Global Collaborations Enhance Research and Student Experiences
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By Christine Byrd
May 6, 2024 Like a tree with strong roots, the School of Education has been branching out and thriving. With international collaborations stretching from Europe to Japan, faculty and students in the school enjoy expanded opportunities for research, learning, networking, career development, funding and travel – all while a growing presence on the global stage solidifies UCI’s position as one of the world’s top schools of education and education research. Robust research collaborations One of the school’s longest-standing international collaborations is with Germany’s University of Tübingen. Jacquelynne Sue Eccles, Distinguished Professor of education, first began working closely with European education researchers back in the 1980s, and maintained those connections when she came to UCI in 2013. Trained in developmental psychology, she points out that conducting projects in both the U.S. and overseas enables researchers to use quasi-experimental design techniques, helping to suss out differences in educational outcomes due to cultural and social influences. |
Professor Rossella Santagata (top row, center) with doctoral students in Tübingen, Germany
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“We can look at the extent to which basic psychological processes in schooling play out similarly in different sociocultural settings, or are fully grounded within the culture that they are happening,” said Eccles.
Over the years, the relationship between UCI and the Tübingen researchers has evolved, creating opportunities for travel and collaboration among researchers from both institutions. A group of UCI faculty and students presented at Tübingen’s LEAD Institute this month, while two graduates from UCI are currently post-doctoral scholars at Tübingen. Several post-doctoral scholars from the German university have come to California to work on projects including the groundbreaking UCI Measuring Undergraduate Success Trajectories project (UCI-MUST).
Now Nia Nixon (née Dowell), assistant professor of education, and Drew Bailey, professor of education, are also working to extend and formalize the collaboration between the School of Education and Tübingen’s LEAD Institute and Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology.
“Both of our institutions value interdisciplinary collaboration. Bringing researchers together from different disciplines, interests, and policy contexts to carefully examine each other’s ongoing work and to discuss new ideas has the potential to generate ideas none of us would have generated on our own,” said Bailey. “I think our collaborations with the LEAD Institute have already demonstrated the potential productivity this kind of partnership can generate.
Other education faculty have also pioneered international collaborations. Elizabeth van Es, professor of education, is a founding member of EARLI’s Centre for Excellence in Research that focuses on “Teacher Professional Vision: Toward Theoretical, Methodological, and Educational Synergy.” The group brings together 10 of the world’s top researchers to exchange ideas, share research methodologies, and engage in cross-cultural research on the subject of teacher noticing – where teachers focus their attention moment-by-moment in their classroom. Van Es sees a growing interest in the equity issues related to teacher noticing from international colleagues, which is also a focal point of her own research.
“Other countries are starting to see there are lots of ways to conceptualize inequity, and their researchers are thinking about ways to make that visible to their teachers,” said van Es. For example, Northern European countries with mostly homogeneous racial groups can still experience significant inequity in the classroom, such as disparities in the way boys and girls are treated in STEM courses.
“One advantage of having an international research community is the ability to explore what’s universal and what’s more localized in how we understand these phenomena in teacher noticing,” said van Es.
Similarly, Distinguished Professor Judith Kroll co-founded the Women in Cognitive Science (WiCS) organization with funding from the National Science Foundation more than 20 years ago. The goal of WiCS is to increase the visibility of women cognitive scientists and provide support during their early careers. The group has grown to 1,000 members worldwide, and Kroll continues to serve on its advisory board.
Over the years, the relationship between UCI and the Tübingen researchers has evolved, creating opportunities for travel and collaboration among researchers from both institutions. A group of UCI faculty and students presented at Tübingen’s LEAD Institute this month, while two graduates from UCI are currently post-doctoral scholars at Tübingen. Several post-doctoral scholars from the German university have come to California to work on projects including the groundbreaking UCI Measuring Undergraduate Success Trajectories project (UCI-MUST).
Now Nia Nixon (née Dowell), assistant professor of education, and Drew Bailey, professor of education, are also working to extend and formalize the collaboration between the School of Education and Tübingen’s LEAD Institute and Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology.
“Both of our institutions value interdisciplinary collaboration. Bringing researchers together from different disciplines, interests, and policy contexts to carefully examine each other’s ongoing work and to discuss new ideas has the potential to generate ideas none of us would have generated on our own,” said Bailey. “I think our collaborations with the LEAD Institute have already demonstrated the potential productivity this kind of partnership can generate.
Other education faculty have also pioneered international collaborations. Elizabeth van Es, professor of education, is a founding member of EARLI’s Centre for Excellence in Research that focuses on “Teacher Professional Vision: Toward Theoretical, Methodological, and Educational Synergy.” The group brings together 10 of the world’s top researchers to exchange ideas, share research methodologies, and engage in cross-cultural research on the subject of teacher noticing – where teachers focus their attention moment-by-moment in their classroom. Van Es sees a growing interest in the equity issues related to teacher noticing from international colleagues, which is also a focal point of her own research.
“Other countries are starting to see there are lots of ways to conceptualize inequity, and their researchers are thinking about ways to make that visible to their teachers,” said van Es. For example, Northern European countries with mostly homogeneous racial groups can still experience significant inequity in the classroom, such as disparities in the way boys and girls are treated in STEM courses.
“One advantage of having an international research community is the ability to explore what’s universal and what’s more localized in how we understand these phenomena in teacher noticing,” said van Es.
Similarly, Distinguished Professor Judith Kroll co-founded the Women in Cognitive Science (WiCS) organization with funding from the National Science Foundation more than 20 years ago. The goal of WiCS is to increase the visibility of women cognitive scientists and provide support during their early careers. The group has grown to 1,000 members worldwide, and Kroll continues to serve on its advisory board.
“There was a need, even as recently as 2001, to recognize the challenges that women face in pursuing a career in science,” Kroll said. “WiCS organizes events to address both the barriers and solutions for women cognitive scientists.”
Kroll also leads an National Science Foundation sub-award, Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE), which supports students conducting research at their home institutions and a term in Europe, Asia and Latin America to collaborate with a PIRE network partner. In 2023-24 Education Science undergraduate students Alejandra Jimenez and Julieta Monreal conducted research in Granada, Spain, and Krakow, Poland, respectively. Both are research students in Kroll’s Bilingualism, Mind, and Brain Lab.
Training future educators & researchers
Undergraduates in the school of education also benefit from international exchange opportunities, whether they are aspiring to become teachers or education researchers. UCI works with three universities in Tokyo, Japan, through the US-Japan COIL Initiative (Collaborative Online International Learning) to offer undergraduates the chance to explore social and cultural aspects of education practices and policies through joint online courses.
“The goal of the collaborative online program is to foster cross-cultural understanding that informs how students perceive education in the US,” said Fernando Rodriguez, assistant professor of teaching, who got involved with the program in 2019 through his research on remote learning in higher education.
“International comparative education helps students expand their ideas about the field, and helps them understand that many educational practices and policies that they take for granted are culturally informed,” he added.
In addition to online courses, students will be able to spend a quarter abroad in Japan beginning next year, following a pause during the pandemic. Participating UCI students will study Japanese language and culture, while gaining insight into differences between the two countries’ school systems – such as the Japanese emphasis on the community and collective good in contrast to the American focus on developing an individual’s strengths and interests.
International education interventions
Other international partnerships continually emerge, such as one led by Gustavo Carlo, professor of education. A developmental psychologist, Carlo is planning educational interventions that could benefit some of the millions of migrant children and adolescents around the world.
The idea was inspired by Carlo’s visit to an overcrowded facility for underage migrants in Ceuta, a Spanish territory in Northern Africa. The children had attempted crossing to Europe from Africa, either traveling alone or being separated from their families during the journey across the continent. Housed in a cement compound that used to be military barracks, the children receive food, shelter and basic healthcare, but little to no education or enrichment activities to pass the months or years until they reach adulthood and are deported.
Back at UCI, Carlo reached out to his colleagues in the School of Education, Lindsey Richland and Andres Bustamante. The trio decided to create a series of educational interventions that could help migrant children like those held in Ceuta to develop social-emotional development, reasoning and logic, and math skills.
Working with researchers at the University of Granada in Spain, the team is seeking funding for the proposed intervention for migrant youth. Meanwhile, Carlo and his colleagues co-organize a conference in Granada for this June: “Understanding and promoting learning and socioemotional development through prosocial behavior in vulnerable youth.” The event will include scholars from Spain and the U.S., as well as Turkey, Argentina and Taiwan – all of which have significant migrant populations.
“We are intensely focused on children and youth development through a resiliency lens, in a way that is culturally grounded,” said Carlo. “We don’t just want to find ways to reduce psychopathology, but to take it to the next level to promote and foster health and well-being and give these kids a chance to thrive and succeed and reach their potential.”
If the project takes root, it’s likely to evolve to include faculty and graduate student exchanges between UCI and the University of Granada, enhancing the research and educational goals while simultaneously benefiting migrant children.
These partnerships, and others being forged between the School of Education and universities worldwide, hold the potential to advance education research and pedagogy both at home and abroad, improving educational outcomes for learners around the globe.
Kroll also leads an National Science Foundation sub-award, Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE), which supports students conducting research at their home institutions and a term in Europe, Asia and Latin America to collaborate with a PIRE network partner. In 2023-24 Education Science undergraduate students Alejandra Jimenez and Julieta Monreal conducted research in Granada, Spain, and Krakow, Poland, respectively. Both are research students in Kroll’s Bilingualism, Mind, and Brain Lab.
Training future educators & researchers
Undergraduates in the school of education also benefit from international exchange opportunities, whether they are aspiring to become teachers or education researchers. UCI works with three universities in Tokyo, Japan, through the US-Japan COIL Initiative (Collaborative Online International Learning) to offer undergraduates the chance to explore social and cultural aspects of education practices and policies through joint online courses.
“The goal of the collaborative online program is to foster cross-cultural understanding that informs how students perceive education in the US,” said Fernando Rodriguez, assistant professor of teaching, who got involved with the program in 2019 through his research on remote learning in higher education.
“International comparative education helps students expand their ideas about the field, and helps them understand that many educational practices and policies that they take for granted are culturally informed,” he added.
In addition to online courses, students will be able to spend a quarter abroad in Japan beginning next year, following a pause during the pandemic. Participating UCI students will study Japanese language and culture, while gaining insight into differences between the two countries’ school systems – such as the Japanese emphasis on the community and collective good in contrast to the American focus on developing an individual’s strengths and interests.
International education interventions
Other international partnerships continually emerge, such as one led by Gustavo Carlo, professor of education. A developmental psychologist, Carlo is planning educational interventions that could benefit some of the millions of migrant children and adolescents around the world.
The idea was inspired by Carlo’s visit to an overcrowded facility for underage migrants in Ceuta, a Spanish territory in Northern Africa. The children had attempted crossing to Europe from Africa, either traveling alone or being separated from their families during the journey across the continent. Housed in a cement compound that used to be military barracks, the children receive food, shelter and basic healthcare, but little to no education or enrichment activities to pass the months or years until they reach adulthood and are deported.
Back at UCI, Carlo reached out to his colleagues in the School of Education, Lindsey Richland and Andres Bustamante. The trio decided to create a series of educational interventions that could help migrant children like those held in Ceuta to develop social-emotional development, reasoning and logic, and math skills.
Working with researchers at the University of Granada in Spain, the team is seeking funding for the proposed intervention for migrant youth. Meanwhile, Carlo and his colleagues co-organize a conference in Granada for this June: “Understanding and promoting learning and socioemotional development through prosocial behavior in vulnerable youth.” The event will include scholars from Spain and the U.S., as well as Turkey, Argentina and Taiwan – all of which have significant migrant populations.
“We are intensely focused on children and youth development through a resiliency lens, in a way that is culturally grounded,” said Carlo. “We don’t just want to find ways to reduce psychopathology, but to take it to the next level to promote and foster health and well-being and give these kids a chance to thrive and succeed and reach their potential.”
If the project takes root, it’s likely to evolve to include faculty and graduate student exchanges between UCI and the University of Granada, enhancing the research and educational goals while simultaneously benefiting migrant children.
These partnerships, and others being forged between the School of Education and universities worldwide, hold the potential to advance education research and pedagogy both at home and abroad, improving educational outcomes for learners around the globe.
