News and Notes

Faculty and Staff

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Professor Amy C. Bradshaw and graduate students Matthew R. McDonald and Yuchen Li attended the 2023 annual convention of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology. Bradshaw was a primary planner for this year’s conference, marking AECT’s 100th anniversary. Together, Bradshaw and McDonald presented two sessions – one of which was honored with a “Presidential Session” designation, and both participated in the annual Socratic Seminar in which eight international scholars engage in Socratic dialogue with one graduate student (McDonald) on the topic of the student's focus of inquiry. Bradshaw also was a panelist in a session sponsored by the AECT Graduate Student Assembly, and Li presented posters on behalf of his student colleagues and former faculty advisor.

Associate Professor Erin Casey co-authored the article “Preparing democratic early childhood teachers in Don't Say Gay times: how course readings fall short” in Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education. Click Here to Read the Article

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Associate Professor Sarah Guthery published a research brief in The Conversation titled ”Texas tried to fix its teacher shortage by lowering requirements − the result was more new teachers, but at lower salaries.” The study was published in AERA Open and found that when teacher licenses were less rigorous and easier to obtain, it resulted in more new teachers, but also lower wages for those teachers.
Click Here to Read the Research Brief
Click Here to Read the Research Article

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Professor Diane Horm was invited to speak at the Fall Summit of the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women on Oct. 24. The summit explores solutions to the childcare crisis, a significant hurdle that women face in pursuing economic growth opportunities. Horm presented during a breakout session to discuss working with nonprofit organizations to address the crisis.

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Assistant Professor Julianna Kershen was a presenter at the War, the Holocaust, and Human Rights Conference in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Kershen's presentation was titled “Critical Interrogations of Place in American Literature of the Iraq War (2003-11).”

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Assistant Professor Alison Koenka recently published two articles: “Profiles of afterschool motivations: A situated expectancy-value approach” in Contemporary Educational Psychology (Click Here to Read) and “A literature review of Black and Latiné youth’s experience of inequitable feedback: How can middle school educators provide motivationally-supportive feedback?” in Middle School Journal. Click Here to Read the Article

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Professor Robin Zape-tah-hol-ah Minthorn received the Distinguished Alumna Award from the Oklahoma State University American Indian Alumni Society. She was honored at a reception Oct. 7 in Stillwater.

Minthorn presented “Indigenizing the Academy: Cultivating a Tribal Community Consciousness in Higher Education” at Williams College’s annual W. Allison Davis, Class of 1924, and John A. Davis, Class of 1933, Lecture on Nov. 9. Click Here to Learn More

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Minthorn, Assistant Professor Natalie Rose Youngbull and ELPS graduate students James D. Wagnon and Amber Silverhorn-Wolfe received the Dr. Charles E. Eberly Journal of Sorority and Fraternity Life Research and Practice Award from the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors for their article “Reconceptualizing Indigeneity Within the Fraternity and Sorority Community.”

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Assistant Professor Kate Raymond took part in the second annual Summit of the SEC+ Mathematics Education Community, held on the University of Florida campus Oct. 14-15. The group consists of mathematics educators from Southeastern Conference universities, along with several other universities. The goal of the summit was to discuss how their universities can increase the number of new mathematics teachers they are producing, and the group has been meeting virtually monthly for over two years. Before the summit, the group expanded to include the new SEC members, including Raymond.

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Assistant Professor Richard Velasco published “Stakeholders’ Conceptions of STEM and Elementary STEM Clubs Within a Community-University Partnership” in The Electronic Journal for Research in Science and Mathematics Education. Click Here to Read the Article

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Assistant Professor LaShawn Faith Washington co-authored an opinion editorial in The Chronicle of Higher Education titled “How to Stay Friends on the Faculty Job Market.” Click Here to Read the Article.

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Assistant Professor Natalie Youngbull is part of a research team that received an additional $785,184 grant from the National Science Foundation for their research project “OU Elevate: Implementing Equitable Multi-Context Faculty Evaluations and Workload Distributions.” Learn More about OU Elevate

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Assistant Professor Liz Zumpe facilitated the keynote workshop Oct. 5 at the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate. The #CPED23 hands-on keynote workshop focused on discussions and hands-on activities that distinguish the Problem of Practice in Ed.D. programs. Participants learned how to go about teaching and supporting scholarly practitioners in identifying and deeply understanding the problems they face in practice, and they center in their dissertations in practice.

Students and Alumni

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Learning Sciences doctoral student Dani Berry recently co-authored “Writing Self‑Efficacy in Postsecondary Students: A Scoping Review” in Educational Psychology Review. In this review, the authors examine studies of writing self-efficacy conducted with postsecondary students published between 1984 and 2021. They aimed to inventory the methodological choices, writing contexts and types of pedagogies explored in studies of writing self-efficacy with postsecondary students, and summarize the practical implications noted across the included studies. Click Here to Read the Article

Educational Administration, Curriculum and Supervision doctoral student Ronald Grant was named a Top 40 Oklahoma Hispanic Institute Leadership Award winner. Grant is the senior director of business and finance at Metro Technology Centers.

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Learning Sciences doctoral students Casey Haskins, Jessica Dickinson and Sarah Noon co-authored the article ”Wellbeing under threat: Multiply marginalized and underrepresented teachers’ intersecting identities” in Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice. Click Here to Read the Article

Educational Administration, Curriculum and Supervision M.Ed. student Brielle Thierry was named one of two 2023 Phillips 66® Live to the Full Heroes™ honorees and was recognized during the Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament in March. Theirry, who teaches at Millwood Elementary School in Oklahoma City, received an additional $6,600 donation to support her schools and classroom. Click Here to Watch the Video

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Rebecca (Layman) Decker (B.S. Ed. 2018) was chosen as American Fidelity’s October Teacher of the Month for October. Decker teaches mathematics at Northwest Classen High School in Oklahoma City.

Bryan Duke (Ph.D. 2003) was named dean of the College of Education and Professional Studies at the University of Central Oklahoma in June. Duke has been at UCO for over two decades, holding various key positions. Before his interim dean role, he served as the associate dean from 2019 to 2021, and in both roles, he provided support for programs in education and the professional studies areas. He served as the assistant dean and director of education preparation from 2012 to 2019.

Pamela Martin Fry (B.S. Ed. 1979) was selected for induction into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame for her distinguished achievements and contributions to higher education. Martin Fry is president of Oklahoma State University-Tulsa.

Joyce Henderson (secondary school administration certificate, 1973) is part of the 36th class of Hall of Fame Honorees for the Oklahoma Educators Hall of Fame. Henderson is a champion of rural education and spent 37 years as an educator. For most of her career, she was a principal at various Oklahoma City High Schools, including Emerson, Classen (original), Northeast and Star Spencer.

Ray Henson (professional certificate in superintendent studies, 1972) is part of the 36th class of Hall of Fame Honorees for the Oklahoma Educators Hall of Fame. His 53-year education career includes work as a science teacher in Kinta, the high school basketball coach for Glenpool and the Talihina Public Schools superintendent.

Barbara Kinast (B.S. Ed. 1998) was named assistant principal at Longfellow Middle School in Norman in June.

Lisa Supercinski Muller (Ph.D. 2014) received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Longview Independent School District (Texas) in October. Supercinski Muller joined Pryor Public Schools in Oklahoma as superintendent in July 2021 after serving as associate superintendent for instructional services at Jenks Public Schools. Before moving into administration, she was a teacher and instructional coach in Texas and Oklahoma as well as an academic principal at Jenks High School.

Kimberly Pennington (M.Ed. 2003; Ph.D. 2014) was named assistant dean and director of Educator Preparation at UCO in July. She joined UCO’s Teacher Education Services Office as coordinator of school partnerships in 2014 and was appointed to the faculty of the Department of Educational Sciences, Foundations and Research in 2015.

Steve Turner (Ph.D. 1998) was selected for induction into the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame for his distinguished achievements and contributions to higher education. Turner is president of Northeastern State University.

Around the College

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