News

VE/COIL Pioneers To Present at Global Conference in Greece

September 2025, Issue 27 UT Dallas Center for Teaching and Learning Newsletter

The pioneers of Virtual Exchange (VE)/Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) at UT Dallas will be taking their work to the international stage next month. Dr. Kate York and Katie Donaldson MAT’93, master teachers in the UTeach Dallas program, will present their research at the International Virtual Exchange Conference (IVEC) 2025 in Greece. IVEC is the leading global gathering for this pedagogy, which brings students and faculty together across borders through online collaboration.

Since 2015, UTeach Dallas faculty have engaged preservice teachers in more than 15 VE/COIL collaborations across nine countries. York and Donaldson, along with master teacher Denise Gregory, have introduced hundreds of UTeach Dallas students to these experiences, giving future K-12 STEM teachers valuable practice in global classrooms while developing their intercultural competence.

At IVEC, York and Donaldson will present their research poster, “A Missing Piece: Leveraging a Preservice (Initial) Teacher Education Program and K-12 Classroom VE Partnership to Enhance Preservice Teachers’ Live Teaching Experiences.” This study details a unique synchronous STEM VE/COIL teaching and learning experience between preservice teachers in the UTeach Dallas program and middle school students at Colegio Bayard, a private English-language immersion school in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Award-Winning Teacher Inspires Students with Interactive Science

Aug. 21, 2025 By: Jeff Joiner | UTD News

It’s not unusual to find Emma DeVine BS’19, MAT’21 collecting water samples in a stream or tagging monarch butterflies to study migration with her middle school students.

A University of Texas at Dallas alum, she has spent the last seven years teaching them the wonders of science not only in the classroom but also in the laboratory. This spring DeVine was named a Discovery Education Educator of the Year — one of five teachers nationwide to receive the honor.

“It never really crossed my mind to become a teacher, but I knew I wanted to do something in the science realm as a career,” DeVine said. “I really enjoyed it.”

Emma DeVine BS’19, MAT’21 believes in the value of being a citizen scientist, including working with groups to monitor water quality in Texas streams.

At UT Dallas, DeVine participated in UTeach Dallas, a program in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics that focuses on recruiting, developing and retaining secondary mathematics, science and computer science teachers. She started as an undergraduate biology major and was inspired to pursue a degree focused on science education after attending an informational meeting about opportunities for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) teachers through UTeach Dallas. Read Award Winning Teacher Alumni

Robotics Team, Aspiring Teachers Receive Recognition, Awards

Undergrads Earn Teaching Scholarships

Sept. 11, 2024 | UTD News

Eleven University of Texas at Dallas undergraduates studying to become science, math or computer science teachers have received the Charles Butt Scholarship for Aspiring Teachers.

The competitive scholarship, which provides each recipient up to $10,000 per year for up to four years, helps to recruit and retain the most talented teachers for Texas public schools.

Last fall, the University’s UTeach Dallas program became a full partner in the Charles Butt Foundation’s Raising Texas Teachers project; teacher candidates in the UTeach Dallas program then became eligible to apply for the scholarship.

All 11 UT Dallas applicants were chosen to receive the scholarship.

Interactive Physics Camp Fuels STEM Passion in Girls

March 1, 2024 | NSM News

Women in Physics Camp is a five-day annual summer program that introduces local middle and early high school girls to science, technology, engineering and math with fun, hands-on activities in mechanics, electromagnetism, space science, optics and engineering.

“Young children, girls and boys alike, tend to love science,” said Dr. Mary Urquhart, associate professor and SME department head. “For girls, interest in the physical sciences declines in upper elementary and middle school, often because those subjects are perceived to be boyish.”