Amy N. Spiegel Research Associate Professor, Methodology and Evaluation Research Core Facility,

1994 Ph.D., Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota (Measurement and Evaluation)
1991 M.A./ Ed.S., Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota (School Psychology)
1986 B.A., American Cultural Studies (interdepartmental), Rice University

Philosophy Statement:

Most of my evaluation work focuses in the areas of mathematics and science education, both formal and informal, K-16. Ideally, evaluation serves to enhance program quality, outreach, and impact. Working as an evaluator on diverse projects and teams, my role and responsibilities vary according to the needs and intents of each program and its leadership and staff. On every project, however, I work to help the project team clarify, articulate, and operationalize their goals. In working closely with a project team, I aspire to design appropriate evaluation to gather, analyze, interpret, and share relevant data to assess progress, provide timely feedback, inform programmatic decisions, and guide program planning and strategy. As a research professor, I also collaborate with other social scientists and researchers to contribute to the literature relevant to project goals. Recent publications have included investigations on discovery orientation and science identity in adolescents, use of comics in the science classroom, disparities among youths’ informal science experiences, and changing museum visitors’ conceptions of evolution.