Research Publications

Levine, S., Beck, S. W., Mah, C., Phalen, L., & Pittman, J. (2024). How do students use ChatGPT as a writing support? Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, n/a(n/a). https://doi.org/10.1002/jaal.1373

Educators and researchers are interested in ways that ChatGPT and other generative AI tools might move beyond the role of “cheatbot” and become part of the network of resources students use for writing. We studied how high school students used ChatGPT as a writing support while writing arguments about topics like school mascots. We asked: What did students prompt ChatGPT to do? And how did students take up ChatGPT's responses to those prompts?...Read more

Mah, C, Walker, H, Phalen, L, Levine, S, Beck, SW, & Pittman, J (2024). Beyond CheatBots: Examining Tensions in Teachers’ and Students’ Perceptions of Cheating and Learning with ChatGPT. Education Sciences. 14(5):500. 

As artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly integrated into educational technologies, teachers and students must acquire new forms of AI literacy, including an understanding of responsible use of AI. In this study, we explored tensions in teachers’ and students’ opinions about what constitutes learning and cheating with AI. Using qualitative methods, we asked Pre-K through postsecondary writing teachers (n = 16) and a linguistically diverse group of students (n = 12) to consider examples of how students might use ChatGPT, rank them in order of how much they thought each student learned and cheated, and explain their rankings...Read more

Bates, M. S., Phalen, L., & Moran, C. (2017). Understanding teacher professional learning through cyber research. Educational Technology Research & Development

Online professional learning websites provide a unique window into how teachers make self-directed choices about their own professional development. This study extends previous research on how teachers use online resource repositories to examine how teachers make choices about resource use on a professional learning website. The website, the Everyday Mathematics Virtual Learning Community, offers teachers two types of professional learning resources: (1) videos that can be played and (2) documents that can be downloaded...Read more

Bates, M. S., Moran, C. G., & Phalen, L. (2017). Supporting excellent teaching of Common Core content and practices with video clubs. Teaching Children Mathematics.

Teachers face many challenges helping students meet the expectations set forth in the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) (CCSSI 2010). CCSSM content standards not only introduce new concepts at each grade level but also require teachers to learn new terminology for old concepts and consider how students' understanding of concepts builds across grades. The Common Core's Standards for Mathematical Practice (SMP) pose an even greater challenge, as these "habits of mind," or processes for doing mathematics, will be assessed in many states for the first time...Read more

Bates, M. S., Phalen, L., & Moran, C. (2016). Online professional development: A primer. Phi Delta Kappan, 97(5), 70-73.

Online professional development for teachers continues to grow in popularity, as schools and educators look for cheaper, more efficient ways to meet current needs and demands. The number of web sites and other virtual learning opportunities makes it difficult for teachers to make sense of the available opportunities, their content, their quality, and how they fit with their personal learning goals...Read more

Bates, M. S., Phalen, L., & Moran, C. (2016). If you build it, will they reflect? Examining teachers’ use of an online video-based learning website. Teaching and Teacher Education, 58, 17-27.

Many teachers use online professional development websites, but little is known about what teachers actually learn from them. This study explored teacher use of an online video-based learning website with over 37,000 members. It used web analytics to study user selection of video resources and coding of website commentary to analyze teacher responses to videos...Read more