Elisabeth Schussler
ADDRESS
Phone
Elisabeth Schussler
Professor, Associate Head
Research Interest
Instructional practices, introductory biology, GTAs, professional development
Education
1997 – PhD, Louisiana State University
Research
The development of effective undergraduate educational practices is reliant on empirical data about teaching and student learning; research in my lab employs qualitative and quantitative research methods to collect these data.
One of the foci of my lab is the shaping of undergraduate learning environments to foster meaningful student learning. Although learning environments are organized around specific curricula, student learning is often a function of the instructor and/or student perception of the instructor. Much of my lab’s research has focused on this interplay between the instructor and students and how it affects student learning. Recently, this work has explored the impacts of emotional reactions to instructional practices, with a central focus on student anxiety in introductory biology classes, and recent work on how perceptions of failure impact self-efficacy. Many of my graduate students have studied the experiences of graduate students in their graduate programs, with research on topics ranging from anxiety towards teaching and research to how students define and achieve success to chance event impacts on careers.
I continue a long-standing commitment to graduate student teaching professional development through my participation in the Biology Teaching Assistant (BioTAP), an NSF-funded research coordination network I and collaborators founded in 2013. This network has co-published a national survey on the state of GTA TPD at institutions across the US and Canada, proposed a conceptual model for conducting research on GTA TPD programs, and outlined the philosophy and practices of the BioTAP Scholars program. These publications are listed below.
Publications
Visit Google Scholar for more publications:
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Ferguson, H* and Schussler EE. 2025. A Qualitative Student of Graduate Student Emotional and Cognitive Processing of Unexpected (Chance) Events. PLOS One 20(8): e0331182.
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Musgrove, MMC*, Petrie**, K, Cooley, A**, Schussler, EE. 2025. Factors Impacting Teaching and Research Anxieties in Biology Graduate Teaching Assistants: Implications for Professional Development. Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education 0:e00032-25.
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Von der Mehden, B*, Philpott, L*, Schussler EE. 2025. Self-efficacy is a stronger predictor of final grade than motivation in an introductory biology course: A structural equation analysis. CBE Life Sciences Education 24(2): ar 21.
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Schussler, EE. 2025. Yours, mine, sometimes ours: Uncovering the experiences of biologists searching for academic jobs together. CBE Life Sciences Education 24(2): ar 22.
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Sizemore III, JM**, Von der Mehden, B*, Schussler EE. 2025. Undergraduate students with and without mental health concerns have different perceptions of disclosing mental health challenges to instructors. PloS One 20(3): e0315155.
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Cooper KM, Brownell SE, Schussler EE, Downing VR, Gin LE, McDonald KK, Nesse RM, Busch CA*, England BJ, Grigler L, Maas SA*, Molinaro M, Nieset NL, Pate AL, Rasmussen J, Schleider JL, Simmons AY, Spurgeon SL, Stonnington CM, Trobiano M. 2025. Meeting report: An interdisciplinary approach to addressing anxiety in undergraduate active learning biology courses. Advances in Physiology Education 49: 405-415.
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Weatherton, M, Schussler, E, Brigati, BR, Ferguson*, H, Boyd**, I, England, BJ. 2024. Is support in the anxiety of the beholder? How anxiety interacts with perceptions of instructor support in introductory biology classes. CBE Life Sciences Education 23(4): ar 45.
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Von der Mehden*, BM, Waller, K**, Schussler, EE. 2024. Student Perspectives of Success and Failure in Biology Lecture: Multifaceted Definitions and Misalignments. CBE Life Sciences Education 23(3): ar 29.
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Ferguson, H*, Schussler, EE. 2024. Examining the unexpected: The occurrence and impact of chance events on life science graduate students’ career intentions. Journal of STEM Education Research 7(2): Examining the Unexpected: The Occurrence and Impact of Chance Events on Life Science Graduate Students’ Career Intentions.
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Weatherton, M*, Schussler, EE. 2022. Exploring student perspectives: How graduate students in a Life Science department define success. CBE Life Sciences Education 21(2): ar 34.