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Research Projects

Partnership for Engineering Education in the Rockies (2005-2008)

I was part of a NSF-funded project called the Partnership for Engineering Education in the Rockies (PEER) at Colorado State University. I implemented a 6-week summer camp and taught year-long community college courses in Electrical and Computer Engineering. I coordinated all logistics, designed the curriculum, and served as the head counselor of the summer camp.

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Publications

  • Gregg, J., K. McDonnell, and T. Chen. “Work in Progress – PEER College Summer Camp.” In Proceedings Frontiers in Education 35th Annual Conference, S1F-S1F, 2005. https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.2005.1612187.

  • McDonnell, Katherine, and Tom Chen. “The PEER Program: Creating a Pre-College Computer and Semiconductor Curriculum in the Rocky Mountain Region.” In 2007 37th Annual Frontiers In Education Conference – Global Engineering: Knowledge Without Borders, Opportunities Without Passports, F1B-3-T1A-8, 2007. https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.2007.4417973.

  • McDonnell, Katherine, and Tom Chen. “Work in Progress: Creating a Computer Engineering Curriculum for High School Students.” In Proceedings. Frontiers in Education. 36th Annual Conference, 5–6, 2006. https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE.2006.322462.

CSU GK-12 Biosensor Program (2009-2014)

I participated in a GK-12 Project, where graduate fellows from Colorado State University taught lessons in my chemistry class and helped my students complete a research project. Students were able to present their findings at a poster session at CSU.

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I also helped to implement this program in the Cherry Creek School District, where it became a interdisciplinary-focused STEM project.

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Presentations

  • "Integrating Biosensor Research into a High School Science Classroom," Special Interest Session with Megan Easterly, National Science Foundation Annual GK-12 Meeting (March 2010)

  • Special Interest Session with Dan Wagner, National Science Foundation Annual GK-12 Meeting (March 2011)

CSAwesome RPP (2022-2023)

CSAwesome is an amazing, free curriculum for AP Computer Science A. In 2022, I was hired as a PD facilitator for the NSF RPP project, which was designed to study teachers' success in learning the CSAwesome material and CS pedagogy and implementing it in their classrooms. The RPP program is over, but I am still a PD facilitator for CSAwesome.

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Presentations

  • Lake, P., Robidoux, R., Smith, B., & McDonnell, K. (2022). Teaching and Learning CS with Runestone E-books. CSTA Annual Conference 2022.

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