Education:
PhD, University of Michigan (science education; industrial and operations engineering)
MS, University of Michigan (science education; industrial and operations engineering)
BA, Concordia University (secondary education; mathematics)

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April Luehmann joined the Warner School community in 2002 as a science educator, teaching in the science teacher preparation and doctoral programs. She previously taught mathematics and science to secondary school students in Illinois, Michigan, and Indiana. Luehmann is a principal investigator on a current Discovery Research PreK-12 (DRK-12) grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that studies how practicing teachers are using a brief unit called “COVID Connects Us” to establish classroom norms and commitments for justice-centered ambitious science teaching throughout the school year.
 

Luehmann is the lead designer and researcher for the Warner School innovative teacher education program that merges learning to teach in out-of-school settings as a complement to and scaffold for learning to teach in in-school (high-stakes) settings. Each year of the program, the science education master’s students work with University faculty to run an environmental action camp and a science inquiry club for local urban teens, both of which serve as foci for her research. In the context of this club, called Science STARS, she studies questions, such as How can long-term inquiry into science questions that intrigue us and the construction of multimedia representations of this scientific work including film nurture positive and transformative disciplinary identities for traditionally marginalized youth? A third focus of research for Luehmann centers on the design and implementation of social and tactile augmented reality to support learning in formal (undergraduate STEM courses) and informal (museum and afterschool) contexts. Luehmann has also done research on the use of new media literacies, such as blogging to support learning.  The book that she and Warner School Dean Raffaella Borasi edited in 2012 compiles a series of studies, conducted by Luehmann, that looked at both how teachers blog for their own professional identity development and how classrooms blog to transform norms of participation.

Luehmann’s scholarly work and teaching have received recognition. In 2011, she was awarded a National Science Foundation Full-Scale Development Grant, titled Science STARS - Nurturing urban girls’ identities through inquiry-based science ($1.25 million; August 2011-July 2015).  In 2008, she was presented with the University of Rochester’s G. Graydon ‘58 and Jane W. Curtis Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Nontenured Member of the Faculty.

Selected Publications

Luehmann, A., Henderson, J., & Tinelli, L. (2013). Supporting pre-service teachers’
development: The case of blogging in the Get Real! science teacher preparation program. In M. Knobel & C. Lankshear (Eds.) A new literacies reader. New York, NY: Peter Lang.
 
Luehmann, A.L. & Frink, J. (2012). New Media Literacies in Science Education: Capitalizing on Web 2.0 to Implement Reform in The Second International Handbook of Science Education, Springer Publishers, New York, NY.
 
Luehmann, A.L. & Borasi, R. (Eds.) (2011). Blogging as Change: Transforming Science and Mathematics Education through New Media Literacies in New Literacies and Digital Epistemologies, Peter Lang Publishing, Bern.
 
Luehmann, A.L. (2009). The Get Real! Science Program: A scaffolded model to
prepare reform-minded teachers. In Teacher Education: Policy, Practice and Research, Nova Science Publishers, Inc. Hauppauge, NY.

Luehmann, A.L. (2009). Students’ perspectives of a science enrichment programme: Out-of-school inquiry as access. The International Journal of Science Education 31(13) 1831-1855.
 
Luehmann, A.L. & Frink, J. (2009). How Can Blogging Help Teachers Realize the Goals of Reform-based Science Instruction? A Study of Nine Classroom Blogs.  The Journal of Science Education and Technology  18(3) 275-290.
 
Luehmann, A.L. (2008). Blogs’ affordances for identity work: Insights gained from an urban teacher’s blog. The New Educator 4(3) 175-198.
 
Luehmann, A.L. (2008). Using blogging in support of teacher professional identity development: A case-study. Journal of the Learning Sciences 17(3), 287-337.
 
Luehmann, A.L. & MacBride, R. (2008). Classroom blogging in the service of student-centered pedagogy: Two high school teachers’ use of blogs. THEN Journal: Technology, Humanities, Education & Narrative Issue 6.
 
Luehmann, A.L. & Tinelli, L. (2008). Teacher professional identity development with social networking technologies: Learning reform through blogging. Educational Media International 45(4), 323-333.
 
MacBride, R. & Luehmann, A.L. (2008). Capitalizing on emerging technologies. A case study of classroom blogging. School Science and Mathematics 108(5), 173-183.
 
Luehmann, A.L. (2007). Identity development as a lens to science teacher preparation. Science Education 91(5), 822-839.
 
Luehmann, A.L. & Markowitz, D. (2007). Science teachers’ perceived benefits of an out-of-school enrichment programme: Identity needs and university affordances. International Journal of Science Education 29(9), 1133-1161.
 
Barab, S.L. & Luehmann, A.L. (2003). Building sustainable science curriculum: Acknowledging and accommodating local adaptation. Science Education 87(4), 454-467.
 
Squire, K., MaKinster, J., Barnett, M. Luehmann, A.L., & Barab, S. (2003). Designed curriculum and local culture: Acknowledging the primacy of classroom culture. Science Education 87(4), 468-489.

          

In the News

Courses
EDU434 Theory and Practice in Teaching and Learning Science
EDU448 Implementing Innovation in Science Education
EDU487 Integrating Science and Literacy
EDU486 Integrating Science and Technology
ED474B Implementing Reform-based Science Education - B
ED474C Implementing Reform-based Science Education - C
ED474A Implementing Reform-based Science Education - A
EDF410S Field Experiences in Middle Childhood (Science)
EDF411S Field Experiences in Inclusive Middle Childhood Settings (Science)
EDF416S Field Experiences in Secondary Schools (Science)
EDF417S Field Experiences in Inclusive Secondary School Settings (Science)
EDF418S Student Teaching in Secondary Schools A (Science)
EDF419S Student Teaching in Inclusive Secondary School Settings A (Science)
EDF420S Student Teaching in Secondary Schools B (Science)
EDF421S Student Teaching in Inclusive Secondary School Settings B (Science)
ED551A Teaching & Curriculum Doctoral Cohort Seminar 1A
ED551B Teaching & Curriculum Doctoral Cohort Seminar 1B
ED551C Teaching & Curriculum Doctoral Cohort Seminar 1C
ED552A Teaching & Curriculum Doctoral Cohort Seminar 2A
ED552B Teaching & Curriculum Doctoral Cohort Seminar 2B
ED552C Teaching & Curriculum Doctoral Cohort Seminar 2C
ED553 Teaching & Curriculum Dissertation Proposal Seminar
ED554 Action Research Dissertation Seminar I
ED555 Action Research Dissertation Seminar II
EDU523 Theory and Research in Teaching