Faculty
Dr. Eleanor Close (she/her/hers) – eclose@txstate.edu
Eleanor Close is an Associate Professor of Physics and Director of the Physics Learning Assistant Program. Her research focuses on physics identity development, particularly for LAs and future physics teachers. She is also currently supervising student research projects on intersectional identities in physics; metacognitive moves in LA preparation sessions; collaborative mechanistic reasoning; and hierarchical linear modeling of student outcomes in LA-supported introductory physics courses. She is excited about two newly-funded projects that connect her current research expertise to research on faculty teaching practices and professional development.
Dr. Hunter Close – hgclose@txstate.edu
Hunter Close is Associate Professor of Physics and Director of Physics Undergraduate Major Programs. He has conducted research on undergraduate student learning in introductory mechanics, upper-level classical mechanics, and quantum mechanics, and on K-12 teachers’ learning of energy, using perspectives of productive cognitive resources, conceptual metaphor, and embodied interaction. Currently he is exploring the potential relationships between physics learning and processes of deep meaning-making for individuals and groups. He is the primary contact for any students interested in pursuing physics teaching careers.
Dr. David Donnelly (he/him/his) – donnelly@txstate.edu
David Donnelly is a Professor of Physics and serves as Associate Department Chair. His current research involves hierarchical linear modeling of student outcomes in LA-supported introductory physics courses. He is also supervising a student project on the impact of collaborative instruction on students with Learning Disabilities.
Dr. Brandon Lunk (he/him/his) – brlunk@txstate.edu
Brandon Lunk is a Lecturer of Physics and a co-coordinator of the Learning Assistant Program; as such his primary role within the department is focussed on teaching and curriculum oversight. Brandon’s primary research focus is in integrating computational modeling into the curriculum and analyzing how students understand and interact with this tool. He is also interested in pursuing research on introductory physics courses for life science majors (IPLS) and is currently studying student reasoning on non-canonical content (namely viscous fluids and Reynolds Number).
Dr. Alice Olmstead (she/her/hers) – alice.olmstead@txstate.edu
Alice Olmstead is an Assistant Professor of Physics, the co-director of the Physics Learning Assistant Program, and the programmatic co-lead of the STEM Communities Project. Her primary research expertise is on strategies that can help STEM faculty to improve their teaching and lead to long-term change. Some of her research in this area is described at the website: Furthering the Work of STEM Undergraduate Transformation: Modeling Instructional Change Teams. She is also pursuing research related to her own teaching, specifically focused on how to support students in reasoning about the relationships between science, society, and ethics.
Postdocs
Dr. Madison Fitzgerald-Russell (she/her/they/them) – madison.fitzgerald@txstate.edu
Madison Fitzgerald-Russell is a postdoctoral researcher working with Dr. Alice Olmstead on the Instructional Change Teams project and the STEM Communities project. Their area of research focus is diversity, equity, and inclusion in science for minoritized individuals, specifically for LGBTQ+ students and faculty. Their dissertation explored the connections between identity and microaggression experiences of LGBTQ+ undergraduate science majors through a queer theory lens. They earned their Ph.D. in Science Education: Physics from Western Michigan University in 2022 and their M.A. in physics from WMU in 2020. They received a B.S. in Astrophysics from the Lyman Briggs College at Michigan State University in 2016 and a B.A. in Women’s and Gender Studies with a minor in LGBTQ and Sexuality Studies from Michigan State in 2016.
Dr. Alicia Montecinos (she/her/ella) – msu22@txstate.edu
Dr. Montecinos joined the Faculty-Student Communities for Improving STEM Instruction Project at Texas State University as a postdoctoral scholar primarily supporting the data team. She received her Ph.D. in STEM Education from The University of Texas at Austin under the advising of Dr. Catherine Riegle-Crumb, where her dissertation focused on the experiences of female Mexican American engineering students. Dr. Montecinos’ work is interdisciplinary in nature, combining theories and methodologies from the fields of STEM education, critical studies, sociology, and psychology.
Her current research explores student and faculty experiences in culturally responsive instruction, employing qualitative methods. Her goal is to strengthen the capacity of the program to generate research-based innovations centered in the unique needs of TXST STEM community.
Graduate Students
Austin McCauley – acm117@txstate.edu
Austin completed his bachelor’s degree in Physics at Texas State in May 2019. During his time as an undergrad he participated in the Learning Assistant Program for 3 years, where he discovered a passion for teaching. He was accepted into the Teacher Recruitment Program at Texas State in August 2019, upon completion of the program he will receive a M.Ed. in Secondary Education and be certified to teach Physics/Mathematics for grades 7-12.
Austin is a Graduate Research Assistant for Dr. Eleanor Close. As part of Austin’s research, he has been looking at video data of Learning Assistant prep sessions, specifically looking for instances of collaborative mechanistic reasoning. Austin also contributes to a project that conducts conversation network analysis of Learning Assistant prep sessions. Recently, as a part of this project, he has been looking at the types of roles LAs utilize while engaging in discussion and the effect this has on LA sensemaking as well as the overall group dynamic.
Sam Zamora
Undergraduate Students
Tyler Atkinson
Hannah Castro
Kylie Hedge
Kaleigh Salty – k_s543@txstate.edu
Kaleigh Salty is a transfer student, originally from Los Angeles, CA, now senior at Texas State University. She is working toward her undergrad in Physics with a minor in Applied Math. While working as a math/physics tutor in the SLAC lab and participating as a Learning Assistant in the Physics department, she discovered a passion for teaching and a curiosity about the role that non-academic factors play in a student’s academic performance. As a non-neurotypical student with ADHD, she is particularly interested in studying the learning processes and the impact of environmental factors on non-neurotypical students, like those with ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder. Her broader research goals and work with Dr. Eleanor Close is to shed more light on how educational systems should be adjusted to accommodate these students unique learning styles and routines rather than solving the “problem” of the students themselves.
Chuo Asteria
Daniel Chonis
Jessica Conn
Dr. Kushal Das
Chase Gammon
Kayley Green-Tooney
Dr. Brianne Gutmann
Shahrzad (Shari) A. Hesaaraki
Itzel Herrera
Jess Hobbs
Alexie (Lexie) Kerr
Audiel Maldonado
Gabriel Mestas
Jean-Michel Mailloux-Huberdeau
Rose Najar
Egla Ochoa-Madrid
Ciana Pike
Xandria Quichocho
Dr. Charles Ramey II
Erin Schipull
Dr. Mollee Shultz
Dr. Amreen Nasim Thompson
Lauren Trombley
Alexander (Xander) Vasquez