Research

Physics Education Research, Computation in K-12 Physics

I am interested in exploring the implementation of computers and technology for students learning physics. Computation unlocks a new realm of visualization techniques, computational thinking practices, and data understanding that are important for numerous disciplines. Specifically, I focus on the high school physics classroom and how simulations may enhance accessibility, comprehension, and attitudes toward course content. As a part of a National Science Foundation funded grant, we are “Integrating Computational Science Across Michigan” by administering teacher professional development, student assessment, and equitable participation research.

Materials Science, Thermoelectrics

Thermoelectric (TE) materials could be a solution to improving energy efficiency as our society moves toward a more sustainable energy landscape. TEs are semiconducting materials capable of converting heat to electricity by a solid-state mechanism known as the Seebeck effect. This effect is somewhat similar to that in solar devices, only instead of converting light to electricity, TEs covert heat to electricity. This is useful for power generation applications because we could use a thermoelectric generator to recapture energy that would otherwise be lost as waste heat. Contrastingly, TEs may also utilize electricity to control the temperature of an object by the Peltier effect, and this has applications in solid-state cooling devices.