Assistant Professor of Curriculum & Instruction, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Research
- I investigate how distributed scaffolds support dialogic, collaborative meaning-making in classrooms and museums. Specifically, I analyze the ways in which people provide support in conjunction with scaffolds embedded in the learning context.
- Much of my research takes place in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) contexts, including museum exhibits, K-12 classrooms, and online courses.
- Because I analyze how scaffolds impact collaboration and learning, I frequently use design-based research (DBR) as a methodology for improving, sequencing, and/or combining scaffolds.
- I also leverage a combination of qualitative, quantitative, and computational approaches to dig into scaffolding, collaboration, and learning at different grain sizes across data sources.
- I’m interested in the intersection between teacher education and museum education, and the ways these fields can inform each other of innovative teaching and facilitation practices.
- I am affiliated with the CREATE and DELTA programs at the University of Illinois.
Expertise
I leverage a combination of qualitative, quantitative, and computational approaches to dig into scaffolding, collaboration, and learning at different grain sizes across data sources. Some methods I use on a regular basis include:
- Sociocultural discourse analysis
- Quantitative discourse analysis
- Interaction analysis
- Informed grounded theory
- Parametric and nonparametric statistical tests
- Regression and ANOVA/ANCOVA
- Social network analysis
- Association analysis
- Sequential pattern mining
- Markov models
- Natural language processing (NLP)
Some programs I use on a regular basis:
- RStudio
- Python
- Gephi
- Orange3
- Jmol/JSmol
https://github.com/cldornfeld/
Outside of Work
- Running, lifting, and indoor rock climbing.
- Hunting for street art.
- Visiting science, art, and design museums.
- Learning to love the Oxford comma.
Catherine Dornfeld Tissenbaum 