My research integrates systems thinking, design practices, and foresight methodologies to help uncover the embedded beliefs and unspoken assumptions underpinning individuals' visions of the future, especially within highly entrenched educational institutions. I have also investigated how these same tools may help organizational leaders reimagine and redesign these institutions.
During my doctoral studies, I explored this phenomenon in the context of maker education. As a social movement, making emphasizes passion-driven, collaborative, project-based learning based on the knowledge, skills, and practices associated with engineering, such as prototyping, technical problem solving, and the use of digital fabrication technology. Through my work with the Maker Educational Pathways Research Group, I have studied how the maker movement has developed as a competing educational paradigm that conflicts with the traditional schooling system, the power it has in shaping the identities of young adults, and its implications for education reform efforts.