School of Education

Education

• Ph.D. in educational psychology, University of Florida
• M.A.E. in educational psychology, University of Florida
• B.S. in psychology, University of Florida

Research interests

Engagement, motivation, science teaching and learning, urban classroom contexts, mixed methods

Career highlights

• Principal Investigator for the IES STEM Education Project (2024-28, $1.7mill, R305A240345) VCU News article
• Principal Investigator for the NSF CAREER (2019-24, $1mill, NSF DRL 1845048) VCU News article
• Principal Investigator for the VCU Presidential Research Quest Early Career Research Grant (2018-19, $50k)
• Co-Principal Investigator for the NSF DRK12 Science Communities of Practice Partnership (SCOPP) (2018-22, $3.4 mill, NSF DRL 1418440) VCU News article
• VCU School of Education Distinguished Junior Faculty Award (2018)
• VCU Outstanding Early Faculty Award (2019)
• APA Division 15 Richard Snow Award for Early Contributions (2023)
• 2024 VCU National/International Recognition Award (NIRA) honoree Provost's blog post
• Lab Director, Discourse and Learning Lab

Select Publications

• Bae, C. L., Matewos, A., & Fife, J. (2024). Supporting student voice in science classrooms: The limits of psychosocial approaches and the importance of sociocultural and critical perspectives on student agency. Educational Psychologist. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2024.2370549
• Zhang, F.*, Bae, C. L., Broda, M. D., & Koenka, A. C. (2024). Motivation and Opportunities-to-learn in science as predictors of student science performance. Journal of Experimental Education, 1-19.
• Preminger, L., Hayes, K., & Bae, C. L. (2024). Why do teachers vary in their instructional change during science PD? The role of noticing students in an iterative change process. Science Education, 108(3), 701-733.https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21853
•  Cabrera, L.*, Bae, C. L., DeBusk-Lane, M. (2023). A mixed methods study of students’ science learning profiles in middle school: Accounting for cognitive and motivational characteristics. Learning and Individual Differences, 103, 102281.
• Bae, C. L., Sealy, M. A., Cabrera, L., Gladstone, J., & Mills, D. (2022). Hybrid Discourse Spaces: A Mixed Methods Study of Student Engagement in US Science Classrooms. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 102108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2022.102108
• Bae, C.L., Mills, D.C., Zhang, F., Sealy, M., Cabrera, L., & Sea, M. (2021). A Systematic Review of Science Discourse in K–12 Urban Classrooms in the United States: Accounting for Individual, Collective, and Contextual Factors. Review of Educational Research. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543211042415
• Bae, C.L., & Lai, M. (2020). Opportunities to Participate (OtP) in science learning and student engagement: A mixed methods study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 112(6), 1128-1153.
• Bae, C. L., DeBusk-Lane, M.*, & Lester, A.* (2020). Engagement profiles of elementary students in urban settings. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 62.
• Bae, C.L., & DeBusk-Lane. (2019). Engagement profiles in middle school: Implications for motivation and achievement in science. Learning and Individual Differences, 74.
• Bae, C.L., DeBusk-Lane, M., Hayes, K.N., & Zhang, F. (2018). Opportunities to Participate (OtP) in Science: Examining Differences Longitudinally and Across Socioeconomically Diverse Schools. Research in Science Education, 1-22.

Bio

Dr. Christine L. Bae’s research focuses on applying frameworks of cognition and motivation in educational psychology to understand science learning in diverse classroom contexts. She has worked on several interdisciplinary STEM education projects that include studies of problem solving among college engineering students, middle school science teaching and learning in urban contexts, and secondary science teacher preparation. In her current projects, she and her team in the Discourse and Learning lab partner with elementary and middle school teachers to develop and implement discourse practices that support historically marginalized youth’s engagement in science learning.

Bae teaches courses in human development across the lifespan, child development for inclusive education, educational psychology for secondary teachers, cognition and learning, motivation in schools, and mixed methodologies in educational research.

Curriculum Vitae