Research

As one of the top schools of education in the nation, GSE faculty and students conduct cutting-edge research in education to address equity and inclusion in formal and informal learning spaces from rural communities to urban districts. Our research makes transformative impacts locally, nationally and internationally.

Our Research

Creating a sense of belonging for women in STEM education
12/10/19
Tiffany Karalis Noel, clinical assistant professor from the Department of Learning and Instruction, is exploring how to reduce gender bias against women in STEM education. “Despite progress with recruitment, as women in the United States continue to be underrepresented in STEM fields, it is imperative to understand the factors that may influence women’s feelings of belonging and motivation to remain in STEM fields,” Karalis Noel writes in a commentary article, “Exploring Non-Retention of Women in STEM,” for Teachers College Record.
Improving digital literacy in Canadian public libraries
11/19/19
Heidi Julien, professor from the Department of Information Science, and other colleagues from universities in Canada have been awarded a Partnership Development Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The grant will help fund a project exploring public library approaches to digital literacy.
GSE professor collaborates to start a museum in Bhutan
10/22/19
Sameer Honwad, assistant professor from the Department of Learning and Instruction, is working with partners from the Royal Thimpu College (RTC) in Bhutan to start a museum that focuses on highlighting socio-scientific issues such as environmental sustainability and climate change. This idea was derived from a collaborative project titled “Weaving Strands of Knowledge: Connecting Culture and Science to Climate Change” funded by the American Association of Museums. As part of this project, students from RTC and the University of New Hampshire (UNH) travelled to each other’s communities in the summer of 2017. During this time, they collected audio stories from locals who work with the land in New England and Bhutan.
Understanding information literacy at community colleges
10/15/19
Understanding the instructional practices of information literacy (IL) in community college libraries, as well as the perceptions of librarians and students regarding the IL needs of students, is a nationwide concern. Currently, community colleges account for over 50 percent of the institutions of higher education and these colleges educate nearly half of the post-secondary students.
Jacobson involved with two global projects
10/8/19
Stephen Jacobson, UB Distinguished Professor from the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy, has been all over the world teaching courses and participating in many different research projects. “Everyone wants to go visit a country that is excelling in education, but there is more to learn by going to places that are still evolving,” says Jacobson, who was brought to Albania to discuss education from an American perspective, and is involved with a large international research project in India to reduce gender-based violence with the use of prosocial computer games.
Say Yes Buffalo awarded $2.9 million grant
9/24/19
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded Say Yes Buffalo and its partner institutions — including UB — a 22 month, $2.9 million grant to increase college completion rates for Buffalo Public School (BPS) graduates. Say Yes Buffalo, launched in 2012, is a community collaboration dedicated to increasing high school and postsecondary graduation rates. Say Yes Buffalo is also a college scholarship program for BPS students.
GSE professor conducts research across three countries
8/27/19
Amy VanScoy, associate professor from the Department of Information Science, was collecting data in the United States when she decided to turn her research on librarians into an international study. “Personally, I find it ethnocentric if I only conduct studies in the United States,” said VanScoy. “I want to do research in other countries because there has to be some differences that we can learn from.” She is leading a global project across Slovenia, South Africa and the United States examining different librarian approaches to reference and information services (RIS).
Socioemotional Learning Standards
7/30/19
A growing body of research suggests that children’s socioemotional well-being is fundamentally important to their healthy and productive development. This finding implies that college, career and civic readiness is tied to better socioemotional skills and well-being.
Rapidly changing technology impacts learning
7/16/19
Marc Isseks, a doctoral student from the Department of Learning and Instruction, wrote the book “Forward Fast: Making Sense of Education in an Era of Rapid Change,” which documents the changes that have occurred over the past two decades regarding education and technology. “When I first started teaching, I was making exams on a machine that was cranked by hand,” Isseks said. “Now, I watch teachers airdrop packets of information into their students’ iPads and it is just unbelievable.”
Fostering equitable math experiences for girls
6/18/19
Mathematical literacy is a necessity to be a functioning member of society. However, there are significant racial and gender gaps in math achievement in the United States. More than half of low socioeconomic status, Black and Hispanic students have demonstrated below average math skills, and women remain underrepresented in many STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields.