Research
My evaluation and consulting work is informed by my evaluation scholarship. Currently, I am a doctoral candidate in Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I will defend my dissertation on evaluation methodology in March 2019.
I investigate the valuing process in evaluation: the activities of defining program success, specifying corresponding evaluative criteria, and applying criteria to empirical data. My research builds an empirically supported, descriptive theory of valuing to support evaluation practice and research. As a first step, I developed a framework that describes and integrates two aspects of evaluative criteria: domain and source. I also develop methods that can foster equity and strengthen evaluative conclusions by including criteria that represent the perspectives of program participants and criteria that are individualized for each program participant. I argue that individualized criteria are needed when evaluating programs—such as many public library offerings—that are highly customized and/or prioritize participant agency and choice.
My secondary, substantive area of research focuses on STEM learning in adulthood in informal contexts. I draw on sociocultural perspectives on learning to examine adults' participation in public library makerspaces, with particular attention to design considerations for equitable engagement of African American and white women. My substantive research informs my evaluation scholarship and, in turn, my research on evaluation builds knowledge about the informal learning contexts in which it is situated.
My work has been supported by several awards from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has been presented at meetings of the American Evaluation Association, Visitor Studies Association, and Learning Sciences Graduate Student Conference. My publications and select conference papers are listed below. Please contact me if you have difficulty locating articles or would like information about papers that are currently in press.
Publications
Garibay, C. & Teasdale, R. M. (in press). Equity and evaluation in informal STEM institutions. In A. C. Fu, A. Kannan, & R. J. Shavelson (Eds.), Evaluation in informal science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. New Directions for Evaluation 161, 87-106.
Evans, M. E., Teasdale, R. M., LaLonde, P. G., Crenshaw, H. L., Gannon-Slater, N., Schwandt, T. S., and Greene, J. C. (2019). How did that happen? Teachers' explanations for low test scores. Teachers College Record 121(2). Advance online publication. http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentId=22555
Evans, M., LaLonde, P., Gannon-Slater, N., Crenshaw, H., Teasdale, R., Greene, J., & Schwandt, T. (2018). Beyond matchmaking: Considering aims for teacher data use. In H. Fives and N. Barnes (Eds.), Cases of Teachers’ Data Use (pp. 112-127). London: Routledge.
Teasdale, R. M. (2018). Survey research. In R. V. Small and M. A. Mardis (Eds.), Research methods for librarians and educators: Practical applications in formal and informal learning environments (pp. 216-225). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc.
Teasdale, R. M., & Fruin, C. (2017). The museum studies literature: Revisiting traditional methods of discovery and access, exploring alternatives, and leveraging open access to advance the field. Curator 60(4), 489-503.
Krieg, A. M., Yi, A. K., Matson, S. Waldschmidt, T. J., Bishop, G. A., Teasdale, R. M., Koretzky, G. A. & Klinman, D. M. (1995). CpG motifs in bacterial DNA trigger direct B cell activation. Nature 374(6522), 546-549.
Teasdale, R. M., Matson, S. J., Fisher, E. & Krieg, A. M. (1994). Inhibition of T4 polynucleotide kinase activity by phophorothioate and chimeric oligodeoxynucleotides. Antisense Research and Development 4(4), 295-297.
Fathi, R., Huang, Q., Coppola, G., Delaney, W., Teasdale, R. M., Krieg, A. M., & Cook, A. F. (1994). Oligonucleotides with novel, cationic backbones substituents: aminoethylphoponates. Nucleic Acids Research 22(24), 5416-5424.
Hovis, J. G., Meyer, T., Teasdale, R. M., Yorek, M. A. & Lowe Jr., W. L. (1993). Intracellular calcium regulates insulin growth factor I messenger RNA levels. Endocrinology 132(5), 1931-1938.
Lowe Jr., W. L., Yorek, M. A. & Teasdale, R. M. (1993). Ligands that activate protein kinase C differ in the ability to regulate basic fibroblast growth factor and insulin link growth factor I messenger ribonucleic acid levels. Endocrinology 132(4), 1593-1602.
Lowe Jr., W. L. & Teasdale, R. M. (1992). Characterization of a rat insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) gene promoter. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 189(2), 972-978.
Lowe Jr., W. L., Yorek, M. A., Karpen, C. W., Teasdale, R. M., Hovis, J. G., Albrecht, B. & Prokopiou, C. (1992). Activation of protein kinase C differentially regulates insulin like growth factor I and basic fibroblast growth factor messenger RNA levels. Molecular Endocrinology 6(5), 741-752.
Select conference papers
Teasdale, R. M., McNeilly, J. M., Novak, J., Ramirez Garzon, M. I., & Greene, J. C. (2018, November). Going beyond initial framing: Expanding the range of values reflected in evaluation practice. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Evaluation Association, Cleveland, Ohio.
Garibay, C., & Teasdale, R. M. (2018, November). Equity and evaluation in informal STEM institutions: Speaking truth to power. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Evaluation Association, Cleveland, Ohio.
Teasdale, R. M. (2018, October). The meaning of making: An exploratory study of women’s engagement in a public library makerspace. Paper presented at the Learning Sciences Graduate Student Conference, Nashville, Tennessee.
Teasdale, R. M. (2018, July). Community voices and values: Selecting evaluative criteria that reflect community perspectives. In C. Garibay (Chair), Outside in: Learning from community voices in visitor studies. Symposium conducted at the annual meeting of the Visitor Studies Association, Chicago, IL.
Teasdale, R. M. (2017, November). Fostering learning in museums and libraries through democratic approaches to evaluation. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Evaluation Association, Washington, D.C.
Teasdale, R. M. (2016, July). Through the makers’ eyes: A personalized approach to makerspace evaluation. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Visitor Studies Association, Boston, MA.
Novak, J., Teasdale, R. M., Combs, D., and Greene, J. C. (2016, October). A kaleidoscope of values-engagement in evaluation. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Evaluation Association, Atlanta, GA.
Ginger, J., Israel, M., Teasdale, R., Bievenue, L., Linder, S., and Bentz, J. (2016, October). Toward a progressive model for metacognitive strategies and makerspace learning. Poster presented at the 2016 iSchool Research Showcase, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Hamwaalwa, N., Teasdale, R. M., McGuire, R. M., and Shuumbili, T. (2016, August). Promoting innovation in Namibian libraries through leadership training. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, Columbus, OH.
Teasdale, R. M., & Nelson, A. G. (2015, August). Evaluation of library STEM programs: Learning from the BISE project. Poster presented at the Public Libraries and STEM Summit, Denver, CO.
Teasdale, R. M. (2014, November). The assessment landscape: How we got here and how we’ll move forward. Keynote presentation at the annual meeting of the New York Library Association, Saratoga Springs, NY.
Nelson, A. G. and Teasdale, R. M. (2014, October). Introducing the Building Informal Science Education database: Over 500 evaluation reports coded and ready to explore. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Evaluation Association, Denver, CO.
Teasdale, R. M. (2014, October). Evaluating your makerspace. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Illinois Library Association, Springfield, IL.