Educational standards in the US have shifted in the last decade emphasizing the promotion of students’ critical thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving.  Students are now expected to be able to construct arguments based on evidence to explain a phenomenon—the focus now is on why and how rather than merely what. Dr. Mangiante’s research reveals how teachers, both prospective and veteran, have embraced innovative pedagogical strategies and educational reforms to create a classroom culture for collaborative problem-solving.  

Elaine Silva Mangiante, PhD is an Associate Professor of Elementary Science, Mathematics and Engineering Design Education at Salve Regina University.  Formerly, she served as a professional development specialist with The Education Alliance at Brown University for educational reform in high-poverty districts as well as a science specialist and mathematics curriculum coordinator for a K-8 school where she mentored early career teachers.  Currently, as a university teacher educator, her research interests include examining how teachers who work in high-poverty school districts plan for reform-based science education and create a collaborative climate for elementary students’ scientific discourse and engineering problem-solving.  Her scholarly publications, presentations, and consulting work focus on effective teaching practices for science and engineering design education in urban schools, elementary science pedagogy for critical thinking, elementary students’ negotiation of engineering design ideas, purposeful on-going mentoring, and teacher development from novice to expert.