Melanie is an educational researcher focused on strengthening education through the
integration of computational thinking, STEAM, and digital literacy. She is committed
to designing professional learning that supports teachers in creating interdisciplinary
lessons and engaging classroom experiences, often using children’s literature to deepen
instruction.
A former elementary and middle grades teacher in Tennessee and South Carolina, she
holds a Ph.D. in Language, Literacy, and Diversity Studies from Texas Tech University.
She teaches courses in elementary STEM methods and works closely with pre-service
teachers, integrating her expertise in literacy and STEM to prepare future educators.
Melanie’s work has been published in journals such as Computer Science Education, Professional Development in Education, Language Arts, and Tech Trends.
Research areas of interest: computational thinking, STEAM, teacher learning, computer
science education, AI in Education