Jodi Asbell-Clarke

Jodi Asbell-Clarke, Ph.D. has recently published an innovative book titled Reaching and Teaching Neurodivergent Learners in STEM: Strategies for Embracing Unique Problem Solvers (Routledge/Taylor&Francis; Publication date: November 23, 2023; $34.95 paper). Grounded in decades of research and classroom practice, this groundbreaking work emphasizes the inclusion of learners who think differently. This book presents individual examples of neurodivergent journeys in STEM and connects neurodiversity to the types of innovative problem-solving skills needed in today’s workforce. Teachers, parents, and administrators will learn how to embrace the unique brilliance and potential of neurodivergent learners, working against historic marginalization and deficit-based perspectives of neurodiversity that hold some of our best learners back. 

Jodi is available for media interviews to discuss her research and the themes explored in her book. Please click here to schedule an interview. 

• Game-based learning
• Neurodiversity
• Computational Thinking
• Assessment

Jodi’s academic background includes a MA in Math, an MSc in Astrophysics and a PhD in Education. Early in her career, Jodi dreamed of being an astronaut and went to Houston where she was an onboard software verification analyst for IBM during the first 25 missions of the space shuttle. Later Jodi taught Physics and Astrophysics to some of the brightest students in the country at the laboratory school at University of Illinois. In 1993, she came to TERC and led several science education projects at TERC involving curriculum development, professional development of teachers, and educational research. In 2009, she co-founded EdGE with her colleagues to study how game-based learning can transform science education.

• Rochester Institute of Technology: Applied Math, B.S., 1983
• Rice University: Applied Math, M.A., 1986
• University of New Mexico: Astrophysics, M.S., 1989
• University of Toronto: Education, Ph.D., 2011

• ACM
• IMBES

Past advisory board for various organizations including:

• National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) on Game-Based Learning
• George Lucas Education Foundation
• CIRCL (CICL Meeting Program Committee and Cyberlearning Report Committee)

Asbell-Clarke, J., Rowe, E., Almeda, M., Edwards, T., Bardar, E., Gasca, S., Baker, R., & Scruggs, R. (2021). The development of students’ computational thinking practices in elementary and middle-school classes using the learning game, Zoombinis. Computers in Human Behavior, 115, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106587

Asbell-Clarke, J., Bardar, E., & Edwards, T. (2020). The importance of teacher bridging in game-based learning classrooms. In M. Farber (Ed.), Global perspectives on gameful and playful teaching and learning (pp. 211-239). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-2015-4.ch010

Rowe, E., Asbell-Clarke, J., Almeda, M., Bardar, E., Baker, R., & Scruggs, R., (2020). Advancing research in game-based learning assessment: Tools and methods for measuring implicit learning. In E. Kennedy & J. Qian (Eds.), Advancing educational research with emerging technology (pp. 99-123). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-1173-2.ch006