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 and Indigenous youth in elementary and middle grades, as well as how elementary teachers develop teaching effiacy 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 underserved 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, underserved youth in bioscience activities, (2) increasing youth awareness of bioscience careers, and (3) enhancing the science teaching effiacy of informal educators.

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

RET Site: Culturally Responsive Energy Engineering Education in Rural/Reservation Elementary Schools. This project provides elementary teachers with a six-week research experience in engineering research laboratories and professional development related to Indigenous Science Knowledge and culturally responsive curriculum development. The goals of this multi-year project are (1) promote inclusive engineering identity formation among diverse rural and reservation students, (2) increase elementary teacher self-efficacy in culturally responsive engineering education, and (3) establish a collaborative ecosystem among regional elementary schools, industry, and academia focused on energy research and diversifying the future engineering workforce.

https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2055138&HistoricalAwards=false

Looks Like Me: Leveraging Funds of Identity to Enhance Engineering Career Pursuits in Rural/Reservation Communities is a multi-year study with the following goals (1) Increase rural and indigenous youth’s awareness of, interest in, and preparedness for engineering and engineering-related careers and (2) Enhance elementary teachers’ efficacy and capacity to deliver place-based engineering-focused instruction to rural and indigenous youth.

https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1916673&HistoricalAwards=false

Selected Publications

• 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
• Hammack, R., & High, K. (2014). Effects of an after school engineering mentor program on middle school girls’ perceptions of engineers. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 20(1), 11-20.   https://doi.org/10.1615/JWomenMinorScienEng.2014006726