Kathleen Blouch, adjunct instructor in education, was selected to serve on PennSEL, The PA Science Education Leadership Network Team. The team supports strategic and equitable advances to the PA science education system and implements evidence-based science leadership and teaching practices that lead to meaningful and effective science experiences for teachers and students.

Dr. Kathleen Blouch, adjunct professor of education, presented “Modeling the Democratic STEM Teaching Framework Using the Design Process” at the Pennsylvania Science Teachers Association Conference 2021. The conference, Innovating for the Future, was virtual this year.

Faculty from three departments—physical therapy, speech-language pathology, and education—collaborated with students, now alumni, on “The Impact of an Aquatic Social Competence Program on Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder.” Dr. Katie Oriel, professor of physical therapy, Dr. Michelle Scesa, chair and assistant professor of communication sciences & disorders/speech-language pathology, and Dr. Jennifer Wood Kanupka, chair and associate professor of education and director of special education, worked with Dr. Andrew Deardofff ’18, D’20, Sarah Grow ’18, D’20, Lindsay Lane ’18, D’20, and Dr. Olivia Poltonavage ’18, D’20 on the project published in The Journal of Aquatic Physical Therapy.

Dr. Ann Berger-Knorr, associate professor of education, published “Keystone to Reading Book Awards Meet STEM,” at the Pennsylvania Read: Journal of the Keystone State Literary Association with Hannah Booth ’20, Sierra Painter ’20, Samantha Ritchie ’20, and Lauren Sigmon ’20.

Dr. Lindsay Koch, assistant professor of education, Dr. Jennifer Kanupka, chair and associate professor of education and director of special education, and Jennifer Kuntz, assistant professor of education, presented “The Use of Critical Reflection through a Concentrated Book Study to Enhance the Use of Active Engagement Strategies in Preservice Teachers,” at the Pennsylvania Association of College and Teacher Educators

Dr. Lindsay Koch, assistant professor of education, Dr. Jennifer Kanupka, chair and associate professor of education, and Jennifer Kuntz, assistant professor of education, presented, “The Use of Critical Reflection through a Concentrated Book Study to Enhance the use of Active Engagement Strategies in Preservice Teachers” at the Pennsylvania Association of Colleges and Teacher Educators (PAC-TE) in October.

Dr. Jeffrey Laferriere, assistant professor of education and director of secondary education, co-authored an article, Can Video Games Be Used as a Stealth Assessment of Aggression?: A Criterion-Related Validity Study, in International Journal of Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations (McCreery, M. P., Krach, S. K., Bacos, C. A., Laferriere, J. R., Head, D. L. (2019), 11(2), 40-49).

Dr. Jeffrey Laferriere, assistant professor of education and director of secondary education, had two co-authored chapters published in Game-Based Assessment Revisited (edited by Dirk Ifenthaler and Yoon Jeon Kim). The first, Assessing Learning form, with, and in Games Revisited: A Heuristic for Emerging Methods and Commercial Off-the-Shelf Games (doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-15569-8_2), can be found here. The second, Examining Designed Experiences: A Walkthrough for Understanding Video Games as Performance Assessments (doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-15569-8_6), can be read here.

Danielle Yoder ’92, elementary education, was named principal of Easterly Parkway Elementary School in the State College Area School District. She was previously principal of Penns Valley Elementary and Intermediate School and earlier at Centre Hall-Potter Elementary School.

Dr. David Bolton ’89, mathematics, was named superintendent of Pennridge. He previously served as assistant superintendent for elementary education in the Central Bucks School District.