Christopher Wright is an assistant professor of STEM Education in the Department of Theory & Practice in Teacher Education, and engages in research that supports the teaching and learning of engineering in urban K-8 formal and informal contexts. Specifically, his research questions lay at the nexus of STEM learning experiences for males of color and their educational and career aspirations and outcomes. His research is typically framed within sociocultural theories that emphasize the interdependence of social and individual processes in the co-construction of STEM knowledge and practices.
In March 2016, Wright was awarded a NSF Early CAREER Award entitled, Investigating Engineering Expansive Learning Spaces for Boys of Color. This project will investigate the ways in which males of color develop identities with and competencies in various engineering practices, and includes K-16 participants within various engineering learning contexts.
The key objectives of the project are:
- Examining and characterizing the relationship between competencies with engineering practices and identities for males of color.
- Examining and characterizing elements within engineering learning environments that impact participants’ developing competencies and identities.
- Developing hypotheses for the design of expansive learning spaces in engineering for increasing participants’ competencies and identities.
This work builds upon findings from a previously NSF-funded project entitled, Multimedia Engineering Notebook Tools to Support Engineering Discourse in Urban Elementary School Classrooms.