Teachers College faculty recognized for excellence

Four faculty members in ASU's Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College were honored for demonstrating excellence in the field of education through exemplary scholarship, research and teaching.

Receiving 2014 Teachers College Faculty Awards, ASU professors Michelene Chi, Sarup Mathur, Josephine Marsh and Lauren Harris were lauded for their contributions to the field that are helping transform the way we think about education on local, national and global scales.

The award recipients were recognized at the college’s Sept. 19 meeting for faculty and staff, where Mari Koerner, dean of the Teachers College, presented the awards.

Outstanding Research Achievement with Impact

A cognitive learning scientist, professor Michelene Chi focuses her research on learning and education. Her work is cited extensively in scientific papers and has been empirically acclaimed by the learned societies.

Chi keynoted at the 2014 International Conference on Conceptual Change in Bologna, Italy, and is a member of the National Academy of Education, a founding fellow of the Cognitive Science Society, and a fellow of the American Educational Research Association (AERA).

She received the 2013 Sylvia Scribner Award from the AERA and the 2014 William Elgin Wickenden Award from the American Society for Engineering Education. She was recently appointed chair-designate of AERA’s Research Advisory Committee.

Outstanding Achievement for Global Impact

As co-principal investigator and academic director of the India Support for Teacher Education Program (In-STEP), Sarup Mathur, associate professor, is helping to expand the impact of Teachers College across the globe. In her role, she is creating a shared vision and common understanding of teacher preparation between educators in India and at ASU.

She has also facilitated Teachers College communication with the Indian government, USAID and local education administrators. Mathur helped build capacity among participating U.S. teacher educators to provide culturally appropriate professional learning experiences to the In-STEP fellows from India.

Outstanding Integration of Scholarship with Teaching

In addition to her role as associate professor of literacy education, Josephine Marsh is the professor in residence at ASU Preparatory Academy (ASU Prep).

Since 2011, she has worked with ASU Prep administrators and teachers to integrate scholarship with teaching, creating academically rigorous and supportive teaching and learning environments for K-12 students from a wide range of backgrounds.

She is at one or both of the ASU Prep campuses every day, providing “just-in-time” professional development, and using ethnographic and action research methods to build knowledge about instructional methods and the school transformation process.

Promising Research Scholar

One of the core principles of Teachers College is to “conduct, support and disseminate research that impacts educational thought and action.” Lauren Harris, assistant professor, has exemplified this principle since her arrival at ASU.

Her research areas include disciplinary literacy practices in history, and how teachers and teacher educators can help students make global connections. Harris consistently identifies ways her work can be applied and useful to the K-12 classroom through her use-inspired, grounded research.

In addition to peer-reviewed journal articles, she also authors content aimed at transforming teacher practice.