Dr. Abigail C. Perkins
Manager of Education Research and Digital Learning Strategies, Center for Online and Continuing Education
| Email: | perkinsa@fau.edu |
Dr. Perkins received her B.S. (2007) in Physics and M.S. in Theoretical Physics specializing in Quantum Computation (2009) from Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. After joining Blinn College, Department of Natural Sciences, Bryan, Texas, as a Physics Instructor (2010), Dr. Perkins received her Ph.D. (2016) in Curriculum and Instruction, specializing in Science Education with a focus on STEM Education and Game-Based Learning, from Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas. During her research at Texas A&M, Dr. Perkins received a Certificate in Applied Statistics. Other certifications include Peer-Reviewer Certificate (2019) from Quality Matters and an Open Education Resource Certificate for Educators from Creative Commons (2021). In 2018, Dr. Perkins joined the FAU Center for eLearning as an Instructional and Curriculum Specialist, leading the operations, research, development, and delivery of Open Educational Resource faculty textbooks for a legacy grant. Previously the Learning Strategist and Educational Researcher in the FAU Center for Online and Continuing Education, Abigail serves as the Manager of Education Research and Digital Learning Strategies, in which she collaborates on research endeavors, leading the educational research with research collaborators across FAU Colleges and facilitating OER research and development operations within the Center for Online and Continuing Education and Innovation Hub. Dr. Perkins continues leading and managing the Open Educational Resource system of operations, with aggregate impact analyses and adoption tracking, and ongoing research, development, and delivery. Additionally, her responsibilities include participating in the Center for Online and Continuing Education Professional Development sessions as a host and panelist, facilitating the SUS Affordability Counts operations within the Center for Online and Continuing Education, and tracking and evaluating Center for Online and Continuing Education affordability measures.
In addition to her research and development of Open Educational Resources, Dr. Perkins focuses her research efforts with the Florida Atlantic STEM Research Group for Digital Laboratory Learning on the identification, investigation, and development of novel digital and virtual approaches to enhance laboratory learning for STEM students. With experience in classroom teaching and coordinating teacher Continuing Education Unit professional development workshops, Dr. Perkins values bridging gaps between research and practice for an empowered citizenry. Dr. Perkins is committed to increase access, social mobility, and quality to education for all those with the desire to participate in education, including students, faculty, administrators, and the community. Lastly, Dr. Perkins continues to support institutional goals aligned with the Florida State University System Board of Governors 2025 Strategic Plan by implementing tactics for Quality, Affordability, and Access goals and reporting with evidence-based findings.
Dr. Perkins has served as a qualitative educational researcher for PlantingScience, a digital platform connecting science research mentors with students, as part of Planting Science Research in Education (NSF-0733280). Other qualitative educational research includes work on the Texas A&M University Noyce Mentoring and Evaluation (NSF-1439907). Dr. Perkins has served as a quantitative educational researcher for the Policy Research Initiatives in Science Education to Improve Teaching and Learning in High School Science (NSF-0455679), as a K-12 STEM Teacher Workshop coordinator and mixed-methods educational researcher for the Earthquake Engineering Education Project (NSF-0936599), and as the Internal Program Reviewer and mixed-methods educational researcher for K-12 preservice and in-service teachers for the Texas A&M STEM Teacher Preparation Academy, funded by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Collaborative in nature, Dr. Perkins co-presented with FAU faculty at the 2019 College of Science STEM Faculty Symposium and at the 2019 FAU Teaching With Technology Showcase. For the next FAU Teaching With Technology Showcase, Dr. Perkins and her co-presenter have been selected as the keynote speakers to present on Game-Based Learning. In 2020, Dr. Perkins led two presentations at the 2020 National STEMpowered Faculty Symposium in collaboration with faculty and colleagues, for online laboratory innovations and OER successes. In 2020, Dr. Perkins led the Open Educational Research Mathematics project, in partnership with faculty and the Schmidt College of Science, which won the United States Distance Learning Association 2020 Innovation Award. Dr. Perkins’ early career research, publications, and presentations on Quantum Computation and Observational Astronomy at Kitt Peak National Observatory have afforded Dr. Perkins a dynamic repertoire of experiences in diverse academic cultures, which has yielded mutually beneficial and collaborative relationships and endeavors across domains in Higher Education.
