Deniz Eseryel joined North Carolina State University as a Chancellor’s Faculty Excellence Program cluster hire in the Digital Transformation of Education. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Counselor Education specializing in Digital Learning and Teaching. She is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation. The important but little understood question that has motivated her program of research is: How can we effectively and efficiently promote cyberlearning in complex knowledge domains such as STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics)? Towards this direction, she (1) investigates the development of higher-order thinking and complex problem-solving competencies following a comprehensive framework that includes cognition, metacognition, cognitive regulation, motivation, emotion, and epistemic beliefs; (2) develops innovative assessment methods that can benchmark progress of learning and the development of complex problem-solving competencies; (3) develops new and effective approaches to design state-of-the-art digital learning environments (such as intelligent tutoring, system dynamics modeling, simulations, virtual reality, and digital games) to facilitate complex problem-solving competencies; and (4) investigates effective ways to prepare teachers and administrators for digital transformation of education to support effective integration and seamless adoption of advanced learning technologies into education. In addition to her work focusing on STEM learning in K-20 educational settings, her research was also carried out in professional contexts including army, aircraft maintenance, air-traffic control, emergency response, environmental sciences, climate change, medical education, instructional design, architecture, construction science, mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, and systems engineering.
