Dr. Baran's two decades of research on Learning Technologies and Teacher Education intersects three interrelated disciplines: educational technology, human computer education, and learning sciences. Her investigation of learning technologies takes place in teacher education, P-12 STEM education, and higher education contexts. Dr. Baran integrates methods and expertise from different disciplines through her collaborative work with experts in engineering, design, and STEM to form novel pedagogical frameworks and catalyze innovation in education.
Dr. Baran has been leading the Learning Technologies and Teacher Education (LATTE) research group since 2011. The alumni of LATTE are working to develop learning solutions for diverse educational settings in different countries.
Research Themes:
- Online learning and teaching: Two decades of scholarship on online learning and teaching focused on creating novel pedagogical solutions in online and hybrid learning settings, including higher education, teacher education, and faculty development contexts. Areas of investigation include: Human-centered design for online teaching, open pedagogy, and successful online teaching.
- Multimodal teaching analytics: The new wave of technological innovations enables combining data from multiple sources and with different modalities to analyze learning and teaching in classrooms. Dr. Baran's recent research uses multimodal methods and classroom sensing technologies to track engagement, learning, and teaching in technology-enhanced STEM classrooms.
- Technology and teacher education: Dr. Baran's research has produced online, mobile, and blended learning technology solutions within preservice and in-service teacher education contexts. Her research has focused on: TPACK, faculty technology mentoring, video-enhanced teacher observations, and mobile learning and design thinking in teacher education.
- STEM education: Dr. Baran developed and implemented out-of-school STEM education programs and investigated their impact on students' attitudes and interests towards STEM careers. These programs were implemented in underserved areas to increase opportunities for access to STEM education. Her recent research on rural STEM education focuses on generating technology-enabled co-designed solutions to impact workforce development and rural innovation.