Profiles
Elizabeth Wakefield
Title/s: Co-PI
I love that this program will create some sustainable programing that can be implemented elsewhere to teach students about neuroscience. It’s a way for me to make concrete and real changes in students’ lives and help increase representation in the field of neuroscience. The other thing that really keeps me involved is the interdisciplinary nature of the team. I spent last fall designing interview questions and surveys. Students did both before the after-school program and after. We’re doing the same thing with the Summer Ethos program. This will give us a way to measure and assess their understanding of neuroethics. We also did a survey one week after a workshop Joe led, one week after a workshop Sandra led and one week after a workshop Bill led. We asked them what they enjoyed about each teacher’s approach and what concepts they remembered. We will do this for the entire two-year program, analyze our qualitative and quantitative findings and try to get a manuscript published in a peer reviewed journal. What drew you to become involved with this project?
How are you ensuring that the high school students involved in the program are really learning?
About
Elizabeth Wakefield’s primary responsibility for the Loyola Program for Neuroscience and Society is to infuse Loyola’s approach to neuroscience and neuroethics into the project and to oversee assessment. Wakefield is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology, affiliated with the undergraduate Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience Program and the Developmental Psychology Doctorate Program. Wakefield’s research focuses on how gestures – movements we make with our hands that express information – support communication and learning. Wakefield teaches graduate and undergraduate students in labs and traditional classes such as Introduction to Neuroscience, Developmental Psychology and Psychology of Music. Wakefield has earned the Saint Ignatius of Loyola Award for Teaching Excellence, the Sujack Teaching Excellence Award and the Langerbeck Faculty Research Mentor Award.