Research that shapes what gets built.

Selected work

1. Boise State University · January 2014–January 2017

   Building a lab—and developing its researchers

   Built a student research lab and served as PI or Co-PI on funded projects totaling $317,600.

   The lab reached a peak of 22 student researchers, averaging approximately six students per semester. Student researchers reported to me; faculty and industry collaborators participated as partners.

   Read the Boise State case: Building a lab—and developing its researchers →

2. Pearson · Athens / Global Learning Platform · 2016–2019

   Making the problem-solving process visible

   Secured another two and a half weeks of research and coordinated support across GLP teams. The additional research informed a decision to break engineering problems into explicit steps rather than ask only for a final answer.

   My research leadership described here is specific to Athens.

   Read the Athens case: Making the problem-solving process visible →

3. Amplifire · 2017–2018

   Making learning feedback visible and understandable

   I contributed substantially to a six-participant biometric usability study of how learners encountered and interpreted feedback during a quiz experience. The Amplifire team acted on the dashboard/navigation recommendations.

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   Research question

   Were learners noticing dashboard-based Mindset Messaging, understanding it, and taking meaningful action?

   My contribution

   I contributed substantially to a biometric usability study examining how learners encountered and interpreted feedback during a quiz experience.

   Evidence · six-participant study

   In the six-participant study, five participants opened the dashboard only after prompting. One opened it independently but immediately closed it. The study found that the messaging went unnoticed during the task and remained unclear when participants were prompted to review it.

   Recommendations

   The report recommended considering an initially open dashboard when its content was essential to the experience, and using question indicators to help learners navigate back to questions.

   Implementation

   The Amplifire team acted on the dashboard/navigation recommendations.