TELS Community Student Fellows

  • Beat A. Schwendimann
    University of California, Berkeley
    Doctoral Student
    bschwendimann@berkeley.edu
    Beat holds master degrees in biology and science education and is an experienced science educator. He is interested in how different forms of visualizations help students integrate ideas in biology. For his dissertation, Beat investigates how generating or critiquing domain-specific concept maps can help students connect genetics and evolution ideas. His research interests include science education, technology-supported learning environments, inquiry-based learning, collaborative learning, and knowledge visualizations.
    TELS
    CLEAR
    VISUAL
  • Elissa Sato
    University of California, Berkeley
    Doctoral Student
    elissa.sato@berkeley.edu
    I am interested in how middle school students make sense of criteria pertaining to their explanations about scientific phenomena, and how peer critique and feedback can help students develop criteria for their own explanations.
    CLEAR
  • David Isaac Miller
    University of California, Berkeley
    Doctoral Student
    David.Miller@berkeley.edu
    David's research interests largely focus on how computer visualizations can support students' spatial thinking skills. He received his B.S. in Mathematical Physics from Harvey Mudd College and is now a PhD student in UC - Berkeley's Science Education Research (SESAME) program. His undergraduate thesis project investigated the benefits of formal spatial instruction among highly gifted science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduates. David is currently authoring and testing an inquiry project on the chemical properties of detergent molecules and oil dispersant use in the gulf coast.
    VISUAL
  • Tammie Visintainer
    University of California, Berkeley
    Doctoral Student
    tvis@berkeley.edu
    Tammie is interested in issues of equity in science education. Her research is currently focused on two areas: 1) Sixth grade students conceptions of the mechanisms associated with global climate change, the evidence they use to support their ideas, and the connections they make between everyday actions and this complex scientific phenomenon. 2) Under-represented middle school students’ progressions along trajectories of developing interest in, and identification with, science (or not) as they participate in non-traditional forms of science instruction.
    CLEAR
  • Jennifer King Chen
    University of California, Berkeley
    Doctoral Student
    jykchen@berkeley.edu
    Jenn is a doctoral student in the Education in Math, Science and Technology (EMST) program in Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education. She is interested in studying how curriculum and instruction that supports the development and use of metacognition can help learners to generate more sophisticated explanations about complex scientific phenomena. As a member of the VISUAL team, Jenn also investigates how metacognition supports students in learning from and making sense of dynamic visualizations.
    VISUAL
  • Hillary Swanson
    University of California, Berkeley
    Doctoral Student
    hswanson@berkeley.edu
    Hillary is a doctoral student in UC Berkeley's Graduate Group in Science and Mathematics Education. Her experience as a high school science teacher inspired her interest in researching ways to make science accessible and engaging for all students. As a member of the VISUAL team, Hillary studies the role of visualizations in learning. She is particularly interested in exploring how student generated representations might be leveraged to develop understanding of energy conservation in chemical reactions.
    CLEAR
    VISUAL
  • Pooja Maharaj
    University of California, Berkeley
    Masters Student
    pmaharaj@berkeley.edu
    Pooja received her undergraduate bachelors major in Ecology and Evolution and minored in Education from University of California, Santa Cruz. She is interested in seeing the effects of a WISE project that educates 7th graders about Cellular Respiration and the effects of step-by-step, student generated diagrams on Photosynthesis on ninth grade students. She isalso interested in teaching high school Biology.
    TELS