I am the newest member of the Education Department and teach courses such as Educational Psychology, Creativity: Teaching, Learning, and Cross Disciplinary Applications, and Teaching Students with Diverse Learning Needs. My research interests include the development and maintenance of domain identification and student interest and teaching strategies that support domain identification and student interest. Before falling in love with educational psychology and educational research, I taught middle school special education for four years and worked as an environmental educator at a small farm near the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Courses Taught

Education 201: Educational Psychology

Education 336: Statistics for Classroom Assessment and Educational Research 

Education 350: School Science and Mathematics: Methods, Concepts, and Instructional Media

Education 405: Student Teaching Seminar

Recent Publications

Jones, B. D., Ruff, C., & Paretti, M. C. (2013).The impact of engineering identification and stereotypes on undergraduate women’s achievement and persistence in engineering. Social Psychology of Education: An International Journal, 16(3), 471–493. doi:10.1007/s11218-013-9222-x

Ghoston, M., Creamer, E., Drape, T., Ruff, C., & Mukuni, J. (2012). Using popular media and a collaborative approach to teaching grounded theory research methods. International Journal of Teaching and Learning, 24(3).

Jones, B. D., Ruff, C., Snyder, J. D., Petrich, B., & Koonce, C. (2012). The effects of mind mapping activities on students’ motivation. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 6(1), 1-21.