AlderSEA
The mission of the Alder Science Education Association (AlderSEA) is to build community and capacity for connecting science education research with science classrooms and departments worldwide.
What does AlderSEA do?
Create web resources for STEM educators
The AlderSEA team creates high-quality web resources for STEM educators through our experience in user-centered design, STEM faculty change, and science education research.
User-centered design
All AlderSEA projects include user-centered design, where we conduct user research to determine the needs of your users, design resources to meet those needs, and use an iterative process of testing and redesign to ensure that they really work.
Dissemination of STEM education resources
AlderSEA can help creators of research-based educational materials disseminate their materials to educators who need them. We can create simple sites for top-down dissemination, or platforms where users can adapt, discuss, and re-share materials.
Projects that AlderSEA partners are involved in
Supporting physics teaching with research-based resources
Resources and community for teaching physics for life sciences
Integrating energy, equity, and place in high school physics
Effective Practices for Physics Programs
AlderSEA partners
Sarah B McKagan
Dr. Sam McKagan directs AlderSEA's design and development programs. She is the creator and director of PhysPort, a resource to support physics faculty in using research-based teaching and assessment in their classes and departments. She also serves as design and development director for the Living Physics Portal, an online community for sharing and discussing materials for physics for life sciences, and the editorial director for the Effective Practices for Physics Programs (EP3) project, which is developing a guide to support physics department chairs in using effective practices for the ongoing review and improvement of their programs.
Adrian M Madsen
Dr. Adrian Madsen leads AlderSEA's design and usability research efforts. She is the assistant director of PhysPort, a website that supports physics faculty in using research-based teaching and assessment in their classes and departments, and a research scientist for the Living Physics Portal, an online community for sharing and discussing materials for physics for life sciences. As a part of these projects, she has interviewed a wide variety of educators to learn about their needs and worked on several user-centered design teams to create online tools that meet real needs. She is also a former high school physics teacher.