Kudos: Abraham, Murphy publish books; Postdoc receives two awards from NARST; Congratulations to 2024 AERA awardees

Abraham publishes book with MIT Press

Anna Abraham, the E. Paul Torrance Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and director of the Torrance Center for Creativity and Talent Development, recently published a book with MIT Press titled, “The Creative Brain: Myths & Truths.”

Published on Tuesday, April 30, the book presents “a nuanced, science-based understanding of the creative mind that dispels the pervasive myths we hold about the human brain—but also uncovers the truth at their cores.”

Murphy publishes book for teachers

Amy Murphy, a clinical associate professor in the Department of Educational Theory and Practice, co-authored a book for teachers this month. Published by Routledge, “Frame Shifting for Teachers: Developing a Conscious Approach to Solving Persistent Teaching Dilemmas” helps educators address persistent teaching dilemmas by reframing how they think about and respond to them.

Murphy and co-author Kennedy show how adopting habits of mind, including curiosity and an asset-based teaching approach, is foundational to tackling teaching challenges more effectively and equitably. Chapters explain how teachers can then apply frame shifting by considering their dilemma in three domains: relationships, classroom management, and curriculum and instruction.

Postdoctoral research associate receives two awards from NARST

Gyeong-Geon Lee, a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies Education and the AI4STEM Education Center, received two awards from the National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST).

The Most Innovative Paper Award was sponsored by the Research in AI-Involved Science Education (RAISE), a research interest group of NARST. Lee’s conference paper, “Using ChatGPT for Science Learning: A Study on Pre-Service Teachers’ Lesson Planning,” was recognized as innovative and a significant contribution to the field.

The Basu Scholar Award was granted by the Equity and Ethics Committee on behalf of the NARST Board. The purpose of the award is to support and encourage promising young scholars who are contributing to the knowledge base on equitable science education. The awards were conferred to Lee at the 97th NARST International Conference in March.

“These two awards mean a lot to me as I pursue my career as an international researcher at UGA. The supportive environment of the department and the center made this honor possible for me,” Lee said. “I am very grateful to be a member of the College of Education community, and I look forward to collaborating with colleagues to ensure good use of artificial intelligence for education.”

As a Basu Scholar, he will present his work at the Basu Scholars Symposium for the 2025 NARST Conference.

Lee joined the College and began working with associate professor Xiaoming Zhai in September 2023. He holds Ph.D. in science education, B.S. in chemistry education, and B.E. in computer science and engineering from Seoul National University. He received two doctoral dissertation awards from the Korean Educational Research Association and the Korean Chemical Society, and an early career research award from the Korean Association for Science Education.

Congratulations to 2024 AERA awardees

The Mary Frances Early College of Education congratulates the following faculty for receiving awards in 2024 from the American Educational Research Association:

AERA Division D Outstanding Dissertation Award

Giovanni Dazzo, assistant professor, Department of Lifelong Education, Administration, and Policy

Society of Professors of Education Outstanding Book Award

Kathryn Roulston, professor and department head, Department of Lifelong Education, Administration, and Policy, for her edited book “Quests for Questioners: Inventive Approaches to Qualitative Interviews”

Outstanding Reviewer Award

Ryan Schey, assistant professor, Department of Language and Literacy Education, for reviewing the journal “AERA Open” in 2023

Society of Professors of Education Honorable Mention: Outstanding Book Award

Karen Watkins, professor, Department of Lifelong Education, Administration, and Policy, (and co-authors Erica Gilbertson and Aliki Nicolaides) for their co-authored book “The Action Research Dissertation: Learning from Leading Change”