Isaura J. Gallegos, MS, is a doctoral candidate in the Harvard Graduate School of Education, concentrating in Human Development, Learning and Teaching. Under the mentorship of Dr. Eric Mazur, her research focuses on student learning in introductory active-learning undergraduate biology and physics courses. Specifically, Isaura investigates the role of collaborative teamwork in active-learning courses in developing scientific self-efficacy. She is a recipient of the Harold T. White Prize for excellent in the teaching of physics from the Department of Physics at Harvard University. She was an editor and co-chair (2018-2020) of the Harvard Educational Review and was a content developer for Instructional Moves project in the Teaching and Learning Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Recently, she co-chaired the international virtual conference titled, Building a Network to Support and Improve High-School Physics Education, funded by the National Science Foundation. Prior to becoming a doctoral student, Isaura held a teaching position in genetics and cell biology at Washington State University. During her time at Washington State University, she taught and redesigned the introductory genetics and cell biology laboratory curriculum into research-based laboratories, in collaboration with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Isaura holds an M.S. in Genetics and Cell Biology from the School of Molecular Biosciences at Washington State University and a B.S. in Biology from Eastern Washington University, where she was also a McNair scholar.
Presentation begins with current research in STEM education and connected that to developing McNair Scholar Researcher Identity and how identity has guided a journey from EWU to becoming a Doctoral candidate in Human Development, Learning and Teaching, at Harvard. Presentation followed with her experience in finding a unique path as a first-generation, low income Latina in higher education, and the importance of making connections between personal and professional to support a balanced life as an academic researchers and scholar.
Exercise for McNair Scholars to Explore Goals and make connections to their academic success:
Personal (motivation); Practical (accomplishing something); and Intellectual (understanding) Goals
