Faculty Profiles

Dr. Hammack’s research focuses on the connection of local knowledge and context to STEM interest and identity development in youth, particularly rural youth in elementary and middle grades, as well as how elementary teachers develop teaching efficacy and identity as STEM educators. Through her research, Dr. Hammack aims to advance understanding of how to enhance STEM education in rural schools and communities, providing opportunities to meet the unique needs of rural students. She has served as a PI or co-PI on over $5 million dollars in both external and internal grants, including a grant from the National Institutes of Health and several grants from the National Science Foundation.

Current Projects

Investigating how combining intensive professional development and modest support affects rural, elementary teachers’ science and engineering practice. This multi-institution collaborative study investigates the extent to which providing modest supports for science and engineering teaching after engaging in professional learning experiences, help sustain professional learning outcomes for 3rd-5th grade teachers in rural schools.

https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2201249&HistoricalAwards=false

My Home, My Health: Place-Based Public Health Resources for Rural Educators. This multi-institution partnership brings together land-grant and tribal colleges to create hands-on, place-based activity kits focused on a broad definition of disease ecology with the goals of (1) engaging rural youth in bioscience activities, (2) increasing youth awareness of bioscience careers, and (3) enhancing the science teaching efficacy of informal educators.

https://nihsepa.org/project/my-home-my-health-place-based-public-health-resources-for-rural-educators/

Selected Publications

• Hammack, R., Yeter, I., Pavlovich, C., & Boz, T. (2024). Pre-service elementary teachers’ science and engineering teaching self-efficacy and outcome expectancy: Exploring the impacts of efficacy source experiences through varying course modalities. International Journal of STEM Education, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-024-00464-9
• Boz, T., Hammack, R., Lux, N., & Gannon, P. (2023). Empowering elementary students with community-based engineering: A teacher’s experience in a rural school district. Education Sciences, 13(5), 434. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13050434
• Hammack, R., & Stanton, C. R., Boyle, J. (2023). “Step Outside”: A portrait of an exemplary rural K-8 science educator. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 60(3), 544-567 https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21809
• Vo, T., & Hammack, R. (2022). The development and empirical grounding of the Draw-An-Engineering-Teacher-Test (DAETT). Journal of Science Teacher Education, 33 (3) 262-281. https://doi.org/10.1080/1046560X.2021.1912272
• Lux, N., Hammack, R., Wiehe, B., Gannon, P. (2022). Building primary preservice teachers’ identity as engineering educators. Education Sciences, 12(10), 637. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12100637
• Hammack, R., & Vo, T. (2021). A mixed methods comparison of elementary preservice teachers’ conceptions of teaching engineering. Research in Science Education, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-021-10013-x
• Hammack, R., Gannon, P., Foreman, C., & Meyer, E. (2020). Impacts of professional development focused on teaching engineering applications of mathematics and science. School Science and Mathematics, 120(7), 413-424. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ssm.12430
• Hammack, R., Utley, J, Ivey, T. & High, K. (2020). Exploring elementary teachers’ mental images of engineers. Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research,10(2), 35-46. https://doi.org/10.7771/2157-9288.1255
• Hammack, R., & Ivey, T. (2019). Elementary teachers’ perceptions of K-5 engineering education and perceived barriers. Journal of Engineering Education, 108(4), 503-522. https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20289
• Utley, J., Ivey, T., Hammack, R., & High, K. (2019) Enhancing engineering education in elementary school. School Science and Mathematics, 119(4), 203-212. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssm.12332
• Hammack, R., & Ivey, T. (2018). Elementary teachers’ perceptions of engineering and engineering design. Journal of Research in STEM Education, 2 (2), 126-146. https://doi.org/10.51355/jstem.2017.29
• Hammack, R., & Ivey, T. (2017). Examining elementary teachers’ engineering self-efficacy and engineering teacher efficacy. School Science and Mathematics, 117(1-2), 52-62. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssm.12205
• Hammack, R., Ivey, T., Utley, J., & High, K. (2015). Effect of an engineering camp on students’ perceptions of engineering and technology. Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research, 5(2), 10-21. https://doi.org/10.7771/2157-9288.1102

• EDCI 36501 — Teaching Science Through Design in Grades K-2
• EDCI 36502 — Teaching Science Through Design in Grades K-2
• EDCI 51700 — Survey of Science Education