You are here
About Us
Mission and Vision:
We seek to:
- promote and support evidence-based practices to bridge the gap between teaching and learning, keeping in mind that discipline-based assessment is key
- foster innovative active engagement techniques based on discipline-based education research in the natural sciences for both majors and non-majors.
- emphasize equity and inclusion in STEM courses and make sure that ALL students from diverse backgrounds have opportunities to excel in STEM courses.
- foster a faculty learning community for supporting scholarly approaches to teaching and learning
- strive to be a national leader in research-based instruction in the natural sciences
- see the video for more information: Informational video about the mission and vision of dB-SERC
People:
Members
All faculty members in the natural sciences departments at the University of Pittsburgh are automatically members of dB-SERC.
Administrative Structure

Chandralekha Singh, Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh
Office: Allen 221A
Email: clsingh@pitt.edu

Barbara Delraso
Office: Thaw B
Email: barbara.delraso@pqi.org
dB-SERC Data Administrator
Carmela Rizzo
Former Staff
Danny Doucette, PhD
North Carolina State University
Kyle Whitcomb, PhD
North Seattle College
Z. Yasemin Kalender, PhD
Harvard
Alexandru Maries, PhD
University of Cincinnati, Ohio
Emily Marshman, PhD
CCAC, Pittsburgh
Advisory Committee within the University of Pittsburgh
- Sam Donovan, Research Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh
- Joseph Grabowski, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh
- Nancy Kaufmann, Assistant director of undergraduate research, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh
- Daniel Mosse, Chair, Department of Computer Science, University of Pittsburgh
- Chris Schunn, Professor, Department of Psychology, Senior Scientist, Learning Research & Development Center (LRDC), University of Pittsburgh
- John Twyning, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies, University of Pittsburgh
- Carol Washburn, Senior Instructional Designer, Center for Instructional Development & Distance Learning (CIDDE), University of Pittsburgh
Advisory Committee outside the University of Pittsburgh
- Eric Brewe, Assistant Professor of Science Education, Florida International University
- Scott Franklin, Professor, School of Physics and Astronomy, Rochester Institute of Technology
- Kathleen Harper, Lecturer, College of Engineering and Engineering Education Innovation Center, Ohio State University
- Frederick Reif, Emeritus Professor of Physics and Education, Carnegie Mellon University and University of California, Berkeley
Synergistic Centers
- Learning Research & Development Center (LRDC), University of Pittsburgh
- Pitt Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (Pitt CIRTL), University of Pittsburgh
- Center for Instructional Development & Distance Education (CIDDE), University of Pittsburgh
- Engineering Education Research Center (EERC), University of Pittsburgh