Keisha Varma

Keisha Varma, an Associate Professor in Educational Psychology, studies science cognition at the middle school level. She is particularly interested in how students develop the skills for grappling with complex data in which the answer is not obvious.

Two of her current research projects focus on supporting science learning in middle school students.  One examines designing and enacting curriculum units involving simple and complex board games to support science and engineering practices. The other explores how using a social media learning environment can increase parent involvement and science learning in minority and immigrant students and families. She is working with teachers, students and families in the Minneapolis, St. Paul, Richfield and Osseo school districts and has a long history of working collaboratively in university-school district partnerships.