Research Interest: I am curious about the use of simulation tools to connect student observations of natural ecosystems to the scientific practices of developing and testing models. I believe there is a highly motivated space to bridge active experiential learning with classroom curricular content, and seek to tease it out through interactive technology. Currently I am designing a working model of a garden ecosystem that I will use to consider both how students externalize and formalize their understanding of systems dynamics, and how one might evaluate content learning in an experiential environment.
About me: I hail from North Carolina, and received a B.A in Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology from Washington University in Saint Louis. After graduating, I was a high school mathematics teacher, as well as an outdoor science teacher for several years. In the Bay Area, I have been a farm and garden educator before beginning my studies at Cal. I am also helping integrate current math and science standards into a new middle-school project-based garden curriculum for Berkeley Unified School District. In my free time, I (unsurprisingly) like feeding vegetables to goats, kids, and chickens.
Contact: RLShareff [at] berkeley [dot] edu