Research Activity

Grants

Grants Submitted 

S-STEM: Scholarships for MS and PhD Students in Data Science (S4DS), Gamble, K., Wu, Q., Wallin, J., Rushton, G.T., National Science Foundation (NSF), $1,999,076, 2025-2030.

Improving Teacher Retention and Effectiveness through Knowledge Sharing: Studying STEM Teachers in High Needs Schools across a Community of Practice, Rushton, G.T., Evert, K., National Science Foundation (NSF), $1.2 million, 2025-2028.

National STEM Teacher Corps: The Southern Alliance for Recruitment, Retention, and Renewal of Rural STEM Teachers (R4 STEM), Rushton, G.T., Krahenbuhl, K., National Science Foundation, $2.4 million, 2025-2030.

NSF Noyce Track 4: ATLAS - Advancing Teacher Leadership through Advantaging Systems, Rushton G., Smith, Yow, Lotter, National Science Foundation (NSF), $645,069, 2025-2029

Exploring Mentorship Dynamics: Science Norms and Border Crossing for First-Generation College Students, Hosbein, K., Barnes, M. E., Caputo, J., Carter, L., Johnson, S., National Science Foundation (NSF), $1,929,758, 2025-2028.

Sloane, M.E. (2025) Supporting International Library Collaboration through the Research4Life Academic Alliance. The $25,595 grant proposal was submitted for Lyrasis Catalyst Grant.

 

Active Grants

Preparation and Refinement of Postdocs in STEM for Disciplinary-Based Education Research, Gardner, G., Barnes, E., Bleiler-Baxter, S.K., Kaplan, J., Rushton, G.T., National Science Foundation (NSF), $1.25 million, 2023-2026

Advancing the Culture of Teaching in STEM through Diffusion of Strength-Based Reflexivity (ACT-STEM). Bleiler-Baxter, S., Rushton, G., Gardner, G., National Science Foundation (NSF), $1,199,915, 2024-2029.

Agri-analytics Fellowship: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Expanding Career Pathways for Undergraduate Students. Ragland, K., Jin, Y., Cui, S., Mosley, C. USDA-NIFA-REEU. $749,443. 2023-2028.

AgXplore Professional Development Institute for Middle School Agriculture Teachers. Ragland, K., Mosley, C. 2023. USDA-NIFA-PDAL. $500,000. 2023-2026.

An Investigation of Virtual Reality Initiatives and Workforce Development. Mosley, C., Sloane, M.E., Jin, Y., Ragland, K., Institute of Museum and Library Services. $549,574., 2023-2026.

Beginnings: Creating and Sustaining a Diverse Community of Expertise in Quantum Information Science (EQUIS) Across the Southeastern United States. Terletska, H., Rushton, G. T., National Science Foundation (NSF), $264,322, 2023-2026.

Exploring Mentorship Dynamics: Science Norms and Border Crossing for First-Generation College Students, Hosbein, K., Vincent-Ruz, P., Nardo, J., National Science Foundation (NSF), $591,807, 2024-2027.

Incorporating Learning Assistants into High DFW Science Courses to Decrease DFW Rates, Hosbein, K., Barnes, M. E., $50,000, 2024-2025.

Noyce Track 3 LEADS: Leaders in Education Advancing Data Science, Rushton, G., Kranbuhl, K., Gamble, K., Jones, S., Miller, K., National Science Foundation (NSF), $2,990,932, 2024-2029.

Preparation and Refinement of Postdocs in STEM for Disciplinary-Based Education Research (PROPS for DBER). Gardner, G. E., Rushton, G. T., Kaplan, J. J., Bleiler-Baxter, S. K., Barnes, M. E., National Science Foundation STEM Education Organizational Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (STEM Ed OPRF), Federal, $1,249,445., 2024-2026

Research Initiation: Embodied and Student-Centered Robotics in the Professional Formation of Engineers. Zhang, H., Rushton, G. T., National Science Foundation (NSF), $199,683, 2023-2025.

STEMulating Leaders Within the Middle Tennessee STEM Innovation Hub. Ragland, K., Battelle Education, $35,000, 2025.

Sub-award: NEXTGENeration Inclusion Consortium: Attracting and Engaging the Underserved in the Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Human Sciences Workforce. Mosley, C., Ragland, K., Carter, J., Cui, S., Haruna, S. USDA-NIFA-NEXTGEN. $901,626, 2023-2028.

Publications

Barth, S. G. Criswell, B. A., Smith, W. M., Rushton G. T. (2024). Modeling how professional development interacts with teacher leaders’ outcome expectancies and school environment perceptions, International Journal of Leadership in Education, 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2024.2307877

Fateh, S., Ayangbola, O. T., Reid , J. W. ; Zakher, S. Kirbulut, G., Demet, Z., Phelps, A. J., Malone, A., Rushton, G. T. (2024). Small Group Conversations in a POGIL-based Class: How English Learners Engage in Joint Knowledge Construction Process to Reach a Shared Understanding, Journal of Chemical Education. 2024 Feb 27;101(3):741-752. doi: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00624.

Mosley, C., Ragland, K., & Jin, Y. (2024). Addressing professional development needs of middle school-based agricultural education teachers through CASE AgXplore training. Poster Session Proceedings of the Annual Research Conference of The American Association for Agricultural Education. 51(1), 305-308. 

Ndembera, R.; Zhu, Y.; Ray, H, G,; Rushton, G. T. (2024). Which factors contribute to standardized test scores for prospective general science teachers: An analysis of the Praxis General Science Content Knowledge Test. Discover Education 3, 25(2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-024-00109-7

Talanquer, V., Cole, R., & Rushton, G. T. (2024). Thinking and Learning in Nested Systems: The Classroom Level. Journal of Chemical Education. 2024 Jan23;101(2):295-306. doi: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c00839. 

Sloane, M.E, Dollar, D., Hollier, C. (2024, November). Global engagement through the Research4Life Academic Alliance. The Charleston Conference, Charleston, S.C.

Zottola, R., Skjellum, A., Oelgoetz, J., Sloane, M.E., Fleming, R., Crosby, L. (2024, December) Tennessee Research and Education Computing Collaborative. BRICCs Establishing Pathways for Regional Computing Workshop, Knoxville, TN.

Zhang, H., Gračanin, D., Zhou, W., Dudash, D., & Rushton, G. (2025). Toward Real-Time Posture Classification: Reality Check. Electronics, 14(9), 1876. 10.3390/electronics14091876

Ekmekci, A.; Aqazade, M.; McGraw, R.; Gibson, D.; Rushton, GT; Cerosaletti, C.; Daley, M.; Kucuk, B. Using human, social, structural, and positive psychological capital to explore science and mathematics teacher retention. International Journal of STEM Education, 12, 14 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-024-00523-1

Sylvia Zakher, Shaghayegh Fateh, Oluwatobiloba Theresa Ayangbola, Joshua W. Reid, Amy J. Phelps, and Gregory T. Rushton (2025). Investigating English Learners’ Engagement Challenges in a Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) Based General Chemistry Classroom Journal of Chemical Education 2025 102 (2), 473-484 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00358  

Reeder, A., & Rushton, G.T. (2024). The reformation of identity: What is present after a science teacher leadership program. International Journal of Teacher Leadership, 13(1), 26-44.