Marina Van der Eb

Acting Assistant Director of the RiSE Center
Maine STEM Partnership Coordinator

Estabrooke Hall 118
207.581.4664
Email Marina Van der Eb

Recent Publications

Education

Master of Science in Teaching (Generalist), University of Maine, 2016
B.S. in Marine Sciences (Physical Oceanography), University of Maine, 2013

Current Work

Marina Van der Eb manages the day to day operations of the Maine STEM Partnership, a research-practice partnership focused on improving STEM education statewide from Kindergarten through the University level. This involves providing cost effective science resources to K-12 districts, professional learning opportunities for K-12 STEM educators, and supporting research grants that are conducted through the partnership. Currently she is involved in the following two NSF funded projects:

STEM+C: Integrating Computing into Science Teaching and Learning in Grades 6-8: A Diverse Partnership to Develop an Evidence-Guided Model to Serve Rural Communities

This project explores the supports needed for middle school science teachers to integrate computer science into middle school science classrooms as well as the impacts of integration on how students learn science and computer science. A team of middle school science teachers and university faculty identified three middle school units in each content area (Earth, life, and physical science) to integrate with computer science content. They have since piloted and refined these units with the intent to share them more broadly after the project ends. Program funding is scheduled to end in August 2021.

INSPIRES: Leveraging Intelligent Informatics and Smart Data for Improved Understanding of Northern Forest Ecosystem Resilience

INSPIRES is a three state EPSCOR project focused on expanding data collection and modeling in connection with the northern forest in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The Maine STEM Partnership is leading work done in one of four themes which involves working with with eight high school science teachers around the topic of quantitative reasoning in context (QRC). The research for this theme will focus on the supports needed for teachers to develop and teach lessons that integrate QRC and forestry topics into their classrooms.

Highlighted Publications

Rachel A. Short, Marina Y. Van der Eb & Susan R. McKay (2020) Effect of productive discussion on written argumentation in earth science classrooms, The Journal of Educational Research, 113:1, 46-58, DOI: 10.1080/00220671.2020.1712314

Van der Eb, Marina, “Evaluation of the Collaborative Design Process and Classroom Implementation of a Place-Relevant Lesson in Ninth Grade Earth Science Classrooms” (2016). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2511. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/2511