L. Kate Wright
School Head
L. Kate Wright
School Head
Education
BS, Rochester Institute of Technology; MS, Ph.D., University of Rochester
Bio
As a Biology Education Researcher, I investigate how learners reason and understand complex ideas in molecular biology and genetics through their words, drawings and interpretations of visual representations (e.g. diagrams, graphs, signaling pathways, gene maps, etc.). I am also involved in the design, testing and assessment of research-backed classroom interventions, model-based activities and online tools to promote learning. I have many years of experience as an instructor in various college biology classrooms and have worked to bring curricular changes to the School of Life Sciences. As an educator, I am guided by the science education and cognitive sciences literature and bring research-based strategies into my classrooms, including many model-based activities.
Visit the Molecular Biology Education Research (MBER) group website to learn more:
Select Scholarship
Currently Teaching
In the News
-
March 22, 2023
RIT honors 14 researchers added to prestigious PI Millionaires group
RIT faculty members, who led research initiatives as principal investigators, were honored at a reception on March 21 to celebrate the individuals who helped the university reach record awards surpassing $92 million and place among the top private research universities in the country.
-
November 4, 2022
NSF grant funds RIT postdoctoral fellows in STEM education research
The National Science Foundation has awarded RIT $1.2 million for a cohort of four postdoctoral fellows to conduct STEM discipline-based education research. Each fellow will work with two mentors, encouraging cutting-edge research at the interface of traditional disciplines.
-
April 21, 2020
RIT alumna conducting experiments on live samples of coronavirus in search of a treatment
Callie Donahue ’18 (biotechnology and molecular bioscience) is helping to test thousands of compounds on human cells infected with live samples of coronavirus in search of medicine that can be effective in deterring the virus’s infection and replication cycle.
-
June 3, 2024
Newman, Wright organize biology education research conference
-
November 5, 2021
Newman, Wright publish article in life sciences journal
-
October 18, 2021
Team publishes article in biochemistry education journal
-
April 9, 2021
Newman presents at online conference