Research

Projects in the James group are responsive to research students' ideas and interests, and thus we engage in a broad variety of research projects--some of which have been recently published.

In addition to these student-initiated projects, our long-term interest is in investigating students' knowledge resource activation in unfamiliar, interdisciplinary STEM contexts.

Many of the pressing challenges facing us today—such as global climate change, energy production, antibiotic resistance—transcend the traditional STEM disciplines. Because chemistry is the ‘central science,’ it has broad applications in the interdisciplinary contexts addressing these major challenges. Materials chemistry in particular is highly relevant to many of these contexts, but little is known about the teaching and learning of materials chemistry topics. A central pillar of ongoing research in the James lab aims to investigate how students activate their chemistry knowledge resources in unfamiliar, materials chemistry-related contexts.

Current Funding

National Science Foundation: Building Capacity in STEM Education Research (NSF:BCSER) 2023, Grant No. 2320454: "Identifying the foundational skills and concepts used in materials chemistry practice" | $340,808.
- PI: N.M. James
National Science Foundation: STEM Education Research-Individual Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (NSF:STEMEdIPRF). 2024, Grant No. 2411997: "Investigating the Use of Alternative Grading Systems in Undergraduate STEM Education" | $324,000.
- PI: E.B. Vaughan; Sponsoring Researcher: N.M. James
Reed College: New Faculty Start-Up Fund; Stillman-Drake Fund; Summer Scholarship Fund; Professional Travel Fund.