Growing up Heather developed a love for nature and an understanding of and appreciation for rural communities, especially of Hawai'i, her birthplace, and the mountain west. Heather has a master's degree in biology from Boston University and completed her undergraduate work in biology, chemistry and Asian studies at Linfield College in Oregon. She has worked as a field biologist for federal, state and tribal governments and served as resident life science faculty at Mohave Community College in Arizona. Heather has also lived and taught abroad, primarily in Japan, and spent time living and working at the U.S. research base at McMurdo Station, Antarctica.
Currently, in addition to her doctoral work, Heather serves as the community coordinator for the Fossil Atmospheres project, an NSF funded effort from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History's paleobiology department. Fossil Atmospheres uses Ginkgo leaves collected by citizen scientists, along with leaves grown under experimental conditions and fossil Ginkgo leaves, to help understand climate change today and in the distant past.
Honors
- Best Graduate Poster Award – AERA Div C - Computer Science Education: 2018
Monetary Awards
- University of Maryland College of Education Dean’s Fellowship: 2017-2020
- $5000/yr for 3 years
- University of Maryland College of Education Travel Grant, $400: 2020
- National Science Foundation (NSF) Travel Grant: 2019
- To attend the ACM Global Computing Education Conference (CompEd 2019) in Chengdu, China, $100
- University of Maryland College of Education Dean’s Graduate Travel Grant, $750: 2019
- University of Maryland College of Education Travel Grant, $400: 2019
- Jacob K. Goldhaber Travel Grant, $600: 2018
- University of Maryland College of Education Travel Grant, $200: 2018
- International Conference Student Support Award, $300: 2018
Peer-Reviewed Journal Publications
Cabrera, L., Byrne, V., Ketelhut, D. J., Coenraad, M., Killen, H., Mills, K. M., Plane, J., & McGinnis, J. R. (Under Review). Measuring Teacher Self-Efficacy for Integrating Computational Thinking in Science (T-SelECTS).
Peer-Reviewed Conference Proceedings (with archival publications)
Killen, H., Coenraad, M., Byrne, V., Cabrera, L., & Ketelhut, D.J. (2020). Reimagining computational thinking professional development: Benefits of a community of practice model. In Proceedings of the International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS 2020), Nashville, Tennessee, USA: ISLS.
Killen, H., Coenraad, M., Cabrera, L., Mills, K., Ketelhut, D. J., & Plane, J. (2020). “We’ll be Scratching all the Time:” Understanding the role of language in computational thinking training for elementary teachers. In Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE ’20). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1281.
Killen, H., Weintrop, D., & Garvin, M. (2019). AP Computer Science Principles’ Impact on the Landscape of High School Computer Science using Maryland as a Model. In Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE ’19). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1060–1066.
Garvin, M., Killen, H., Plane, J., & Weintrop, D. (2019). Primary School Teachers’ Conceptions of Computational Thinking. In Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE ’19). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 899–905.
Weintrop, D., Killen, H., Munzar, T., & Franke, B. (2019). Block-based Comprehension: Exploring and Explaining Student Outcomes from a Read-only Block-based Exam. In Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE ’19). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1218–1224.
Weintrop, D., Killen, H., & Franke, B. E. (2018). Blocks or Text? How programming language modality makes a difference in assessing underrepresented populations. In Proceedings of the International Society of the Learning Sciences, (ICLS 2018), London, England: ISLS.
Invited Conference Presentations (Refereed)
Killen, H., Mills, K., Cabrera, L., Coenraad, M., Jass Ketelhut, D., McGinnis, J. R., Plane, J. (2020). Computational Thinking in Elementary Education: A Framework to Develop a CT Language Roadmap. To have been presented at the American Educational Research Association Conference 2020 (AERA). San Francisco, CA.
Ketelhut, D., Killen H., McGinnis, J.R. (2020). An Investigation of Preservice Elementary Teachers Reaction to Integrating Computational Thinking in Their Teaching. To have been presented at NARST 2020. Portland, OR.
Killen, H. (2019). Investigating the Impact of Including Virtual Spaces on Citizen Science Projects to Promote Participation. Presented at the International Conference of the Citizen Science Association (CitSci). Raleigh, NC.
Mills, K., Coenraad, M., Cabrera, L., Killen, H., Jass Ketelhut, D., McGinnis, J. R. (2020). A Design Based Research Approach to Integrating Computational Thinking into Elementary Science Teacher Education. To have been presented at a roundtable at the American Educational Research Association Conference 2020 (AERA). San Francisco, CA.
Invited Conference Posters (Refereed)
Killen, H., Pauw, D., Clegg, T., Preece, J. (2019). Creating Successful Citizen Science Researcher Partnerships with Interest-Focused, Learning-Centered Communities. Presented at the International Conference of the Citizen Science Association (CitSci). Raleigh, NC.
Killen, H., Weintrop, D., & Garvin, M. (2019). AP Computer Science Principles’ Impact on the Landscape of High School Computer Science using Maryland as a Model. Presented at the American Educational Research Association Conference (AERA). Toronto, ON.
Invited Workshops (Refereed)
Kim, J. G., MacNeil, S., Maher, M., Clegg, T., Killen, H., & Preece, J. (2020). A Citizen Science Platform that Supports Community-Driven Environmental Projects in Diverse Neighborhoods. To have been presented at the 2020 SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’20). Honolulu, Hawai’i.
Other Presentations
Killen, H., (2019). Investigating Participation when Including Virtual Spaces in an Informal Adult Learning Environment: Utilizing affinity space theory within a community of practice to support a group through time. Presented at the Learning Sciences Graduate Student Conference, Evanston, Illinois, USA, September 20-22, 2019.
Killen, H., (2018). Investigating Computer Science Understanding in Block and Text Environments Using Eye Tracking. Presented at the Learning Sciences Graduate Student Conference, Nashville, Tennessee, USA, October 12-13, 2018.
Ketelhut, D. J., Cabrera, L., McGinnis, R. J., Plane, J., Coenraad, M., Killen, H., & Mills, K. M. (2019). Exploring the Integration of computational Thinking into Preservice Elementary Science Teacher Education. National Science Foundation STEM+C PI Meeting, Washington, D.C., September 18- 20, 2019. http://stemcsummit.edc.org/slides/DianeJass.pdf
Grant member:
- Fossil Atmospheres Project- P2C2 Collaborative Research Grant: New Estimates of Atmospheric pCO2 for the Paleocene-Eocene (NSF #1805228)
- Community Coordinator
- STEM+C Grant: Integrating Computational Thinking into Preservice Elementary Science Teaching (NSF #1639891)
- Graduate Research Assistant
- AISL Grant: Community-Driven Projects that Include Adaptable Technology for Environmental Learning in Nature Preserves (NSF #1423207)
- Graduate Research Assistant
Courses Taught as instructor of record
BIO 100, Principles of Biology | 14 semesters, 40 students per semester |
BIO 100, Principles of Biology LAB | 14 semesters, 20 students per section, 2 sections per sememster |
BIO 205, Microbiology | 8 Semesters, 30 students per semester |
BIO 205, Microbiology LAB | 8 Semesters, 15 students per section, 2 sections per sememster |
BIO 185, Biology | 2 Semesters, 15 students per semester |
BIO 185, Biology LAB | 2 Semesters, 15 students per semester |