NEWS
Julianna Lopez Kershen, an assistant professor in the Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education, is one of six researchers nationwide named to the American Educational Research Association’s Fellowship Program on the Study of Deeper Learning.
Kershen will conduct research using the Deeper Learning dataset from the American Institutes for Research for her project titled “Articulating Apprenticeship Learning in the SDL Classroom Products Dataset.” The data she will analyze contains national high school student performance data, student interview data and teacher feedback data dating to 2012.
“I'll be analyzing student work products, which are assignments that students have created, as well as teacher data that is either linked to the assignment or teacher feedback to the student products,” Kershen said. “By triangulating student products with what students say about their learning and what teachers say about learning decisions, we can improve how we talk about core practices in classrooms.”
This fellowship will support these six early career recipients by providing opportunities to collaborate and build networks, hone their methodological skills, and aid efforts to garner future funding. The researchers will present their findings at the 2025 American Educational Research Association’s annual conference and submit manuscripts for publication.
“The ultimate goal of this research is to improve classroom pedagogy and educational outcomes for all youth,” Kershen said. “By analyzing what students say about high school experiences that set them up to be successful academically and that honor who they are culturally and linguistically, we’re contributing to the conversations of continuous improvement in American high schools. Because of that, I’m very honored to be part of this project.”
Learn more about the Deeper Learning Fellows and the Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education’s Instructional Leadership and Academic Curriculum.
Ghost towns have fascinated Jeffrey Schmidt, an associate professor of marketing and innovation at the University of Oklahoma, since the late 1990s. Now, after four years of academic research and road trips across the state, he has published Here Today: Oklahoma’s Ghost Towns, Vanishing Towns, and Towns Persisting against the Odds – a book that examines 100 interesting towns from the panhandle to the Red River.
A recent study, led by University of Oklahoma researcher Hanping Ding, Ph.D., has revealed a new way to convert methane into hydrogen and benzene, a finding that could reduce carbon emissions produced during chemical manufacturing.
Researchers at the University of Oklahoma are studying a new blood test that potentially can identify more than 50 types of cancer, notably the ones that might otherwise go undetected until after the cancer has spread. The clinical trial, offered at OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center, is studying a multi-cancer early detection test made by the company Grail.
