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EMILY A. ROYSE, Ph.D.

Curriculum Developer |  Science Education Researcher

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Seedlings in Pots

ABOUT ME

“I am not a science person.”

 

This sentence has always bothered me. I have heard it from the mouths of doubting peers and crestfallen students. These six words become a self-fulfilling prophecy, and as a biology educator, I want my students to succeed. I need to know: how does this narrative impact science learning and literacy? What can I do to change this negative narrative?

 

My own identity as a science person drives me to ask questions about how to best support students learning complex science topics. At the University of Northern Colorado, I earned a Ph.D. in Biological Education researching experiences in undergraduate Anatomy and Physiology classrooms. I continued at the University of Northern Colorado as a postdoctoral researcher investigating assessment and systems thinking in environmental science contexts. 

 

I am seeking opportunities to collaborate on curriculum development and science education research projects. If you have questions or would like to chat about how I could contribute to your teams and projects, please start the conversation with the button below. 

About Me
Having a science identity has been a personal journey, which I shared with the Greeley community in November, 2019. 
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I actively seek out speaking engagements. If you have an event that you would like for me to speak at, let's talk.
I'm happy to teach, share my story, or speak about my research to both public and academic audiences.

MY PROJECTS

Research Interests and Collaborations

Projects

INVESTIGATING EFFECTIVE PEDAGOGY IN ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY COURSES

The overarching goal of my research agenda is to better understand how students learn anatomy and physiology, what factors influence their course outcomes, and what pedagogical practices support their learning goals. Undergraduate Anatomy and Physiology (A&P) courses are key prerequisites for students wishing to enter allied health careers, such as nursing, nutrition, and occupational therapy. I leverage methods from learning sciences, educational psychology, and DBER communities to investigate student-derived factors of success (such as science identity) and best pedagogical practices (such as transformative learning theory-laden pedagogy) to help students succeed in these foundational biology courses.

A&P STUDENT SCIENCE IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT

Science identity, or seeing oneself as a "science person," is a construct with established connections to persistence in STEM fields. I am curious about the expression of science identity in the future allied health professionals found in A&P classrooms; what is their perspective on being a "science person," and how can science identity be assessed and supported through their science prerequisite coursework?

SYSTEMS THINKING AND PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING

Problem-based learning (PBL) and medical school have a rich history, and PBL has expanded to many other contexts in K16 classrooms and beyond. In the context of A&P classrooms, how does PBL support students' development of systems thinking when learning about complex biological systems, such as human physiology? 

PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS

ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS

Royse, E. A., Pullen, N. A., Cogswell, A.* & Holt, E. A. (In Review). A scoping review of undergraduate anatomy and physiology education in the United States: Approaches to supporting and evaluating student outcomes.

Perkins, H., Royse, E. A., Cooper, S., Kurushima, J., Schinske, J. N. (2023). Are there any science people in undergraduate health science courses? Assessing science identity among pre-nursing and pre-allied health students in a community college setting. Journal
of Research in Science Teaching. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21902


Horne, L., Manzanares, A., Babin, N., Royse, E. A., Arakawa, L., Blavascunas, E., Doner, L., Druckenbrod, D., Fairchild, E., Jarchow, M., Muchnick, B. R., Panday, P., Perry, D., Thomas, R., Toomey, A., Tucker, B. H., Washington-Ottombre, C., Vincent, S., Anderson, S. W., & Romulo, C. (2023). Alignment among environmental programs in higher education: What food-energy-water nexus concepts are covered in introductory courses? Journal of Geoscience Education, 72(1), 86-103. https://doi.org/10.1080/10899995.2023.2187680


Sanchez, K. A., Bevan, A. J., Vita, A. A., Royse, E. A., Januszkiewicz, E., & Holt, E. A. (2023). Grit matters to biology doctoral students' perception of barriers to degree completion. Journal of Biological Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/00219266.2023.2192731 

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Vita, A. A., Royse, E. A., & Nicholas, N. A. (2021). Problem-Based Learning for Physiology: Synthesizing the Cardiovascular System, Respiration, Macronutrient Metabolism, and Renal Function. CourseSource. https://doi.org/10.24918/cs.2021.28 

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Royse, E. A., Sutton, E., Peffer, M. E., & Holt, E. A. (2020). The anatomy of persistence: Remediation and science identity perceptions in undergraduate anatomy and physiology. International Journal of Higher Education, 9(5), 283-299. https://doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v9n5p283 

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Peffer, M. E., Ramezani, N., Quigley, D., Royse, E., & Bruce, C. (2020). Learning analytics to assess beliefs about science: Evolution of expertise as seen through biological inquiry. CBE Life Sciences Education, 19(3), ar47. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.19-11-0247

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Khalsa, G. S., Welle, R., Royse, E., & Kopystynsky, N. (2020). Acculturation stress in northern colorado: A phenomenological study on the experiences and perspectives of refugee aid service providers. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 6(3), 283-293. https://doi.org/10.1037/tps0000273

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Lahman, M. K. E., De Oliveira, B., Fan, X., Hodges, J., Moncivais, I., & Royse, E. (2020). Pandemic poetry. Qualitative Inquiry. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800420948099

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Royse, E. A. Science Identity Development, Transformative Experiences, and Reflection in Undergraduate Anatomy and Physiology Classrooms. In Eagan, B., Misfeldt, M., and Siebert-Evenstone, A. (Eds.). (2019). First International Conference on Quantitative Ethnography: Conference Proceedings Supplement. Madison, WI: The Society for Quantitative Ethnography.

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Sherman, T. J., Harvey, T. M., Royse, E. A., Heim, A. B., Smith, C. F., Romano, A. B., King, A. E., Lyons, D. O., & Holt, E. A. (2019). Effect of quiz format on student performance and answer-changing behaviour on formative assessments. Journal of Biological Education, 1-15. doi:10.1080/00219266.2019.1687106

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Royse, E. A. Science Identity Development, Transformative Experiences, and Reflection in Undergraduate Anatomy and Physiology Classrooms. In Eagan, B., Misfeldt, M., and Siebert-Evenstone, A. (Eds.). (2019). First International Conference on Quantitative Ethnography: Conference Proceedings Supplement. Madison, WI: The Society for Quantitative Ethnography.

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Vita, A. A., Royse, E. A., Pullen, N. A. (2019). Nanoparticles and danger signals: oral delivery vehicles as potential disruptors of intestinal barrier homeostasis. Journal of Leukocyte Biology.  https://doi.org/10.1002/JLB.3MIR1118-414RR

 

Peffer, M. E., Royse, E., & Abelein, H. (2018). Influence of Affective Factors on Practices in Simulated Authentic Science Inquiry. In Kay, J. and Luckin, R. (Eds.) Rethinking Learning in the Digital Age: Making the Learning Sciences Count, 13th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2018, Volume 2. London, UK: International Society of the Learning Sciences.

THE SIX WHOLE WORDS OF MINE IN SCIENCE

Pithy burnout prevention. (2019). Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science), 365(6448), 22-23. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aay2936

PRESENTATIONS

Royse, E. A., Azzarello, C., Fairchild, E., Horne, L., Manzanares, A., Anderson, S., Vincent, S., Romulo, C. (2023, April). Interdisciplinary connections between place, proximity, and socio-environmental problems perceived by undergraduate students. X-DBER Conference, Online.

 

Royse, E. A., Manzanares, A., Horne, L., Anderson, S., Vincent, S., Romulo, C. (2023, March). What tradeoffs, for whom? Assessing students’ understanding of the food-energy-water nexus. [Oral presentation]. American Association of Geographers 2023 Annual Conference, Denver, CO.


Royse, E. A. (2023, January). Create problems for your students. [Workshop]. TAP Into Learning Conference, Aims Community College, Greeley. CO.

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Royse, E. A., Fairchild, E., Horne, L., Manzanares, A., Anderson, S., Vincent, S., Romulo, C. (2022, October). Opportunities for engagement: How students situate Food-Energy-Water Nexus topics within Sense of Place. [Oral presentation]. Geological Society of America 2022 Annual Conference, Denver, CO.


Royse, E. A., Pullen, N. A., & Holt, E. A. (2021, July). Systematically Evaluating Evidence-based Teaching Practices in Undergraduate Anatomy and Physiology Education. [Oral presentation]. Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research 2021 Annual Conference, Online.
 

Royse, E. A., & Holt, E. A. (2021, March). Systematic Literature Review Methodologies in Education Research: Evaluating Evidence for Undergraduate Anatomy and Physiology Best Practices. [Poster presentation]. X-DBER Conference, Online.

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Hutchinson, A., Royse, E. A., & Holt, E. A. (2021, January). Evaluating anatomy and physiology concept map assignments: How formative is teaching assistant feedback? Roundtable presentation at the SABER West Conference. Online.

 

Royse, E. A., Kriescher, D., Pugh, K. J., & Holt, E. A. (2020, July). Science identity, transformative experiences, and cell biology intersections in undergraduate Anatomy and Physiology. Poster Presentation at the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research 2020 Annual Conference. Online.

 

Royse, E. A., Vita, A. A., Pullen, N. A., & Holt, E. A. (2020, January). Concept Inventory Utility in Graduate and Undergraduate Student Populations: A Case Study with the Homeostasis Concept Inventory. Oral presentation at the SABER West Conference. Irvine, CA.

 

Royse, E. A., Vita, A. A., Pullen, N. A., & Holt, E. A. (2019, November). Can Graduate Students Use Concept Inventories Too?:  A Case Study with the Homeostasis Concept Inventory. Lightning talk at the BioTAP Virtual Conference. Knoxville, TN.

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Royse, E. A., Holt, E. A. , & Pugh, K. J. (2019, October). Science Identity Development, Transformative Experiences, and Reflection in Undergraduate Anatomy and Physiology Classrooms. Poster presentation at the International Conference on Quantitative Ethnography. Madison, WI.

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Royse, E. A., Sutton, E., Holt, E. A., & Peffer, M. E. (2019, July). Scrub Envy: Investigating Sources of Self-efficacy and Identity in Anatomy and Physiology Students. Oral presentation at the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research 2019 Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN.

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Royse, E., & Peffer, M. E. (2018, September). Are You Going to Eat That? A Design-based Approach to Investigate Scientific Decision-making. Poster presentation at the Learning Sciences Graduate Student Conference, Nashville, TN.

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Peffer, M. E., Royse, E., & Abelein, H.. (2018, June). Influence of affective factors on practices in simulated authentic science inquiry. Paper presentation at the International Conference of the Learning Sciences, London, UK.

 

Royse, E., & Peffer, M. E. (2018, April). "How we know" and "who we are:" overlooked routes to science literacy and decision making. Poster presentation at the College of Natural and Health Sciences 13th Annual Student Research Celebration, Greeley, CO.

 

Royse, E., & Peffer, M. E. (2018, April). Simulated science inquiry: Applications for assessing science literacy. Oral presentation at the University of Northern Colorado Science Education Symposium, Greeley, CO.

Publications

EDUCATION

Education

August 2017 - May 2022

UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN COLORADO

Ph.D. - Biological Education

August 2010 - May 2014

ABILENE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

Bachelor of Arts in Biology

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PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Adjunct Biology Instructor, Aims Community College and Laramie County Community College

I use Universal Design for Learning as my foundation for structuring online, hybrid, and in-person courses, including:

  • Human Anatomy and Physiology I

  • Human Anatomy and Physiology II

  • General College Biology I

  • Human Anatomy

June 2022 - present

Postdoctoral Research Assistant, University of Northern Colorado

June 2022 - August 2023

I contribute to qualitative data analysis, rubric development, and manuscript preparation on an NSF-funded project developing a Next Generation Concept Inventory assessing undergraduate student understanding of Food-Energy-Water Nexus topics.

Citizen Science Faculty, Bard College

January 2022

I created curriculum and taught the Science Communication strand of the Citizen Science, a freshman-level short course designed to help students develop science literacy.

Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Northern Colorado

August 2017 - December 2021

I designed learner-centered curriculum for introductory biology and anatomy and physiology lab courses, and served as the instructor of record for multiple biology courses. The labs I taught included:

  • Introductory Anatomy and Physiology 

  • Advanced Anatomy and Physiology 

  • Human Physiology 

  • Exploring Biology 

Special Projects Coordinator, Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden

October 2015 - May 2017

In this role, I provided project systems coordination for the Executive, Marketing, and Development departments. I also supported departments experiencing employee absences; roles included website management, departmental budget maintenance, and major gifts processing.

Lab Instructor, Abilene Christian University

I primarily instructed undergraduate Anatomy and Physiology lab courses. I additionally created study materials and led a weekly review for a graduate-level Neuroanatomy course.

May 2014 to May 2015

Experience

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