Abdi Warfa, Principle Investigator

Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 2013
Ph.D. Candidacy, University of Washington, 2008
M.Sc., University of Washington, Seattle, 2006
B.Sc., University of California, San Diego, 2000
awarfa@umn.edu
Postdoctoral Associate
Petra Kranzfelder

Dr. Kranzfelder’s current research interests center on characterizing what happens in engaged learning environments that makes them effective. An in-depth understanding of STEM instructional practices in reform environments has the potential to transform how instructors interact with their students and how the students engage with both faculty and their fellow students. To this end, Petra is working on identifying and empirically examining the various discourse strategies STEM faculty enact when teaching in engaged learning environments.
Ph.D. in Entomology - University of Minnesota Twin Cities, 2017
M.S. in Entomology - University of Minnesota Twin Cities, 2012
B.A. in Biology - Colorado College, 2009
kranz081@umn.edu
Google Scholar Profile | ResearchGate Profile | Directory Profile
Undergraduate Students
Lindsey Walker

Project: Analysis of Teacher Discourse Moves (TDMs) in reform-based STEM environments
Lindsey is currently Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development Biology major in the College of Biological sciences and has interest in how science is taught and explained to non-science majors. She plans to become a genetic counselor in the future. She is currently working on analysis of teacher discourse moves project.
Sagal Mohammed

Sagal is a neuroscience major in CBS who is also studying public health. Her future plans include attending medical school as well as developing means in order to make health care more accessible worldwide. She is currently working on the analysis of teacher discourse moves research project.
Vinit Vaghani

Vinit Vaghani is currently majoring in Biology, Society, and Environment in the College of Liberal Arts with the intention to teach high school biology and environmental science. He is currently working on the analysis of teacher discourse moves research project.
Past Members
Megan Abdirahman
Project: Modeling and model-based reasoning in undergraduate biological sciences courses
Megan is a Biology, Society, and Environment major in the College of Liberal Arts with future plans to attend medical school. She is working on the modeling and model-based reasoning project.
Salma Ahmad

Project: Modeling and Model-Based Reasoning in STEM
Salma is a Biology, Society, and Environment major in the College of Liberal Arts. Her future plans is to attend medical school and specialize in dermatology. She is currently working on analysis of how different modeling tasks influence student understanding of biological concepts (e.g., DNA-protein interactions).
Alexander Lo
Alexander Lo is a biology major in the College of Biological Sciences with future plans to attend flight school. He is currently observing classrooms to measure active learning practices at department-wide scales.
Marin Melloy

Marin Melloy is a biology major in the College of Biological Sciences that is also studying Spanish. She is interested in the best ways of teaching STEM subjects to international students or students who do not speak English as their first language. She is currently observing classrooms to measure active learning practices at department-wide scales.