Colby Tofel-Grehl
School of Teacher Education and Leadership
Associate Professor, Science Education
Contact Information
Office Location: EDUC 331Phone: 435-797-1342
Email: colby.tg@usu.edu
Additional Information:
Educational Background
Biography
Dr. Colby Tofel-Grehl is an associate professor in the School of Teacher Education & Leadership at Utah State University. Her scholarship interrogates the structures, systems, and practices that foster inequities across STEM learning environments. She designs teacher professional development and curricular materials within frameworks of rightful presence and critical theories to facilitate minoritized rural youth’s success within STEM spaces. This work leverages the affordances of Making and data science to center students’ identities and cultures within authentic and empowering STEM work. She is principal investigator of over $19 million in federal grants, including a National Science Foundation CAREER grant to study and develop a new model of rural STEM teacher professional learning and a U.S. Department of Education GEAR-UP grant. She received the 2019 Award for Significant Contribution to Educational Measurement and Research Methodology from Division D of the American Educational Research Association and the 2020 Early Career Science Teacher Educator of the Year Award from the Association for Science Teacher Educators. In 2021, the National Science Foundation’s ITEST Program recognized her grant, Project ESTITCH, as one of three nationally outstanding projects in the service of broadening participation in STEM.
Teaching Interests
Qualitative Research Methods
Advanced Qualitative Research Methods
Secondary Science Teacher Methods
Research Interests
STEM education
STEM schools
Science education
Science curricula
Maker Spaces
Awards
SIGCSE NSF Showcase Honoree, 2017
National Science Foundation
Researcher of the Year 2015, 2015
Teacher Education and Leadership
Curry Cup Winner, 2011
University of Viginia
Barbara Labrecque Corbin Scholarship Award, 2010
University of Virginia
Publications | Books
- Gubbins, E.J, Villanueva, M., Gilson, C.M, Foreman, J.L, Bruce-Davis, M.N, Vahidi, S., Callahan, C., Tofel-Grehl, C., (2013). Status of STEM high schools and implications for practice.. University of Connecticut, The National Research center on the Gifted and Talented *
- Suarez, M.I, Hawkman, A., Tofel-Grehl, C., MacDonald, B., Searle, K., Feldon, D., Sommers, T., Hernandez, E., (2024). STEM as a cover: Towards a framework for queer emotions, battle fatigue, and STEM identity: Queer Battle Fatigue: Education, exhaustion, and everyday oppressions . Routledge
- Tofel-Grehl, C., Callahan, C., Hunsaker, S.L, (2017). STEM High Schools in the United States: Teacher Belief Regarding Workload and Student Giftedness..
- Howell, J., Tofel-Grehl, C., Fields, D., Ducamp, G., (2016). E-textiles to teach electricity: An experiential, aesthetic, handcrafted approach to science: Teacher Pioneers: Visions from the Edge of the Map. Carnegie Mellon: ETC Press *
Publications | Book Chapters
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.
Publications | Curriculum
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.
Publications | Journal Articles
Academic Journal
- Suarez, M., Hawkman, A.M, Tofel-Grehl, C., MacDonald, B., Searle, K., Feldon, D., Sommers, T., Hernandez, E., (2022). STEM as a cover: Towards a framework for queer emotions, battle fatigue, and STEM identity. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 35:9, 960-979. doi: 10.1080/09518398.2022.2031333
- Tofel-Grehl, C., Searle, K., Hawkman, A., MacDonald, B., Suarez, M.I, (2021). Rural teachers' cultural and epistemic shifts in STEM teaching and learning. Theory and Practice in Rural Education, 11:2, 45-66. doi: 10.3776/tpre.2021.v11n2p45-66
- Feldon, D., Tofel-Grehl, C., (2018). Phenomenography as a Platform for Mixed Methods Research. American Behavioral Scientist, 62, 887-899.
- Tofel-Grehl, C., Callahan, C., Feldon, D., (2018). The role of standards and standardized testing in gifted STEM education.. Roeper Review, 40, 130-138.
- Feldon, D., Peugh, J., Roska, J., Maher, M., Tofel-Grehl, C., (2017). Time-to-credit gender inequities of first-year Ph.D. students in the biological sciences. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 16:1, ar4.
- Tofel-Grehl, C., Fields, D., Searle, K., Maahs Fladung, C., Feldon, D., Gu, J., Sun, C., (2017). Electrifying Engagement in Middle School Science Class: Improving Student Interest Through E-textiles. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 26:4, 406-417. doi: 10.1007/s10956-017-9688-y
- Tofel-Grehl, C., Callahan, C.M, Nadelson, L.S, (2017). Comparative Analyses of Discourse in Specialized STEM School Classes.. The Journal of Educational Research, 110:3, 294-307.
- Tofel-Grehl, C., Callahan, C., (2017). STEM high school teachers' beliefs regarding STEM student giftedness.. Gifted Child Quarterly, 6:1, 40-51.
- Tofel-Grehl, C., Litts, B., Searle, K., (2016). Getting Crafty With the NGSS. Science and Children, 54:4, 48-53.
- Tofel-Grehl, C., Feldon, D., (2016). Reviewing STEM education for high ability learners.. Teachers' College Record
- Tofel-Grehl, C., Callahan, C., (2016). Variations in the intensity of specialized STEM high schools.. Journal of STEM Teacher Education, 51:1, 33-56.
- Tofel-Grehl, C., Callahan, C.M, (2016). STEM School Discourse Patterns. Journal of STEM Education: Innovations and Research, 17:2, 34-41.
- Forman, J., Gubbins, E.J, Villanueva, I., Massicotte, C., Callahan, C., Tofel-Grehl, C., (2015). National Survey of STEM High Schools' Curricular and Instructional Strategies and Practices.. NCSSS Journal, 20:1, 8-19.
- Tofel-Grehl, C., Fields, D., (2015). Sewing up science.. The Science Teacher, 82:8, 45-49.
- Tofel-Grehl, C., (2014). A National Need for Parity in STEM Education.. Teaching Children Mathematics21, 261-262.
- Tofel-Grehl, C., Callahan, C., (2014). STEM high school communities: Common and differing features.. Journal of Advanced Academics, 25:3, 237-271.
- Tofel-Grehl, C., Feldon, D., (2013). Cognitive task analysis-based training: A meta-analysis of studies. Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making, 7:3, 293-304.
- Tofel-Grehl, C., (2011). Reviewing a power shift in public education.. American School Board Journal198, 46.
Professional Journal
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.
Publications | Other
An asterisk (*) at the end of a publication indicates that it has not been peer-reviewed.