Laura Rodriguez

Associate Professor
Education

Biography

Laura Rodriguez is an associate professor of education specializing in K-12 science education. She completed her Ph.D. at the University of Connecticut in 2020. Her dissertation was on STEM identification in intergenerational informal science learning. She taught for over 20 years in elementary, middle, and high schools in Michigan, Ohio, South Carolina, and Connecticut. After earning her B.A. in biology from Boston University she worked as a fisheries extensionist in the Peace Corps in Ecuador, South America. She completed her M.A.T. in science education at Wayne State University.

Research Interests

STEM Identity
Science Teacher Education
K-12 Engineering Education

Of Note

Dr. Rodriguez with Dr. Barbara Murdoch, Dr. Elizabeth Cowles, Dr. Kim Ward, and former Dean Carmen Cid were awarded a 5-year NSF grant in 2020 for their project, Beyond the Curriculum: A Learning Community for Success. This innovative program will provide scholarships to 10 low-income, academically talented students majoring in biology or mathematics. Each scholarship recipient will receive $9,750 per year for four years. The goals are to increase student retention and to expedite their graduation.

Teaching Interests

Elementary science methods
Secondary science methods
Creativity in Teaching

Rodriguez CV 2025

Publications

Rodriguez, L., Ward, K., Cowles, E., Cid, C.R., & Murdoch, B. (2024). STEM Success Scholars: First-year interventions to promote STEM identification in low-income, high-achieving college students in a STEM learning community. Research Issues in Contemporary Education.

Rodriguez, L., Campbell, T., Moss, D. M., & Volin, J., (2022) Authoring STEM identities through intergenerational collaborative partnerships. International Journal of Science Education Part B: Communication and Public Engagement.

Rodriguez, L., Campbell, T., Volin, J., Moss, D. M., Arnold, C., Cisneros, L., Chadwick, C., & Dickson, D. (2021) Assessing STEM identities in Intergenerational Informal STEM Programming. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education.

Campbell, T., Rodriguez, L., Moss, D.M., Volin, J., Arnold, C., Cisneros, L.M., Chadwick, C., Dickson, D., Rubenstein, J.M. & Abebe, B. (2021) Intergenerational community conservation projects, STEM identity authoring, and positioning: The cases of two intergenerational teams. International Journal of Science Education.

Park, B-Y., Campbell, T., Kelly, M., Gray, R., Arnold, C., Chadwick, C., Cisneros, L. M., Dickson, D., Moss, D., Rodriguez, L., Volin, J. C., & Willig, M. R. (2021) Improving NGSS Focused Model-Based Learning Curriculum through the Examination of Students’ Experiences and Iterated Models. Research in Science & Technological Education DOI: 10.1080/02635143.2021.1978962

Cisneros, L., Simmons, J., Campbell, T., Freidenfelds, N., Arnold, C., Chadwick, C., Dickson, D., Moss, D., Rodriguez, L. & Volin, J. (2021). Program Design Principles to Support Teen-Adult Community Conservation Efforts. Frontiers in Education. 9(674667)

Rodriguez, Laura, "STEM Identity Authoring: Intergenerational Collaborative Learning in Informal STEM Programs" (2020). Doctoral Dissertations. 2534. https://opencommons.uconn.edu/dissertations/2534

Freidenfields, N., Cisneros, L. Rodriguez L. et al. (2020). Investigating Human Impact on Local Water Resources and Exploring Solutions. American Biology Teacher 82(9) 619 - 623.

Luehmann, A., Zhang, Y., Boyle, H., Campbell, T., Rodriguez, L., & Lundgren, L. (2020) Mentoring core practices. Invited chapter in D. Stroupe, Hammerness, K., McDonald, S. (Eds.), Preparing Science Teachers through Practice-Based Teacher Education. Boston, MA: Harvard Press

Rodriguez, L. S., Morzillo, A., Volin, J. C., & Campbell, T. (2020) Conservation science and technology identity instrument: Empirically measuring STEM identities in informal science learning programs. School Science and Mathematics, 120 (4), 244- 257. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssm.12401

Park, B., Rodriguez, L., Campbell, T. (2019) Using models to teach science? The Science Teacher. Nov 2019.

Campbell, T., McKenna, T. J., An, J., Rodriguez, L. (2019) A responsive methodological construct for supporting learners’ developing modeling competence in modeling-based learning environments. Invited chapter in D. Krüger, J. van Driel, & A. Belzen (Eds.), Towards a Framework for Model Competence in Science Education. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.

Rodriguez, L. (2018) From interest to identity: Creating and nurturing STEM kids in middle school, Science Scope. 4(3), 79-85.

Chadwick, C., Dickson, D., Arnold, C., Cisneros, L., Volin, J., Campbell, T., Moss, D., Rodriguez, L. (2018) Intergenerational STEM learning: Connecting generations through informal geospatial and conservation education. Journal of Extension 56 (5).

Ross, D., Campbell, T., McKenna, T. J., Schilling, V., Rodriguez, L., & UConn Mentor Teacher (2018) Collaborative. Supporting preservice teachers with task-based instruction. STEM Teaching Tools. http://stemteachingtools.org/brief/52

Rodriguez, L. (2010) Hunting for caterpillars: Investigations in the natural world and the laboratory. Connecticut Journal of Science Education. Spring/Summer Edition.