Research and Scholarship
Muhlenberg education students are busy taking courses and engaging with public school classrooms in the area. However, their passion for teaching and learning motivates them to collaborate with department faculty on self-initiated research and learning projects. Below is a sample of recently completed and ongoing work, showing the breadth of research interest:
Second Language Listening Pedagogy: Recent graduate Dylan Ashton '18 and Pauline LeMaster '21 are collaborating with Dr. Mark Emerick on a study of secondary (grades 7-12) world language and ESL teachers' beliefs about teaching listening skills. The study involves a survey of teachers from across the country with a focus on understanding what instructional strategies are commonly used to teach listening and how well they feel that teacher education programs prepared them to teach listening in a second langauge.
Science Fair Support in Allentown SD: Secondary education student Vincent Vitiello ’17 is working with Professor Sally Richwine to support Science Fair projects in the Allentown School District. Vincent is responsible for leading of team of undergraduates who mentor science fair teams as they prepare original projects. The groups is working with students across ASD’s three middle schools.
History of Disability in the US: Elementary education student Kristen Wendt ’15 researched the representations of disability in the United States. She worked with the department’s special education expert, Professor Sally Richwine as well as the history department’s Professor Sue Clemens. Kristen won a Library Scholars award for her work.
Bilingual Education in Europe: Elementary education student Elisabeth Guenette ’15 researched the theories and methods of English as a Foreign Language, with specific attention to practices within France. She was guided by the department’s literacy expert, Professor Cathy Kim.
Educational Policy in America: Education student Ryan Lagomarsino ’13 completed an independent project centering on No Child Left Behind and other educational policies with the departments education history and policy expert Dr. Michael Carbone.
Arts and Community Intersections: The department’s Dr. Pearl Rosenberg, along with Media and Communication department’s Dr. Lora Taub, lead ongoing student research in the role arts education can play in urban schooling. Undergraduate students collaborate with area high school students on this project.
