Senior Leader, Research Scientist, Director of EdGE

Jodi Asbell-Clarke

Program/Areas of Interest

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

Biography

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.

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

Associations

  • 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)

Highlighted Publications

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