Student & Alumni Profiles

Morgan Hynes

Hometown: Owl's Head, Maine

I graduated from Tufts with an Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering in 2001 and then worked as an engineer for three years. Satisfied with my stint as an engineer I decided to come back to Tufts to pursue a graduate degree in education. I am now in the MSTE PhD program here at Tufts focusing on bringing engineering education to K-12 students.

Research Interests:
I have focused my research on middle school teachers and how they develop themselves to teach engineering in the classroom. Massachusetts has state curriculum frameworks that now include engineering content; however, many teachers have not had any formal training in teaching engineering. I have been leading a professional development program for the past two years in collaboration with Northeastern University to teach middle school teachers to teach engineering through the use of LEGO robotics. I am not only interested in how they learn the content of engineering and develop their subject matter knowledge, but also in how they develop their pedagogical content knowledge. I believe teaching engineering depends more on a teacher's engineering pedagogical content knowledge and less on their engineering subject matter knowledge given the context-driven, hands-on nature of engineering.

Other Interests:
When I'm not working or in class (which isn't very often) I enjoy competitive sports especially basketball, golf, and frisbee. I also enjoy woodworking. On my way to building a complete bedroom, I have completed a bed, nightstand, and armoire all made out of oak.