Kathy Cabe Trundle, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Contact Info:

E-mail: trundle.1@osu.edu
Office: 202B Arps
Phone: (614) 292-5820
Fax: (614) 292-7695

Mailing Address:

1945 N. High St.
Columbus, OH 43210-1172

Biographical Information:

Kathy Cabe Trundle is an Assistant Professor in the School of Teaching and Learning. She has 20 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 grants history

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

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., 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.
Trundle, K. C. & Troland, T. H. (2005). The moon in children's literature. Science and Children, 43 (2) 40-43.
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. & Bell, R.L. (2003). Using planetarium software to teach standards-based lunar concepts. School Science and Mathematics, 103 (8), 397-401.
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