Mary McVee
Director, Center for Literacy & Reading Instruction
Organizing Committee Member, 2022 Positioning Theory Conference
Professor
LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION
Specialty/Research Focus
Curriculum and Instruction; Cultural Studies; Engineering Education; Diversity; Digital Media and Learning; Curriculum and Instruction; Design Experiments; Literacy; Discourse analysis; Immigrant Issues; Reading Instruction; Ethnography; Race, Inequality, and Education; Linguistic, Discourse, and Sociocultural Context; Multimodality, Embodiment, and Digital Literacy; Multimodality; Qualitative Research Methods; Research Design; Research Methods
Education and Training:
- PhD, Michigan State University (1999)
- MA, Michigan State University (1994)
- BA, University of Montana, Missoula (1988)
Awards and Honors:
- GSE STAR Award for Advising; Graduate School of Education; 2021-05-07;
- 2019-2020 Exceptional Doctoral Mentor; Graduate Student Association Department of Learning & Instruction, University at Buffalo.; 2020-05-20;
- Invited Member of White House Summit on Advancing Technology in Teacher Preparation, Office of Educational Technology, Dept. of Education, Washington DC.; Office of Educational Technology, Dept. of Education, Washington DC.; 2016-12-12;
- Invited Member of National Technology Leadership Summit, Washington DC (2016, 2017, 2018).; National Technology Leadership Summit; 2016-09-28;
- Mid-Career Award; AERA Division K: Teaching & Teacher Education; 2007-04-10;
Recent Publications:
Book:
- Roof, L., & McVee, M. B. (2020). The experiences of refugee youth from Burma in an American high school: Countering deficit-based narratives through student voice. New York: Routledge.
Edited Book:
- McVee, M. B., Orlieb, E. T., Reichenberg, J., & Pearson, P. D. (2019). The Gradual Release of Responsibility model in research and practice. Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing.
Journal Article:
- McVee, M. B., Silvestri, K. N., Schucker, K. A., & Cun, A. (2021). Positioning Theory, embodiment, and the moral orders of objects in social dynamics: How Positioning Theory has neglected the body and artifactual knowing. Special Issue in honor of Rom Harré, Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour.
- Silvestri, K., Jordan, M., Paugh, P., McVee, M. B., Schallert, D. (2021). Intersecting engineering and literacies: A review of the literature on communicative literacies in K-12 engineering education. Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/jpeer/vol11/iss1/1/
Book Chapter:
- Cun, A. & McVee, M. B. (2022). Listening to the stories of refugee children from Burma: A positioning and multimodal study. In S. Brown & L. Hao (Eds.), Multimodal literacies in young emergent bilinguals: Speaking back to print-centric practices. Multilingual Matters Publishing.
Recent Presentations:
Invited Lectures:
- McVee, M. B. (September 15, 2021). Positioning Theory, Multimodality, and Embodiment. A talk for the 2021-2022 Positioning Theory Virtual Talk Series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N--C0ma998;
- McVee, M. B. (July 20, 2020). Beyond the sign post: Using positioning theory as a foundational framework in research studies. 2020 Positioning Theory One-Day Virtual Symposium. Hosted by University of Buffalo, SUNY and Center for Literacy & Reading Instruction.;
Conferences:
- McVee, M. B., Lin, A., Chen, Q., & Rish, R., (April, 2021 COVID-19; workshops were cancelled and not offered in the AERA Virtual platform). Multimodal Analysis and Social Semiotics for Qualitative Analysis in Educational Research. A Professional Development Session to be presented at American Educational Research Association Conference.;
- Panel Chair: Challenges and Explorations in Multimodality; AERA 2021, Virtual Panel sponsored by AERA Semiotics in Education SIG. Panelists: Dr. Julia Gillen, Marjorie Siegel, Columbia University, Jennifer Turner, University of Marylan,. Maria Varelas;
- McVee, M. B. (April, 2020 COVID-19 interrupted). Critical multimodal narrative analysis: A conceptual framework to explore positioning in narrative through social semiotics. American Educational Research Association Conference. San Fransciso, CA.;
Recent Grants:
Grant:
- Civic Engagement Dissemination Fellowship: Designing Vital Engineering and Literacy Oriented Practices in STEM for Elementary Teachers and Children (DeVELOP STEM ETC.) 15/16; State; University at Buffalo, CEPP; Awarded; (04/01/2016-08/15/2016)
- Designing Vital Engineering and Literacy Oriented Practices in STEM. University at Buffalo Civic Engagement Grant Development Fellowship; Local; UB; Awarded; (06/17/2015-06/30/2016)
- Engineering Literacy in the Elementary School: Learning the Engineering Design Process to Read, Write, Think, Talk, and Act Like an Engineer.; Local; UB; Awarded; (05/01/2015-06/30/2016)
Sponsored Research:
- 2017 McVee, M. B. (PI) Addressing the Opportunity Gap in STEM for Girls through Engineering Club. $2,000; Federal; University at Buffalo, SUNY Institute for Research and Education on Women and Gender.; Awarded; (06/23/2017-06/23/2018)
Recent Activities:
Editorial and Review:
- Editorial Advisory Board, Journal of Literacy Research
05/26/2021-05/28/2022
Professional Service:
- Elected Member, Literacy Research Association Board of Directors
04/13/2020-12/01/2023 - AERA Chair, Semiotics in Education SIG
04/01/2020-03/31/2022 - 2022 Positioning Theory Conference Chair
09/01/2019-05/28/2022 - Reviewer Literacy Research Association (LRA) Proposals; LRA Oscar Causey Award Committee Member, Reviewer, AERA Conference Proposals, Session Chair LRA; Discussant LRA
05/26/2018-05/26/2018