Education — Curriculum and Instruction (323) 343-4350

Paula Arvedson
Professor of Education; B.A., M.A., Cal State LA, Ph.D., UCLA
Contact: (323) 343-5657
E-mail: [email protected]

  • Mathematical thinking in early childhood
  • Use of technology to engage students in constructive learning
  • Infusing global perspectives in all teaching/learning
  • Teaching urban learners
  • Early childhood cognitive development
  • Knowledge/skills/dispositions for teaching social studies
  • Teaching global perspectives
  • Science and math education

Ann Barbour
Emerita Professor of Early Childhood Education, Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin
Contact: (323) 343-4372
E-mail: [email protected]

  • Appropriate educational practices in early childhood settings
  • Role of play in learning
  • School-family partnerships
  • Effects of playground design on children’s play behaviors and social competence
  • Home-literacy backpack programs
  • Parents and caregivers support
  • Development and learning of young children

Anna E. Chee
Emerita Professor of Education, Ph.D., USC
Contact: (323) 343-4368
E-mail: [email protected]

  • Second language acquisition process
  • Literacy development of immigrant students and adults
  • Bilingual education
  • Raising children
  • Transnational childhoods
  • Family migration
  • Identity politics
  • Experiences of immigrants and English learners

Fluent in: Korean.


Oona Fontanella-Nothom
Assistant Professor of Education; Ph.D., University of Missouri
Contact: (323) 343-4370
E-mail: [email protected]

  • Early childhood education
  • Learning, teaching and curriculum

Ambika Gopalakrishnan
Professor of Education; Ph.D., Ohio State University
Contact: (323) 343-6267
E-mail: [email protected]

  • Educational drama
  • Narrative practices (such as storytelling and film)
  • Children’s literature
  • Culturally relevant practices

Fluent in: Hindi, Tamil.


Rebecca Joseph
Professor of Curriculum and Instruction; Ph.D., UCLA
Contact: (323) 343-5458
E-mail: [email protected]

  • Secondary teaching
  • Professional development in active engaging
  • Literacy across the curriculum
  • Writing effective college admissions essays

Robert E. Land
Professor of Education; Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh
Contact: (323) 343-4443
E-mail: [email protected]

  • Writing campus
  • Reading assessment
  • Literacy
  • Los Angeles Wirting Project

Leah M. Melber
Emerita Professor of Curriculum and Instruction; Ph.D., USC
Contact: (323) 343-4475
E-mail: [email protected]

  • Science education, particularly at the pre-K and elementary levels
  • Science learning in nontraditional and informal environments
  • Science literacy within the community and within the urban areas
  • Parental involvement to support science learning
  • Development of inquiry-based science experiences for children

Fluent in: Spanish.


Ramakrishnan Menon
Professor of Education; Ph.D., University of British Columbia
Contact: (323) 343-6143
E-mail: [email protected]

  • Mathematics education
  • Preservice and inservice teachers
  • Classroom-based research
  • Number sense
  • Professional development courses for middle school math teachers
  • High school math

Fluent in: Malay.


Christina Restrepo Nazar
Assistant Professor of Education; Ph.D., Michigan State University
Contact: (323) 343-4400
E-mail: [email protected]

  • Teacher education
  • Social justice
  • Science education
  • Culture and education

Fluent in: Spanish.


John Shindler
Professor of Education; Ph.D., Washington State University
Contact: (323) 343-5824
E-mail: [email protected]

  • Cognitive/learning style
  • Classroom management
  • Performance assessment
  • Teacher-led change
  • School-wide restructuring

Gay Quai-Ming Yuen
Emerita Professor of Education; Ph.D., USC
Contact: (323) 343-4363
E-mail: [email protected]

  • Bilingual education
  • Second language development
  • Minority education
  • Asian and Asian American educational research
  • Multicultural education
  • Teacher education
  • Lowering dropout rates and truancy
  • Dual immersion language program