Anthony J Petrosino

Ph.D. in Education and Human Development, Vanderbilt University

M.A. in Educational Administration, Columbia University

B.S. in Psychology, Creighton University

Research interests include students understanding of experimentation, engineering education, data modeling, and the development of expertise.

Coordinator of Elementary Science Education, (2015 - Present)

Member, Faculty Council, The University of Texas at Austin(2012 - 2019)

Member, Editorial Board, Journal of Science Education and Technology

Member, Editorial Board, Journal of Pre-College Engineering

Member, Graduate Studies Committee, STEM program, Department of Curriculum and Instruction

Member, American Educational Research Association

Member, Society of the Learning Sciences

Member, National Research in Science Teaching Association

Board Member, Hola Dual Language Charter School, Hoboken, NJ

Petrosino, A. & Shekhar, P. (2018). Expert blind spot among preservice and inservice teachers: Beliefs about algebraic reasoning and potential impact on engineering education.. International Journal of Engineering Education, 34(1), 97–105.

Petrosino, A. & Mann, M. (2018). Data modeling for pre-service teachers and everyone else. Journal of College Science Teaching, 47(3), 28–38.

Lucero, M., Petrosino, A. & Delgado, C. (2017). Exploring the relationship between secondary science teachers’ subject matter knowledge and knowledge of student conceptions while teaching evolution by natural selection. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 54, 219–246.

Petrosino, A. J.., Gustafson, K. & Shekhar, P. (2016). Integration in a Research Based Engineering Curriculum Using Enacted and Prescribed Frames. International Journal of Engineering Education, 32(No. 1 (A)), 219–229.

Petrosino, A. J.. (2016). Teachers Use of Data, Measurement, and Data Modeling in Quantitative Reasoning. Reconceptualizing STEM Education: The Central Role of Practices (pp. pp.167–180). New York: Taylor & Francis/Routledge. (View)

Petrosino, A. J.. (2015). Decentralized Thinking and Understanding of Evolution in K-12 Education. Evolution: Education and Outreach, 8, 2–12.

Walkington, C., Petrosino, A. & Sherman, M. (2012). Supporting algebraic reasoning through personalized story scenarios: How situational understanding mediates performance and strategies.. Mathematical Thinking and Learning.

Svihla, V., Petrosino, A. & Diller, K. (2012). Learning to Design: Authenticity, Negotiation and Innovation.. International Journal of Engineering Education, 28(4), 1–17.

Petrosino, A., Martin, T. & Svihla, V. (2007). Developing Student Expertise and Community: Lessons from How People Learn: New Directions for Teaching and Learning, Number 108: Jossey-Bass.

Petrosino, A., Lehrer, R. & Schauble, L. (2003). Structuring error and experimental variation as distribution in the fourth grade.. Mathematical Thinking and Learning, 5, 131–156.

Nathan, M. & Petrosino, A. (2003). Expert Blind Spot Among Preservice Teachers.. American Educational Research Journal, 40(4), 905–928.

UTeach and NYC: A Design Research Partnership to Expand and Improve High School Computer Science Education for Underrepresented Urban Youth
National Science Foundation- October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2021. ($999,953)- The University of Texas Austin (UT Austin) proposes a research-practitioner partnership (RPP) between and across six New York City public school districts to examine the degree to which co-design of curriculum, instructional practices, and teacher supports can build organizational capacity to support equitable computer science (CS) teaching and learning as called for by the CSforAll national movement. The project builds on the prior work of the UTeach Computer Science Program) which included creation of the UTeach CS Principle course and associated teacher professional development (PD). This work focuses on remaining questions about the organizational conditions and instructional practices that encourage broad student participation in CS, looking at underrepresented urban youth in particular.

Theorizing and Advancing Teachers’ Responsive Decision Making
National Science Fondation- (DRL 1316653, subaward C00056306-3), September 1, 2018 to August 31, 2019. ($20,000) - This project addresses the growing need for research to support teachers in developing expertise in responsive decision making in which teachers elicit and build on children's mathematical thinking in the midst of instruction. Specific objectives include characterizing grades 3-5 teachers' responsive decision making in the domain of rational numbers, investigating how professional development can support the development of this form of teaching expertise, and exploring the relationship between degree of teachers' responsive decision making and student learning. Theoretical and practical contributions of this project address the discrepancy in the field's capacity to produce research-based knowledge about children's thinking versus provide resources to take up and effectively use this knowledge. The primary organization is The University of Texas at Austin, and major partner organizations include the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, SRI International, and Teachers Development Group.

Group-Based Cloud Computing for STEM Education Project
National Science Foundation- with Co-PIs Walter Stroup (University of Massachussetts–Dartmouth), Uri Wilensky (Northwestern University), & Corey Brandy (Vanderbilt University), September 2016 to August 31, 2019. ($457,755) - This project will advance efforts of the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program to better understand and promote practices that increase students' motivations and capacities to pursue careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) by designing, developing, implementing, and studying a socio-technological system for group-centered STEM teaching and learning consistent with a nationally recognized pre-service program. The project will use results from more than 30 years of research to demonstrate how network supported, group-based learning grounded in principles of Generative Design can improve learning for all learners, across racial/ethnic backgrounds. The project will also offer detailed analyses of activity designs and implementation strategies that will help pre-service teachers to develop more fully participatory and socially-supported approaches to classroom learning, using authentic STEM practices in group-centered learning environments.

UTeachEngineering: Training Secondary Teachers to Deliver Design-Based Engineering Instruction
Co-PI (NSF 0831811) MSP $12,000,000

Beyond Blackboards: Integrated Methods for STEM Education and Workforce Development
Co-PI (NSF 0833726) ITEST $1,000,000

Sarah J Miller, Ph.D., expected 2020 (Supervisor)
Pre-Service Teacher Education, Curriculum Development (K-12), Informal & Museum Education, Evolution Education, STEM Integration, Science Communication

Maximilan K Sherard (Supervisor)

Sneha A Tharayil (Supervisor)
Project based service Learning in pre-college engineering education; Curriculum development in precollege engineering education; Teacher professional development in STEM; Early pathways to STEM careers; Innovative instructional practices in engineering education

Christopher M Golubski (Supervisor)

Justin H Krueger (Committee Member)
As a doctoral student in the Curriculum and Instruction - Social Studies Education program his research interests include informal learning spaces, public pedagogy, maps, historical memory, rural education, outdoor education, and museum education.

Dr. Anthony J. Petrosino

Project Based Instruction in STEM Education