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School of Education and Human Sciences
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Finding Your Path

In the UAB School of Education and Human Sciences, we strive to empower students to become agents of positive change in their communities. We are dedicated to equipping each graduate with the knowledge, skills, and experiences needed to excel as practitioners and professionals in any setting—urban, suburban, or rural.

Addressing the diverse needs of these communities calls for skilled professionals, from educators shaping the future in classrooms to health and wellness specialists promoting well-being. That’s why we offer a comprehensive range of programs designed to prepare our graduates to make a meaningful impact in today’s ever-changing world.

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Front desk of the Community Counseling Clinic.

Faculty, staff, and students within the UAB School of Education and Human Sciences invest their time, talents, and expertise to serve the community, state, and region. Through volunteerism, providing professional development, working as board members, and serving as consultants, professionals within the School of Education and Human Sciences provide support and guidance. Student organizations work to address challenges relating to education, health and fitness, and mental health.

The Community Counseling Clinic provides low-cost mental health counseling to members of the community. Several university centers operate out of the School of Education and Human Sciences to provide technical assistance and professional development for teachers and educational leaders.

Undergraduate and graduate students in the UAB School of Education and Human Sciences (SEHS) have opportunities to participate in research. All are encouraged to participate in research when possible.

You can get involved with research in several ways:

  • All students can contact our office about research opportunities.
  • Undergraduates admitted to an honors program will have opportunities through that program.
  • Graduate students in programs requiring thesis or dissertation research will have structured research experiences.

All students with an interest in research are encouraged to complete the Student Research Interest form so that they can be advised about appropriate steps. The SEHS will provide undergraduate and graduate students interested in research with faculty advice and guidance in terms of opportunities for conducting research and publicizing results.

Student Research Interest Form Opens an external link.

There are three kinesiology laboratories at UAB. The Exercise Physiology Laboratory, the Resistance Exercise Physiology (REP) Laboratory, and the Exercise and Nutritional Physiology Laboratory are used for classroom demonstrations, data collection, training, and scientific inquiry.

Students using the labs for research are typically kinesiology graduate students and undergraduate honors students. Students use the laboratories for their theses, honors projects, internships, and field experiences.

Exercise and Nutritional Physiology Laboratory

Exercise and Nutritional Physiology Laboratory

Director: Gordon Fisher, PhD

This 900-square-foot facility, located in the Education and Engineering Complex, is equipped to study metabolic and cardiovascular regulation in blood, skeletal muscle, adipose, and liver tissue. Dr. Fisher's research focuses on the role of reactive oxygen species, mitochondrial dysfunction, and markers of inflammation in the pathogenesis of chronic metabolic diseases associated with obesity.

Our students have access to Oroboros Oxygraph-2k with DatLab software, a FluoroMate FS-2 Fluorescence Spectrometer, a BioRad Chemidoc XP digital imaging system, a SpectraMax M3 Microplate reader, a Corning Digital Microplate Shaker, a dissecting microscope (Stemi 2000), a Nanodrop Lite Spectrophotometer, a thermocycler (BioRad I-cycler), a 96-well quantitative real-time PRC unit (BioRad), BioRad power supplies, BioRad wet transfer cells, BioRad gel boxes, two PowerGen tissue homogenizers, cell and tissue culture, digital darkroom imaging, analytical balance scale, shakers/rotators, a minus 80°C and a minus 20°C freezer, two 4°C refrigerators, a Variable Flow Peristaltic Pump, and all other equipment necessary for immunoblotting and mRNA expression studies.

Exercise Physiology Laboratory

Exercise Physiology Laboratory

Director: Gordon Fisher, PhD

The new 1,100-square-foot lab features more than 800 pounds of free weights and high-tech equipment including arm crank and cycle ergometers, computerized treadmills, skinfold calipers, and bioelectrical impedance scales for measuring body composition.

The lab also has a metabolic cart to measure energy expenditure during rest and exercise, portable handheld spirometry for pulmonary assessments, electrocardiography to analyze heart rhythms, pulse wave analysis for measures of vascular health, 24-hr ambulatory blood pressure monitoring systems, and an electromyography system and force platform for assessing motor unit activation during muscle contraction.

Resistance Exercise Physiology Laboratory

Resistance Exercise Physiology Laboratory

Director: Christopher Ballmann, PhD

Faculty and students within the UAB School of Education and Human Sciences (SEHS) conduct research to understand and seek solutions to current and emerging educational, health, and mental health challenges. This research contributes to the knowledge base and advances our understanding of effective practices. Our researchers engage in interdisciplinary collaborations with colleagues within UAB, nationally, and internationally.

Learn about the Office of Research and Grants

Research and Scholarship Areas

The SEHS represents a wide range of disciplines ranging from early education through higher education, community health, human services, counseling, exercise science and kinesiology, school psychology/psychometry, special education, and instructional design and development.

Our faculty engage in research regarding the preparation of professionals in many of these disciplines, as well as conducting cutting edge research to advance understanding and address challenges in these areas. Currently, faculty engage in research across 13 primary areas of inquiry. Learn more about faculty research areas.

We also encourage research opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students.

Responsive Workforce Development

Responsive Workforce Development

Improving the training and performance of professionals working in education (Pre-K through higher education) and health-related fields (counseling, exercise science, community health, human services). Researching best practices in various disciplines and effective teaching strategies for preparing the workforce.

  • Pre-K
  • EL/DL learners
  • STEM
  • Reading
  • Special Education (transdisciplinary, multi-tiered systems, early intervention, EBD, Autism)
  • Urban and minority education
  • Students who have experienced adverse childhood experiences
  • School and higher ed leaders
  • Family-school engagement
Promoting Equity and Social Justice

Promoting Equity and Social Justice

Documenting the nature and sources of disparities in access to, and the quality of, education and healthcare. Implementing solutions to such disparities.

  • Lessons from social/historical foundations of education
  • Identifying and addressing social determinants of health and health disparities
Improving Health and Performance through Exercise

Improving Health and Performance through Exercise

Researching the promotion of health, physical fitness, and functional or occupational performance through exercise and biomechanics.

  • Integrating novel modes of exercise with diet to facilitate health outcomes with different disease and injury groups
  • Benefits and mechanisms of adaptive PE with autism
  • Strength and conditioning
  • Sports nutrition and hydration
  • Ergonomics and fitness
Global Perspective on Education, Health, Mental Health, and Wellness

Global Perspective on Education, Health, Mental Health, and Wellness

Working with international collaborators to provide a global perspective regarding pre-K-12 education, personnel preparation, health education and promotion, kinesiology, social justice, and administration in schools and higher education.

  • International perspectives on K-12 education and teacher training
  • Global movements in higher education
  • Social determinants of health
  • College mental health
  • Trauma-informed practices
  • Counseling sexual minority youth
  • Family systems theory

Office of Research and Grants Staff

Applications of AI in Education, Health, and Counseling

Faculty and students in the School of Education and Human Sciences engage in research regarding the applications of generative AI in improving learning design to support educational outcomes and for use in modeling health and mental health outcomes and identifying factors that contribute to improved results.

(Donaldson, Zhai, Wang)

Discipline-based Curriculum and Pedagogy

Faculty and students in the SES engage in scholarship involving students, preservice teachers, and K-12 teachers to improve curricula and approaches to teaching in a range of academic disciplines including STEM, literacy, physical education, language arts, and social studies.

(Clabough, Corcoran, P. Evans, Ponder, Mowling, Sims, McMurtry, Witherspoon)

Early Childhood Education

Faculty and students in the School of Education and Human Sciences engage in research concerning the cognitive, social, and language development of young children and the implications of these findings for the design of early learning curricula and pedagogies. Faculty and students also engage in research regarding factors that mediate the incorporation of early childhood curriculum and pedagogy into classrooms.

(Hill, Ernest, Kilgo, Causey, Komol, Flannery, Kilgo)

Educational Administration and Educational Policy

Faculty and students in the School of Education and Human Sciences engage in research regarding the identification and promotion of effective practices for administrating education organizations from P-12 schools through higher education. Faculty and students are also engaged in research to evaluate the implications and effectiveness of education policies impacting schools and colleges.

(Gurley, Dagley, Juergensen, Bodine Al-Sharif, Loder-Jackson, McKnight, LaChenaye, Snyder)

Exercise Science

Faculty and students in the School of Education and Human Sciences engage in research that promotes health, physical fitness, and functional or occupational performance through exercise and biomechanics.

(R. Evans, Fisher, Ballmann, Mowling, Cauffman, Morris, Sims)

Facilitating Family and Community Engagement

Faculty and students in the School of Education and Human Sciences engage in research to better involve and sustain the involvement of family members and community members or groups in supporting the educational, health, and psychological wellness outcomes of children and adults.

(McCarthy, Spezzini, Hill, Edmonds, Prado, Flannery)

Global Perspectives

Faculty and students in the School of Education and Human Sciences engage in scholarship with international collaborators to gain and provide a global perspective regarding P-12 education, personnel preparation, exercise science, health education and promotion, social justice, and administration in schools and higher education.

(Bodine Al-Sharif, Komol, Spezzini, Wang, LaChenaye, Prado)

History and Philosophy of Education

Faculty and students in the School of Education and Human Sciences engage in research regarding the documentation and analysis of the history of education in Alabama, the United States, and internationally, particularly as to how such history informs understanding of current issues and trends. This research includes attention to historical changes in knowledge and pedagogy within disciplines. The SEHS is also engaged in the analysis of various philosophies impacting education as they apply to current educational contexts.

(McKnight, Loder-Jackson, Bodine Al-Sharif)

Improving Outcomes of Learners with Disabilities

Faculty and students in the School of Education and Human Sciences engage in research to improve supports and interventions for individuals from birth through 19 being served in a variety of contexts. Primary areas of research include transdisciplinary support in early intervention or schools and supports of learners with emotional or behavioral challenges.

(Sallese, Corcoran, Kilgo, Doughty)

Intersections of Fitness, Health, and Wellbeing across Systems

Faculty and students in the School of Education and Human Sciences engage in research concerning factors that support or impair fitness, health, and psychological wellbeing. Specifically, faculty and students examine how such factors express themselves in the interaction between individuals, families, schools, and community systems.

(R. Evans, Sims, Mowling, LaChenaye, McCarthy, Zhai, Watson)

Learning Sciences and Learning Design Thinking

Faculty and students in the School of Education and Human Sciences investigate the nature of learning while engaging in the design and analysis of learning environments. This research spans P-12, higher education, online, and industry contexts. Areas of inquiry include design thinking, complex systems, and applications of learning science to improve educational practices.

(Donaldson, Bodine Al-Sharif, Ponder)

Innovative Research and Evaluation Methods

The SEHS faculty are involved in implementing and testing innovative paradigms and methods of research and program evaluation to advance knowledge, test and build theories, and improve programs in education and human sciences. This includes developing and implementing innovative methods for data collection/measurement, analysis, and interpretation in order to improve the validity and utility of research and program evaluation related to education, health, and mental health.

(Snyder, LaChenaye, Donaldson, Corcoran, Bodine Al-Sharif)

Social Determinants

Faculty and students in the School of Education and Human Sciences engage in research investigating social and biosocial determinants of the health, mental health, and opportunities to learn of individuals across the lifespan. Such research includes the study of practices that are intended to promote social justice and wellness, prevent health and mental health problems, and intervene to address health and educational opportunity disparities with at-risk populations in schools, colleges, and community settings.

(R. Evans, Zhai, Forbes, Loder-Jackson, McCarthy, Watson, Wilkinson, Bodine Al-Sharif, McKnight, Ponder, Hill, McMurtry, Juergensen, Clabough, Witherspoon)

Supporting English Language Learners and their Families

Faculty and students in the School of Education and Human Sciences engage in research regarding the effectiveness of programs to train teachers and support families in order to improve learning outcomes. Faculty also engage in research regarding the identity development in English Learners (EL) and the interface between communities and schools that serve EL students.

(Edmonds, Hill, Flannery, Prado)

Supporting Learners from Diverse Contexts and Cultures

Faculty and students in the School of Education and Human Sciences engage in research regarding the development, implementation, and evaluation of strategies to support learning outcomes for students in P-12 education and higher education from different geographic, racial, and cultural backgrounds. Current research focuses on the role of identity, language, and pedagogy and cultural sensitivity in promoting successful outcomes.

(Bodine Al-Sharif, Juergensen, Loder-Jackson, Causey, Clabough, P. Evans, McKnight, McMurtry, Flannery, Wilkinson, Witherspoon)

The Office of Research and Grants provides support to faculty and students within the UAB School of Education and Human Sciences to facilitate:

  1. the visibility and impact of scholarship,
  2. the pursuit of grants to support research and training, and
  3. the development of skills in research, analysis, and grantsmanship and mentoring of scholars within the school.

Staff

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