Stains, Marilyne
Primary Appointment
Chemistry
Contact Information
PLSB 116
Telephone: 434-243-6430
Email: mstains@virginia.edu
Research Interests
We are chemical education researchers who are interested in enhancing students' experience in science classrooms through the study of faculty instructional practices and ways of thinking about teaching.
Research Description
The long-term goal of our research program is to improve the educational experiences of STEM students in College classrooms. In particular, we aim to characterize the extent, nature, and factors involved in the gap between instructional practices in science college classrooms and discipline-based education research. We are interested in 1) developing new methods to characterize instructional practices in STEM college classrooms, 2) exploring how faculty and teaching assistants think about their teaching, 3) identifying individual, departmental, and institutional factors that influence instructors' instructional decisions, and 4) characterizing the impact of different types of pedagogical professional development programs.