Kathy Cabe Trundle, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Contact Info

• E-mail: trundle.1@osu.edu
• Office: 201 Arps
• Phone: (614) 292-5820
• Fax: (614) 292-7695

Mailing Address

• 333 Arps Hall
• 1945 N. High St.
• Columbus, OH 43210-1172

Biographical Information

Kathy Cabe Trundle is an Associate professor in the School of Teaching and Learning. She has more than 25 years of experience in science education, teaching at every level from grade six through graduate school. Before joining The Ohio State University faculty, she was a faculty member at the University of Alabama, and previously she served as the science consultant for the Kentucky Department of Education. Immediately prior to this position, she was a Science Curriculum Specialist at the Ohio Resource Center in the College of Education. She earned her B.S. degree in Natural Science: Biology and Education, her M.S. in Curriculum and Instruction, and her Ph.D. in science education from the University of Tennessee. Her research focuses on alternative conceptions, conceptual change, and conceptual durability. Also, she has conducted studies on interactive learning environments.

Education

• 1999 Ph.D. University of Tennessee, Education, Science
• 1995 M.S. University of Tennessee, Education, Curriculum and Instruction
• 1983 B.S. University of Tennessee, Natural Science/Biology and Education

Research Biography

Dr. Trundle's research focuses on teaching and learning of Earth and Space Science concepts. Grounded in conceptual change theory, her work includes content knowledge, alternative conceptions, conceptual change, and conceptual durability in response to instructional interventions. Specific studies have been conducted on conceptual change across various age and grade levels (i.e., elementary, middle school, and university students) and across several different instructional contexts (i.e., an undergraduate physics course, a science methods course, elementary and middle school classrooms, and inservice teacher institutes). Currently she is assessing the efficacy of instructional approaches using observations in nature versus computer simulations to promote conceptual change on moon phenomena.

Activities and Honors

• Outstanding Science Teacher Educator of the Year, Association of Science Teacher Education (Early Career, 2008)
• Program Chairperson of Annual International Meeting, Association for Science Teacher Education, 2008
• Member, Elections Committee, Association for Science Teacher Education, 2007 - 2010
• Chairperson, Outstanding Paper Award Committee, National Association for Research in Science Teaching, 2005 - 2006
• Member, Awards Committee, National Association for Research in Science Teaching, 2004 - 2006

Selected Grant Funding

• Co-Investigator, Effective Collaboration to Enrich STEM Programs in Rural Ohio, Ohio Board of Regents ($182,463).
• Co-Investigator, Reading the Code: Genetic Literacy Across the Middle School Curriculum, Battelle Endowment for Technology and Human Affairs ($60,000).
• Principal Investigator, OSU Science Endorsement Institute for Improving Teacher Quality, Ohio Board of Regents Improving Teacher Quality Professional Development Program ($103,995).
• Principal Investigator, OSU Earth and Space Science Institute for Improving Instructional Practice, Ohio Board of Regents Improving Teacher Quality Professional Development Program ($85,000).
• Principal Investigator, Pre-K Mathematics and Science for At-Risk Children: Outcomes-Focused Curricula and Support for Teaching Quality, Contract with the University of Virginia as part of an Institute of Education Sciences Grant (total funding $1.77 M, OSU contract $275,000).
• Principal Investigator, OSU Early Childhood Science and Mathematics Institute for Improving Instructional Practice, Ohio Board of Regents Improving Teacher Quality Professional Development Program ($93,132).
• Co-Principal Investigator, The Ohio State University Science and Mathematics Summer Institutes for Instructional Change: Geology Institute, Ohio Board of Regents Improving Teacher Quality Professional Development Program ($391,431).

Selected Publications

More than 70 books and manuscripts in refereed journals, along with more than 30 refereed abstracts, bulletins, and papers in proceedings. The following are selected peer-reviewed publications:

• Sackes, M., Trundle, K. C., Tuckman, B., & Krissek, L. A. (in press). Development of the efficacy beliefs for conceptual change learning questionnaire. Journal of Experimental Education.
• Trundle, K. C. & Hobson, S. M. (in press). Reaching for the moon: Using technology to teach young children space science concepts. Science and Children.
• Trundle, K. C. & Smith, M. M. (in press). Let it roll! Exploring motion with young children. Science and Children.
• Sackes, M., Trundle, K. C., & Bell, R. L. (2011). Development of children's computer skills from kindergarten to third grade. Computers and Education, 57 (2), 1698-1704.
• Sackes, M., Trundle, K. C., Bell, R. L. & O'Connell, A. A. (2011). The influence of early science experience in kindergarten on children's immediate and later science achievement: evidence from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 48 (2), 217-235. DOI 10.1002/tea.20395
• Sackes, M., Trundle, K. C., & Krissek, L. A. (2011). The impact of a summer institute on inservice early childhood teachers' knowledge of earth and space science concepts. The science Educator, 20 (1), 23-33.
• Ucar, S. & Trundle, K. C. (2011). Conducting guided inquiry in science classes using authentic, archived, web-based data. Computers and Education, 57 (2), 1571-1582.
• Ucar, S., Trundle, K. C., & Krissek, L. A. (2011). Inquiry-based instruction with archived, online data: An intervention study with preservice teachers. Research in Science Education, 41 (2), 261-282 . DOI: 10.1007/s11165-009-9164-7.
• Adadan, E., Trundle, K. C., & Irving, K. (2010). Exploring high school students' conceptual pathways of the particulate nature of matter. Journal of Research in Science Teaching. 47 (8), 1004-1035. DOI: 10.1002/tea.20366
• Hobson, S. M., Trundle, K. C., & Sackes, M. (2010). Using a planetarium software program to promote conceptual change with young children. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 19 (2), 165-176. DOI: 10.1007/s10956-009-9189-8
• Inan, H. Z., Trundle, K. C., & Kantor, R. (2010). Understanding natural sciences education in a Reggio Emilia-inspired preschool in America. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 47 (10), 1186-1208. DOI 10.1002/tea.20375
• Sackes, M., Flevares, L., & Trundle, K. C. (2010). Four- to six-year old children's conceptions of the mechanism of rainfall. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 25 (4), 536-546. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecresq.2010.01.001
• Trundle, K. C., Atwood, R. K., Christopher, J. E., & Sackes, M. (2010). The effect of guided inquiry-based instruction on middle school students' understanding of lunar concepts. Research in Science Education, 40 (3), 451-478. DOI: 10.1007/s11165-009-9129-x
• Trundle, K.C. & Bell, R.L. (2010). The use of a computer simulation to promote conceptual change: A quasi-experimental study. Computers and Education, 54, 1078-1088. DOI: 10.1016/j.compedu.2009.10.012
• Trundle, K. C., & Sackes, M. (2010). Look! It is going to rain: Using books and observations to promote young children's understanding of clouds. Science and Children, 47 (8), 29-31.
• Wild, T. & Trundle, K. C. (2010a). The conceptual understandings of middle school students' with visual impairments concerning seasonal change. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 104 (2), 107-118.
• Wild, T. & Trundle, K. C. (2010b). Talking turkey: Teaching about America's greatest conservation story with children with visual impairments. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 104 (4).
• Adadan, E., Irving, K. & Trundle, K. C. (2009). Impacts of multi-representational instruction on high school students' conceptual understandings of the particulate nature of matter. International Journal of Science Education, 31 (13), 1743-1775.
• Sackes, M., Trundle, K. C., & Flevares, L. (2009a). Using children's books to teach inquiry skills. Young Children, 64 (6), 24-26.
• Sackes, M., Trundle, K. C., & Flevares, L. (2009b). Using children's literature to teach standard-based science concepts in early years. Early Childhood Education Journal, 36 (5),415-422.
• Bell, R. L. & Trundle, K. C. (2008). The use of a computer simulation to promote scientific conceptions of moon phases. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 45 (3), 346-372.
• Trundle, K. C. & Sackes, M. (2008). Sky observations by the book: Lessons for teaching young children astronomy concepts with picture books. Science and Children, 46 (1), 36-39.
• Trundle, K. C., Troland, T. H., & Pritchard, T. G. (2008). Representations of the moon in children's literature: An analysis of written and visual text. Journal of Elementary Science Education, 20 (1), 17-28.
• Trundle, K. C., Atwood, R. K., & Christopher, J. E. (2007). A longitudinal study of conceptual change: Preservice elementary teachers' conceptions of moon phases. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 44 (2), 303-326.
• Trundle, K. C., Atwood, R. K., & Christopher, J. E. (2007). Fourth grade elementary students' conceptions of standards-based lunar concepts. International Journal of Science Education, 29 (5), 595-616.
• Trundle, K. C., Atwood, R. K., & Christopher, J. E. (2006). Preservice elementary teachers' knowledge of observable moon phases and pattern of change in phases. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 17 (2), 87-101.
• Trundle, K. C., Willmore, S., & Smith, W. S. (2006). The MOON Project. Science and Children, 43 (6), 52-55.
• Smith, W.S., Trundle, K. C., and Lee, L. (2004). Using internet technology to address national science and teacher standards. The Teacher Educator, 39 (2), 144-156.
• Trundle, K. C., Atwood, R. K., & Christopher, J. E. (2002). Preservice elementary teachers' conceptions of moon phases before and after instruction Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 39 (7), 633-658.

Courses

• EDU T&L 920 Advanced Concepts in Elementary School Science Education
• EDU T&L 811 Science in Elementary Education
• EDU T&L 852 Science and Early Childhood Education