Who We Are

Aliya Holmes

Program Coordinator for the Curriculum & Instruction Ph.D. program; Professor

Curriculum and Instruction

holmesa@stjohns.edu

718-990-2578

Sandra S. Abrams

Professor

Curriculum and Instruction

abramss@stjohns.edu

718-990-8313

Liz Chase

Associate Professor

Curriculum and Instruction

chasee@stjohns.edu

718-990-2632

Xiaojun (June) Chen

Associate Professor, Dept. Chair

Curriculum and Instruction

chenx@stjohns.edu

718-990-1474

Michael P. Downton

Associate Professor

Curriculum and Instruction

downtonm@stjohns.edu

718-990-2647

Smita Guha

Associate Professor

Curriculum and Instruction

guhas@stjohns.edu

718-990-2454

Elena Jurasaite-O'Keefe

Adjunct Professor

Curriculum and Instruction

jurasaie@stjohns.edu

718-990-6395

Em Maslak

Professor

Curriculum and Instruction

maslakm@stjohns.edu

718-990-2580

Don McClure

Associate Professor

Curriculum and Instruction

mcclured@stjohns.edu

718-990-2648

Regina Mistretta

Professor

Curriculum and Instruction

mistretr@stjohns.edu

718-990-1398

Nancy Morabito

Associate Professor

Curriculum and Instruction

morabitn@stjohns.edu

718-990-6775

Daniel Ness

Professor

Curriculum and Instruction

nessd@stjohns.edu

718-990-2717

Barbara Peltzman

Associate Professor

Curriculum and Instruction

peltzmab@stjohns.edu

718-390-4527

Mary Beth Schaefer

Associate Professor

Curriculum and Instruction

schaefm1@stjohns.edu

718-990-1306

Abrams, S. S., & LaRocca, T. (2020). Play in the making: Developing a range of literacies through making and game-based activities. In J. Rowsell, C. McLean & J. Marsh (eds.), Making futures: Maker literacies and Maker Identities in the Digital Age. Routledge. 

Cameron, M. (2022). "This community is home for me": Retaining highly qualified teachers in marginalized school communities. Perspectives on Urban Education, 20(1), 1-33. https://urbanedjournal.gse.upenn.edu/archive/volume-20-issue-1-fall-2022/“-community-home-me”-retaining-highly-qualified-teachers 

Cameron, M., & Abrams, S. S. (accepted). Pedagogical turns or dead ends: Examinations of teaching since COVID-19. Teacher identity and teaching practice post-COVID.

Chernoff, K. F. (2021) Tensions with international mindedness: Teaching in the International Baccalaureate program. Social Studies Research and Practice. https://doi.org/10.1108/SSRP-05-2021-0011

Connelly, J. (in press). Conceiving phase shift as time travel. Mathematics Teacher: Learning and Teaching PK-12. 

Connelly, J. (2022). Hand in hand or head in hand: A wild discovery. Curriculum and Teaching Dialogue, 24(1/2), 255-258. 

Dull, A. (2021). Informing without conforming: Applying two frameworks to enrich autoethnography. The Qualitative Report, 26(11), 3307-3317. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2021.5030

Dull, A., & Chase, E. (2022). Preservice teachers and curricular matters: A reflection on field sites as transformative spaces. Northwest Journal of Teacher Education, 17(3).

Faraci, V. C. (2022). Pandemic pandemonium: Negotiating identities as a middle grades school parent, doctoral student, and high school mathematics teacher. Middle Grades Review. https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/mgreview/vol8/iss2/3/ 

Flores, E. (2022). Students with interrupted formal education: Empowerment, positionality, and equity in alternative schools. TESOL Journal, 13(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.602

González, E. C. (accepted). Keep calm, this is a judgment-free zone: Teacher perceptions about classroom intervisitations. Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning.

Jenkeleit, K. (2022). Communicating home during the COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons learned from a middle grades speech therapist. Middle Grades Review, 8(3), 1-12. https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/mgreview/vol8/iss3/6/ 

Jurasaite-O'Keefe, E., & Zak, A. (2022). Informal learning in study abroad programs: A grounded theory construction. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 33(1).

Kim, M. (2022). Beyond the Scene (BTS): Confronting social constructs through Korean pop music. English Journal.

Kim, M. (2022). Layering literacies and languages: A Bengali student reads K-pop. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. 

Kim, M. (2022). Mentor and Athena. In K. W. Guyotte & J. R. Wolgemuth (Eds.), Philosophical mentoring in qualitative research: Collaborating and inquiring together (pp. 170-171). Routledge. 

Montesdeoca, K. K. (2023). Middle grades math with ice cream sundaes: Connecting math to the real world. Education Sciences, 13(6), 615-623. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13060615 

Sun, L. (accepted). An autoethnography with flow experience of an international doctoral student during COVID-19 in the United States. Journal of Contemporary Education Theory & Research.

Sun. L. (accepted). Mathematics in the woods: Exploring low-income parents’ perceptions of and involvement in their children’s mathematical learning. Northwest Journal 

Teacher Education.

Thorgersen, S. (2022). We're back, live, and unplugged: Non-digital gameplay for review and fun. Middle Grades Review. https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/mgreview/vol8/iss2/6/ 

Zak, A., & Angel, C. (2022). Integrating the Socially Homeless through the Online Teaching and Learning Environments via the Implementation of Critical eService-Learning. In Nemeth. A. E., & Patterson, A., N., (Eds.), Pursuit of Liberation: Critical Service-Learning as Capacity Building for Historicized, Humanizing, and Embodied Action. IAP Information Age Publishing.

Zak, A. (2021). An integrative review of literature: Virtual exchange models, learning outcomes, and programmatic insights. Journal of Virtual Exchange, 4, 62-79. https://doi.org/10.21827/jve.4.37582

*Names in bold represent Ph.D. student co-authorship.

Angel, C., Zak, A. (2021, November). Academic Service-Learning During a Pandemic: Creativity and Flexibility in Making theTransition to eService-Learning. Poster Presentation at the IARSLCE Virtual 2021 Conference.

Angel, C., Zak, A. (2021, September). Best Practices for Implementing Academic Service-Learning within the Online Environment. Light Talk presentation at the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) Accelerate Virtual Conference. 

Angel, C., Zak, A. (2021, April). Best Practices for Implementing Academic Service-Learning within the Online Environment. Paper presentation at the American Educational Research Association Virtual Conference.

Angel, C., Zak, A. (2020, November). Best Practices for Implementing Academic Service-Learning within the Hybrid and Online Learning Environments. Paper presented at the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) Accelerate Virtual Conference.

Chase, E., & Dull, A. (2022, October). Developing socially just and culturally responsive teacher candidates: Findings and recommendations for researchers, teacher educators, and scholars. Paper Session. 12th International Conference on Education and Justice, Virtual.

Chernoff, K. F. (2021a, February 18-19). An Autoethnography: International Baccalaureate Teacher Experiences - Teaching Social Studies on Three Continents: Autoethnography. Annual Conference of the Eastern Education Research Association (44th Virtual).  

Chernoff, K. F. (2022, April 21-26). Cultural and global responsiveness: Teaching IB history on three continents.American Education Research Association (Virtual).  

Dull, A. (2021, Feb. 18). Developing a dynamic positionality in a community research project [Paper]. 2021 Annual EERA Conference, Virtual. 

Dull, A. (2022, June 8-10). Defining critical pedagogies: Theoretical concerns and implications for teaching [Paper]. 2022 Annual Curriculum Studies Summer Collaborative. 

Dull, A., & Chase, E. (2022, November). Building capacity: Findings from a meta-ethnography on teacher education and social justice. Paper Session. American Educational Studies Association (AESA) Annual Conference, Pittsburgh, PA.

Holmes, A., & Johnson, D. (2022, July 22-24).  Building while Flying: Snapshots of K-12 New York Teacher Perspectives during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Fifteenth annual Equality, Diversity, Inclusion Conference, Cape Town, South Africa. 

Jurasaite-O’Keefe, E., Zak, A. (2020, April). Building Partnerships in the Host Country: Outcomes of Learning in Informal Settings in Study Abroad Programs. Roundtable presentation at the American Educational Research Association Conference, San Francisco, California. Received the Graduate Student Travel Grant from the Internationals Studies Sig of the AERA. 

Jurasaite-O’Keefe, E., Zak, A. (2020, March). Worlding as Learning: Informal Learning in Study Abroad Programs. Paper presented at the Comparative and International Education Society Conference, Miami, California. 

Jurasaite-O’Keefe, E., Zak, A. (2019, April). Informal and Incidental Learning in the Study Abroad Programs: Initial Findings. Paper presented at St. John’s University, University Research Day, Queens, New York.

Kim, M. (2021, February 18–19). What are the extracurricular reading habits of high-achieving students? [Conference presentation]. EERA 2021 Convention, Virtual.

Kim, M. (2021, October 16). What are we learning from COVID transitions? [Conference presentation]. SICET Forum, Virtual.

LaRocca, T. (2021, February 26). Problem Solving With Your Ears: Metacognition and Melody [Poster Presentation]. National Association for Music Education Music Research and Teacher Education conference, Orlando, FL, United States. https://nafme.org/2021-nafme-music-research-teacher-education-conference/

LaRocca, T. (2021, June 03-04). The Competing Roles of Educator, Music Teacher, and Musician in Professional Identity Development: A Longitudinal Autoethnography [Poster Presentation]. International Conference on Music Education, New York, United States. https://waset.org/music-education-conference-in-june-2021-in-new-york

March, L. (2020, February 22). Supporting high-risk students [Conference session]. The 41st Annual Ethnography in Education Research Forum. Philadelphia, PA, United States.

Rogin, J. (2020). How Maritime Education and Training (MET) Instructors Address Assessment Protocol Conference: Global Oceans Singapore - U.S. Gulf Coast

Zak, A.,  & Angel, C. (2022) “Incorporating a Critical Lens into the Academic Service-Learning Teaching Pedagogy within the Online Teaching and Learning Environment ”. Professional Development Workshop at the 2022 Experiential Commons Scholar Summit: Community-engaged Pedagogy and Practice. American Educational Research Association (AERA) Service-Learning & Experiential Education SIG, the Experiential Commons podcast at the University of Virginia’s Center for Teaching Excellence. 

Zak, A., Jurasaite-O’Keefe, E. (2021, April). Service Abroad: Global Citizenship Development through Human Connections in the Host Country. Roundtable presentation at the American Educational Research Association Virtual Conference.

Zak, A., & Angel, C. (2020, November). Virtual Exchange: Is This the Solution to International Immobility Amidst the COVID 19 Pandemic? Paper presented at the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) Accelerate Virtual Conference.

Zak, A. (2019, April). Does Service Abroad Help Form Global Citizens? Paper Presented at St. John’s University, University Research Day, Queens, New York.

Zak, A. (2019, October). Does Service Abroad Help Form Global Citizens? Paper Presented at the International Association for Research on Service-Learning & Community Engagement Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico.