Welcome to theCenter for Instructional Excellence

Chantal Levesque-Bristol, PhD

Executive Director

Email: clevesqu@purdue.edu

Chantal Levesque-Bristol received a B.A. in Psychology (1995), and a PhD (2000) in Social Psychology from the University of Ottawa, Canada. Her primary areas of interests are teaching and learning, motivation, educational psychology, faculty development, and institutional change. She was the Principal Investigator on a First in the World grant from the Department of Education and recently recognized by Purdue’s College of Education with a First Book Award for her publication of Student-Centered Pedagogy at Scale, which describes the development of Purdue’s IMPACT program.

David Nelson, PhD

Associate Director

Email: davenelson@purdue.edu

David Nelson received his PhD in History from the University of California, Irvine and has worked in CIE since 2008. He works on SoTL projects and teaching initiatives with faculty across the campus, and has particular interests in cooperative faculty development and research in computer science, especially initiatives to increase women with programming degrees.

Deb Felix

Senior Administrative Assistant

Email: felixd@purdue.edu

Deb Felix has been a member of the CIE staff since December 2009.  Deb has been an active member of the Purdue staff since August 1979 with roles in the Diversity Resource Office, Engineering Education, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, and Libraries. She received an Associate Degree in Organizational Leadership and Supervision from Purdue University in May, 2001.

Allison Russell

Senior IMPACT Program Manager

Email: allisonrussell@purdue.edu

Allison Russell has a B.A. in Marketing (2009) from the University of Kentucky. She moved to Chicago in 2010 where she was a research program coordinator with the Health Literacy and Learning Program at Northwestern University. She started working with CIE in October 2017, where she enjoys working with people across campus in diverse ways and guiding faculty through the IMPACT program.

Charles A. Calahan, PhD

Assistant Director, Global Learning Development

Email: calahanc@purdue.edu

Charles A. Calahan directs Global Learning Faculty and Student Development. Chuck is a member of the Teaching Academy, a Diversity Fellow, and a Service-Learning Fellow. His focus is on active and experiential learning using advanced and innovative technology. He is a qualified administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory, a trainer for Sentio’s Global Competence Certificate, Unconscious Bias certified, and Cultural Intelligence certified. 

Karen S. Neubauer, MA

Assistant Director, Special Projects

Email: neubauer@purdue.edu

Karen S. Neubauer earned a B.S. (1978) in journalism from Iowa State University and was a print journalist and public relations executive before earning an M.A. (2005) in liberal studies from Indiana University. She taught journalism, communication, and composition at institutions including Purdue Northwest and Ball State University, where she earned an M.A. (2017) in rhetoric and composition. Her areas of interest are writing development and assessment, and instructional development and recognition.

Emily Bonem, PhD

Assistant Director, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Email: ebonem@purdue.edu

Emily Bonem received a B.A. in Psychology and Music from Williams College, and went on to earn her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Michigan. She joined CIE in July 2014 where she focuses on consulting with faculty about their teaching, data collection and analysis for the IMPACT program, and scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). Emily’s main research interests include self-determination theory, course redesign, and assessing student learning.

Daniel Guberman, PhD

Assistant Director, Inclusive Pedagogy

Email: dguberman@purdue.edu

Daniel Guberman earned his Ph.D. in music from the University of North Carolina. Before coming to Purdue, he taught Music History and Theory at East Carolina University. His writings appear in Tyranny, Resistance and Music, American Music?, Tempo, and the Journal of Assessment and Institutional Effectiveness. His interests include inclusive, social justice, collaborative, and critical pedagogies, faculty learning communities, and bridging STEM fields with the arts and humanities.

Tracey Birdwell, PhD

Assistant Director, Purdue in Indianapolis

Email: tbirdwel@purdue.edu

Tracey Birdwell earned a B.A. in History from Vanderbilt University, a PhD in American History from the University of Delaware, and an MA in Instructional Design at Virginia Tech. She is expanding CIE initiatives and support in her work with Purdue in Indianapolis faculty. Her areas of interests include learning spaces (physical and digital), hybrid learning, and the future of higher ed campuses. She frequently publishes and speaks about learning spaces. 

Leslie A. Miller, PhD

Faculty Accessibility Consultant

Leslie Miller earned an A.S. degree in Business Administration (2008, Ohio Dominican), a B.S. degree in Applied Psychology (2013, Franklin University), an M.A. degree in Sociology (2016, University of Oklahoma) and Ph.D. in Sociology (2021, University of Oklahoma). Prior to joining CIE in 2022, Leslie’s research focused on experiences and health outcomes for people with non-discernable disabilities. In CIE, she focuses on accessible and inclusive teaching, equitable learning environments, and assessment.
As the Faculty Accessibility Consultant in CIE, Leslie collaborates with all of the instructional community in Indianapolis and West Lafayette on meeting students’ required accommodations, while maintaining the core elements of the course design and respecting the instructor’s time.

Annika Kraft, PhD

Associate Instructional Developer

arkraft@purdue.edu
Annika Kraft received her B.A. in Chemistry and Theatre Arts from Minot State University, and went on to earn her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Virginia. Prior to joining CIE in 2023, her research focused on exploring relationships between STEM instructors’ thinking and classroom practices. Her interests include faculty development, course design, inclusive teaching, and thinking about the affective domain of learning (e.g., emotions in teaching and learning).

Frances Sobolak, PhD

Associate Instructional Developer

Email: fsobolak@purdue.edu

Frances received her B.A. in Linguistics from the University of Michigan and her Ph.D. in Linguistics from Cornell University. She supports faculty in incorporating evidence-based teaching and learning practices into their classroom and is especially interested in the relationship between higher education and Indigenous learning spaces.  Frances joined CIE in 2024.

Laura Miller

Operations Administrator

lemiller@purdue.edu

Sheila Oland

Data Processing Operator

EMAIL: soland@purdue.edu

Pam Sullivan

Data Processing Operator

Email: sulliv92@purdue.edu

Robin Brown

Data Processing Administrator, Senior

brown515@purdue.edu

Nikki Schooler

Data Processing Operator

Email: knschool@purdue.edu

Wonki Lee

Postdoctoral Researcher

Email: lee3065@purdue.edu

Wonki Lee received a Ph.D. in Education, Curriculum Instruction, Language and Literacy at Purdue University. She received her bachelor’s and master’s, specializing in Korean language education as a second/foreign language, from Seoul National University, South Korea. Her research interests are self-efficacy, culturally responsive teaching, and machine-learning in an educational setting.

Brooke Harris-Thomas

Postdoctoral Researcher

thom1302@purdue.edu
Brooke Harris-Thomas earned her Ph.D. from Michigan State University in Educational Psychology. Her interests include studying the motivational experience of adolescent students of color, specifically focusing on the belonging experiences of Black girls within the mathematics classroom. In addition, she is interested in increasing the use of research-practice partnerships within educational psychology and utilizes methodologies that center and uplift students’ voices.

Fridah Chepkurui Rotich

Postdoctoral Researcher

Email: frotich@purdue.edu
Fridah earned a Ph.D. in medicinal biochemistry with concentrations in natural products and chemistry education research, and a Ph.D. minor in educational research methodology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She has a BS degree in chemistry from Davidson college. She joined CIE in August 2024 where she will support faculty enhance their teaching by using evidence-based instructional practices administered through the IMPACT program, and scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). Her research interests include faculty development in areas relating to reconceptualizing curricula, student engagement, and alignment of learning outcomes, instructional approaches, and assessment practices. Outside of work, Fridah ejoys nature walks, cooking and spending time with family and friends

Swagata Sarkar

Graduate Assistant

Email: sarkar37@purdue.edu

I am a doctoral student in the Science Education, Curriculum and Instruction Department, College of Education, Purdue University. I earned a B.S. and M.S. in Zoology from India and another M.S. in Teaching and Curriculum from the University of Rochester, NY. My research interests include integrated STEM education in informal and nonformal settings, STEM curriculum design, students’ engagement, motivation, collaboration, and sense of belonging in STEM, preservice science teacher preparation, and authentic assessments.