College of Education and Human Development

Department of Curriculum and Instruction

Elizabeth Ring-Whalen

  • Pronouns: she/her/hers

  • Lecturer

  • Office Hours

    Office Hours: by appointment, please email eawhalen@umn.edu

Areas of interest

Education; Science Education, Teacher Education and Professional Development, STEM, STEM Education, Teacher Conceptions of STEM Education

Degrees

PhD - Curriculum and Instruction in STEM Education (U of M)

MA - Curriculum and Instruction (St. Mary's University)

BA - Biology (Augustana University)

Biography

Elizabeth (Beth) A. Ring-Whalen is a Lecturer in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, and directs the Secondary Science Education program at the University of Minnesota. 

Dr. Ring-Whalen taught elementary, middle, and secondary science in a small Inupiat village in northern Alaska; a large, highly diverse school in a large city in Nebraska; and a rural school in a small farming community in central Minnesota. After obtaining her PhD in STEM Education from the University of Minnesota, she taught in the education department at St. Catherine University and was Director of the STEM Center there. If you ask her, Dr. Ring-Whalen will tell you her passion is teaching, and she loves to help others develop their own passion for teaching others. 

Dr. Ring-Whalen’s research focuses on what STEM looks like in PreK-12 classrooms and the exploration of teachers’ beliefs of integrated STEM as well as how these beliefs influence teachers’ practices and student achievement in the classroom. Alongside this research, she has worked to explore the attitudes and beliefs teachers hold about cultural diversity and teaching culturally diverse students. Past and current projects include designing and teaching undergraduate and graduate-level coursework intended to help teachers develop effective science teaching practices and culturally relevant pedagogy for their classrooms, mentoring pre-service science teachers, working with in-service science teachers to develop and implement integrated STEM curricula, leading STEM integration professional development for in-service science teachers, and working with administration and teachers to develop STEM programming in their schools. 

Dr. Ring-Whalen is a native Minnesotan and she enjoys traveling with her husband and their two girls and spending time with them in the outdoors.

What students can expect from me?

Teaching is my passion and relationships are my fuel. I authentically enjoy teaching and the relationships that are formed around the instructor/student and advisor/advisee roles. My instruction and advising are highly influenced by my philosophy that education should be: 1) student-centered and authentic, 2) experiential and reflective, 3) collaborative and culturally responsive, and 4) rigorous and challenging.


Student-Centered and Authentic. All individuals’ backgrounds and circumstances have made their approaches to learning and interacting with others as individual as their distinctive personalities. I believe expectations in an educational setting should be modified to best challenge and support individual learning. Therefore, as an advisor and facilitator in the classroom, I strive to offer opportunities for my advisees’ and students’ needs to inform my advising and instruction.


Experiential and Reflective. I emphasize theory, grounded in the research, in my work with students. As a teacher educator, I believe opportunities for pre-service teachers to visit K-12 classrooms, work with children, and simulate teaching experiences (i.e. microteaching) are vital in teacher preparation. However, learning about theory and practicing pedagogy without reflection does not always lead to action. Therefore, I provide and encourage structured reflection to assist my students and advisees in becoming reflective practitioners.


Collaborative and Culturally Responsive. Learning is socially influenced and guided by an individual’s experiences, which is why I rely heavily on students’ interactions with their peers. I work hard to establish norms that create a culture of respect and trust with my students and advisees that that allows them to be vulnerable and take risks. I also believe that an individual’s education should not only be an education that reaches them within contexts they are comfortable with, but one that requires them to experience unfamiliar contexts. Our world is becoming one in which a global perspective is necessary, and I would be doing a disservice to my advisees and students if I did not introduce them to ideas and experiences outside their immediate environment


Rigorous and Challenging. Teaching is not an easy profession, but it can be inexplicably rewarding. My advisees and students in my courses know this, and they are aware of the high expectations I hold not only for them, but myself as well. I work hard to provide experiences that cause my students to wrestle with cognitive disequilibrium and conceptual change to promote deep learning. I encourage my students and advisees to adopt the mindset that they are professionals and educators with a purpose. They are encouraged to continually challenge themselves and strive for innovation in their work as educators. 

Selected Awards

2021 International NARST Conference - Research Worth Reading Recognition
2018 International STEM in Education Conference - Best Paper Presented Award
2013 = Siemen's STEM Institute Fellow
2011 MnSTA/Medtronic Foundation Science Teacher of the Year Award

Associations/Memberships

National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST)
American Educational Research Association (AERA)
Association of Science Teacher Educators (ASTE)
American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)
National Education Association (NEA)
National Science Teachers Association (NSTA)
Minnesota Science Teachers Association (MnSTA)

Publications

Dare, E.A., Ellis, J.A., Rouleau, M.D., Roehrig, G.H., & Ring-Whalen, E.A. (2022, June). Current practices in K-12 integrated STEM education: A comparison across science content areas and grade-levels (Fundamental). In Proceedings of the 2022 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition. https://peer.asee.org/40701 

Roehrig, G.H., Dare, E.A., Wieselmann, J.R., & Ring-Whalen, E.A. (2022). The rise of STEM education: STEM curriculum development and implementation. In R. Tierney, F. Rizvi, & Ercikan (Eds), International Encyclopedia of Education (4th edition). Elsevier.

Wieselmann, J.R., Dare, E.A., Roehrig, G.H., Ring-Whalen, E.A. (2022). Measurement instruments of STEM affective learning: A systematic review. In R. Tierney, F. Rizvi, & K. Ercikan (Eds), International Encyclopedia of Education (4th edition). Elsevier.

Roehrig, G.H., Rouleau, M.D., Dare, E.A., & Ring-Whalen, E.A. (2022). Uncovering core dimensions of K-12 integrated STEM. Research in Integrated STEM Education, 1, 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1163/27726673-00101004 

Roehrig, G., Dare, E.A., Ellis, J.A., & Ring-Whalen, E.A. (2021). Beyond the basics: A detailed conceptual framework of integrated STEM. Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Science Education Research, 3(11). https://doi.org/10.1186/s43031-021-00041-y 

Roehrig, G.H., Dare, E.A., Ring-Whalen, E.A., Wieselmann, J.R. (2021). Understanding coherence and integration in integrated STEM curriculum. International Journal of STEM Education, 8(2), 1-21.

Wieselmann, J.R., Roehrig, G.H., Ring-Whalen, E.A., & Meagher, T. (2021). Becoming a STEM-focused school district: Administrators’ roles and experiences. Education Sciences, 11(12), 805. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11120805 

Dare, E. A., Hiwatig, B., Keratithamkul, K., Ellis, J. A., Roehrig, G. H., Ring-Whalen, E. A., Rouleau, M. D., Faruqi, F., Rice, C., Titu, P., Li, F., Wieselmann, J. R., & Crotty, E. A. (2021). Improving STEM education: The design and development of a K-12 classroom observation instrument (RTP). In Proceedings of the 2021 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition. https://peer.asee.org/37307 

Wieselmann, J.R., Dare, E.A., Roehrig, G.H., Ring-Whalen, E.A. (2021). There are other ways to help besides using the stuff: Using activity theory to understand dynamic student participation in small group Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics activities. Journal of Research in Science Teaching. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21710 

Dare, E.A. & Ring-Whalen, E.A. (2021). Eliciting and refining conceptions of STEM education: A series of activities for professional development. Innovations in Science Teacher Education, 6(2), Retrieved from https://innovations.theaste.org/eliciting-and-refining-conceptions-of-stem-education-a-series-of-activities-for-professional-development/ 

Ellis, J.A., Wieselmann, J.R., Sivarej, R., Roehrig, G.H., Dare, E.A., Ring-Whalen, E.A. (2020). Toward a productive definition of technology in science and STEM education. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 20(3). Retrieved from https://citejournal.org/volume-20/issue-3-20/science/toward-a-productive-definition-of-technology-in-science-and-stem-education/ 

Weiselmann, J.R., Keratithamkul, K., Dare, E.A., Ring-Whalen, E.A., & Roehrig, G.H. (2020). Discourse analysis in integrated STEM activities: Methods for exploring power dynamics in small group interactions. Research in Science Education, 51(1), 113-133. DOI: 10.1007/s11165-02009950-w

Wieselmann, J.R., Dare, E.A., Ring-Whalen, E.A., & Roehrig, G.H. (2020). I just do what the boys tell me: Exploring small group student interactions in an integrated STEM unit. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 57(1), 112-144. DOI: 10.1002/tea.21587

Dare, E.A., Ring-Whalen, E.A., Roehrig, G.H. (2019). Creating a continuum of STEM models: Exploring how K-12 science teachers conceptualize STEM education. International Journal of Science Education, 41(12), 1701-1720. DOI: 10.1080/09500693.2019.1638531

Roehrig, G.H., Ring-Whalen, E.A., Dare, E.A., Ellis, J.A., & Wieselmann, J.R. (2019). WIP: The Development of a K-12 Integrated STEM Observation Protocol. In Proceedings of the 2019 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition. Tampa, FL: ASEE. https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--33573 

Wieselmann, J.R., Dare, E.A., Roehrig, G.H., Ring-Whalen, E.A. (2019). Participation in small group engineering design activities at the middle school level: An investigation of gender differences. American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference, Tampa, 2019.

Ring-Whalen, E.A., Dare, E.A., Roehrig, G.H., Titu, P., & Crotty, E.A. (2018). From conception to curricula: The role of science, technology, engineering and mathematics in integrated STEM units. International Journal of Education in Mathematics, Science, and Technology, 6(4), 343-362.

Titu, P., Ring-Whalen, E.A., Brown, J.C., Roehrig, G.H. (2018). Exploring changes in science teachers’ attitudes toward culturally diverse students during an equity-focused course. Journal of Science Teacher Education. DOI: 10.1080/1046560X.2018.1461006

Brown, J.C., Ring-Whalen, E.A., Roehrig, G.H., & Ellis, J.A. (2018). Advancing culturally responsive science education in secondary classrooms through an induction course. International Journal of Designs for Learning, 9(1), 14-33.

Guzey, S.S., Ring-Whalen, E.A. (2018). Negotiating science and engineering: An exploratory case study of a reform-minded science teacher. International Journal of Science Education. 40(7), 723-741.

Ring, E.A. (2017). Teacher conceptions of integrated STEM education and how they are reflected in integrated STEM curriculum writing and classroom implementation. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest. (10283633)

Ring, E.A., Dare, E.A., Crotty, E.A., & Roehrig, G.H. (2017). Evolution of teacher conceptions of STEM education throughout an intensive professional development experience. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 28(5), 444-467.

Guzey, S.S., Ring-Whalen, E.A., Harwell, M., & Peralta, Y. (2017). Life STEM: A case study of life science learning through engineering design. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-017-9860-0

Crotty, E.A., Guzey, S.S., Roehrig, G.H., Ring-Whalen, E.A., Glancy, A.W., & Moore, T.J. (2017). Approaches to integrating engineering in STEM units and student achievement gains. Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research, 7(2), https://doi.org/10.7771/2157-9288.1148