Rate My Professor Merryn Cole

Merryn Cole is an Associate Professor of Science Education in the Department of Teaching and Learning at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) College of Education, where she has served since 2017. She holds the position of Graduate Coordinator for the Education Specialist program in Curriculum and Instruction. Cole earned her Ph.D. in educational studies with an emphasis in science and STEM education from the University of Kentucky in 2017. Before entering academia, she taught high school science and college chemistry, bringing practical classroom experience to her scholarly work.

Cole's research examines the intersection of spatial thinking and STEM content comprehension, including how middle school students connect spatial abilities to concepts like matter conservation and lunar phases. Her past investigations include teachers' visualization and translation of Earth-Moon-Sun systems, student moon observations fostering spatial-scientific reasoning, and gender and racial differences in spatial visualization within Earth/space units. Current efforts focus on college science students' engagement in research, their planning and assessment of outreach activities, and the self-efficacy of science communicators. Funded by the Nevada Department of Education and NASA Nevada Space Grant, her contributions appear in leading journals such as Physical Review Physics Education Research, International Journal of Science Education, Education Sciences, School Science and Mathematics, and The Journal of Educational Research. Key publications include 'Spatial thinking in astronomy education research' (2018), 'Student moon observations and spatial-scientific reasoning' (2015), 'How middle level science teachers visualize and translate motion, scale, and geometric space of the Earth-Moon-Sun system with their students' (2018), 'The relationship between spatial ability and the conservation of matter in middle school' (2020), and 'Creating project-based STEM environments: The REAL way' (book, Springer Nature, 2019). Through these works, Cole advances project-based instruction and spatial reasoning pedagogies, impacting STEM education practices.