Elisabeth McGrath
PROJECT AFFILIATION:
- PISA2: Partnership to Improve Student Achievement in Physical Sciences
- Roles: Co-PI, Project Director
- Access: Project Admin
- ED MSP Program
- Roles: Project Participant
PROFESSIONAL ROLES
- Higher Ed: Engineering
BIO
Beth McGrath is Executive Director of the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) at Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ and holds a joint faculty appointment as Senior Research Associate in the Schools of Engineering & Science and Systems & Enterprises. CIESE, originally launched in 1988 as a K-12 outreach center, now works with K-12 educators as well as undergraduate engineering faculty in developing curricula, conducting teacher professional development, and leading educational research projects designed to increase the number of K-16 students who enter and succeed in STEM fields. The Centers teacher training programs have impacted more than 35,000 K-12 educators across the country and its award-winning online real time data and telecollaborative projects currently engage more than 100,000 students from 35 countries annually.Under McGraths leadership, CIESE has launched several major new initiatives and secured more than $28 million in new funding to advance K-12 engineering education in New Jersey and nationally to infuse innovative, research-based teaching strategies into Stevens undergraduate programs. McGrath is currently the principal investigator of a $2.5 million National Science Foundation grant to scale up an effective underwater robotics curriculum in school and informal education environments; PI of a $2.5 million Department of Defense-sponsored systems engineering education research project; and co-PI of two other NSF grants, a GK-12 program and the NSF MSP, Partnership to Improve Student Achievement in Physical Science: Integrating STEM Approaches (PISA2) program.
McGrath serves on the Standing Committee of the Technology & Engineering Literacy Assessment, an assessment of technological literacy being added to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in 2014, and has contributed to research on learning impacts in science through the infusion of engineering design activities. She serves on the Advisory Board for several K-12 STEM education programs. McGrath holds a B.S. degree in Mass Communications from Virginia Commonwealth University and a M.Ed. from the University of Maryland.
EXPERTISE
Areas of research interest include K-12 engineering education; scale-up and capacity-building; policy and advocacy; systems engineering education.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Macalalag, A.Z., Tirthali, D., McGrath, E., McKay, M., & Lowes, S. (2011). Teacher Professional Development Programs in Grades 3-8: Promoting Teachers' and Students' Content Knowledge in Science and Engineering. Paper Presented at the National Science Foundation's Mathematics and Science Partnerships Learning Network Conference, Washington , D.C. , January 2011.McGrath, E., & Seely, J. (2010). Research on Building Education & Workforce Capacity in Systems Engineering . Annual SERC Research Review. November 10, 2010, College Park, MD.
Cunningham, C., McGrath, E., Parry, E., Lotero-Purdue, P., Day, L. (2010). Partnerships for Elementary Engineering & Science: Panel Discussion at PLTW Innovations Conference. October 2010, Washington, DC.
McGrath, E., Peterson, K. (2010) Build IT Scale Up Project, National Afterschool Association, April 2010, Washington, DC
Macalalag, A.Z., Lowes, S., Tirthali, D., McKay., M., & McGrath, E. (2010). Teacher Professional Development in Grades 3-5: Fostering Teachers' and Students' Content Knowledge in Science and Engineering. American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference, Louisville, KY, June 2010.
Macalalag, A.Z., Lowes, S., Guo, K., Tirthali, D., McKay., M., & McGrath, E. (2010). Advancing Science and Engineering in Elementary Schools: Fostering Teachers' Knowledge and Scientific Inquiry. National Association for Research in Science Teaching Annual Conference, Philadelphia, PA, March 2010.
McGrath, E., Lowes, S., Lin, P., Sayres, J. (2009) Analysis Of Middle- And High-School Students' Learning Of Science, Mathematics, And Engineering Concepts Through A Lego Underwater Robotics Design Challenge. American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference, Austin, TX, June 2009
Brockway, D., McGrath, E., McKay, M., Schultz, D. (2009) Analysis Of A Statewide K-12 Engineering Program: Learning From The Field. American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference, Austin, TX, June 2009
Macalalag, A., Lowes, S., Guo, K., McKay, M., McGrath, E. (2009) Promoting Scientific Inquiry Through Innovative Science And Engineering Curricula In Grades 3-5. American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference, Austin, TX, June 2009
McKay, M., Brockway, D., McGrath, E., Harms, H., Hole, E., Janosz, D. (2009) Systems And Global Engineering: Results Of A Pilot Study For High-School Students And Teachers. American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference, Austin, TX, June 2009
Brockway, D., Bartus, G., McGrath, E. (2008) Engineering Connections for Middle School Science Teachers. American Society for Engineering Education Mid-Atlantic, Hoboken, NJ, October 2008
