Brian Gane

Brian Gane
  • Research Project Director

Contact Info

Personal Links

Biography —

Brian Gane, Ph.D., has been conducting research and development around assessment since 2010 as an outgrowth of his interest in improving student learning and designing learning environments.

Gane is a Research Project Director at Accessible Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Systems (ATLAS), a research center at the University of Kansas with more than 150 staff and more than $20M in annual revenues.

Gane leads and contributes to a variety of projects at ATLAS, including operational research for the Dynamic Learning Maps® Alternate Assessment System and other assessment-related research and development projects.

Prior to joining ATLAS, Gane was a research professor in the Learning Sciences Research Institute at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His research interests span STEM education, assessment validity, design of learning environments and technology-enhanced educational resources, and cognitive models of learning.

Education —

Ph.D. in Engineering Psychology: Cognitive, Georgia Institute of Technology

Selected Publications —

Journal Articles

Luo, F., Israel, M., & Gane, B. (2022). Elementary computational thinking instruction and assessment: A learning trajectory perspective. ACM Transactions on Computing Education, 22 (2), 1–26.

Gane, B. D., Israel, M., Elagha, N., Yan, W., Luo, F., & Pellegrino, J. W. (2021). Design and validation of learning trajectory-based assessments for computational thinking in upper elementary grades. Computer Science Education, 31 (2), 141–168.

Gane, B. D., Zaidi, S. Z., & Pellegrino, J. W. (2018). Measuring what matters: Using technology to assess multidimensional learning. European Journal of Education, 53 (2), 176–187.

Jorion, N., Gane, B. D., James, K., Schroeder, L., DiBello, L. V., & Pellegrino, J. W. (2015). An analytic framework for evaluating the validity of concept inventory claims. Journal of Engineering Education, 104 (4), 454–496.1

Lyons, K., Starner, T., & Gane, B. D. (2006). Experimental evaluations of the Twiddler one-handed chording mobile keyboard. Human-Computer Interaction, 21 (4), 343–392.

Book Chapters

Douglas, K., A., Gane, B. D., Neumann, K., & Pellegrino, J. W., (2020). Contemporary methods of assessing integrated STEM competencies. In C. C. Johnson, M. Mohr-Schroeder, T. Moore, L. Bryan, & L. English (Eds.) Handbook of research on STEM education (pp. 234–254). New York, NY: Routledge.

DiBello, L. V., Pellegrino, J. W., Gane, B. D., & Goldman, S. R. (2017). The contribution of student response processes to validity analyses for instructionally supportive assessments. In K. Ercikan & J. W. Pellegrino (Eds.), Validation of score meaning in the next generation of assessments (pp. 85–99). New York, NY: Routledge.

Conference Proceedings

Luo, F., Israel, M., Liu, R., Yan, W., Gane, B., & Hampton, J. (2020). Understanding students’ computational thinking through cognitive interviews: A learning trajectorybased analysis. In Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE ‘20) (pp. 919–925). New York, NY: Association for Computing Machinery.

Pellegrino, J. W., Gane, B. D., Zaidi, S. Z., Harris, C. J., McElhaney, K. W., Alozie, N., Haugabook-Pennock, P., Severance, S., Neumann, K., Fortus, D., Krajcik, J., Nordine, J., Furtak, E. M., Briggs, D., Chattergoon, R, Penuel, B., Wingert, K. Van Horne, K. (2018). The challenge of assessing “knowledge in use”: Examples from three-dimensional science learning and instruction. In J. Kay and R. Luckin (Eds.), Rethinking Learning in the Digital Age: Making the Learning Sciences Count, 13th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2018, Volume 2 (pp. 1211–1218). London, UK: International Society of the Learning Sciences.

Gane, B. D., Denick, D., Jorion, N., DiBello, L. V., Pellegrino, J. W., Streveler, R. A., & Miller, R. L. (2015). Continuous improvement of a concept inventory: Using evidence centered design to refine the Thermal and Transport concept inventory. In Proceedings of the 2015 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition (electronic). American Society for Engineering Education.

Gane, B. D. & Catrambone, R. (2011). Extended practice in motor learning under varied practice schedules: Effects of blocked, blocked-repeated, and random schedules. In Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 55th Annual Meeting (pp. 2143–2147). Santa Monica, CA: Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

Kientz, J. A., Patel, S. N. Tyebkhan, A. T., Gane, B., Wiley, J., & Abowd, G. D. (2006). Where’s my stuff? Design and evaluation of a mobile system for locating lost items for the visually impaired. In Proceedings of the Eighth International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (pp. 103–110). New York: ACM Press.

Selected Presentations —

Lehman, E. M., Gane, B. D., & Zaidi, S. Z. (2022, July). Multidimensional assessment tasks and a virtual learning community for elementary science teachers. Presentation at the 2022 NSTA National Conference on Science Education, Chicago, Illinois.

Bluth, G., Gane, B., Gonczi, A., Huntoon, J., Tubman, S., & McIntyre, B. (2021, October). Balancing tensions between the NGSS vision and realities of classroom assessment. Paper presented at the 2021 NCME Classroom Assessment Conference (Virtual).

Gane, B. D. (2021, September). Knowledge-in-use in science and implications for the design of learning environments. In Kubsch, M. (Chair), Understanding How Students Learn to Apply Science Ideas – Many Models Thinking as a Unified Approach? Symposium at the 14th Conference of the European Science Education Research Association (Virtual).

Wink, D., Gane, B., Ko, M., Goldman, S., Pellegrino, & J., Zeller, L. (2019, April). Developing three-dimensional assessment literacy for science teaching and learning: A teacher-researcher professional learning community. Presentation at the 2019 NSTA National Conference, St. Louis, MO.

Gane, B. D., Zaidi, S. Z.. McElhaney, K., & Pellegrino, J. W. (2019, April). Design and validation of instructionally supportive assessment: Examining student performance on knowledge-in-use assessment tasks. In J. Koster van Groos (Chair), Next Generation Science Standards Assessment Design Across Use Cases: From Formative Classroom Assessment to Large-Scale Accountability Assessment. Symposium conducted at the American Educational Research Association annual meeting, Toronto, ON, CA.

Templin, J., Gane, B. D., Douglas, K., Zaidi, S., & Pellegrino, J. (2018, October). Validating classroom assessments of multidimensional science and engineering competencies using Bayesian diagnostic models. Poster presented at the 2018 NCME Special Conference on Classroom Assessment, Lawrence, KS.

Gane, B. D., McElhaney, K. W., Zaidi, S. Z., & Pellegrino, J. W. (2018, March). Analysis of student and item performance on three-dimensional constructed response assessment tasks. Paper presented at the 2018 NARST Annual International Conference, Atlanta, GA.

Pellegrino, J. W., Gane, B. D., Zaidi, S. Z., Harris, C., McElhaney, K., Aloze, N. et al. (2017, September). Designing and using instructionally supportive, NGSS-aligned science assessments with diverse learner. Symposium at the 2017 NCME Special Conference on Classroom Assessment and Large-Scale Psychometrics: The Twain Shall Meet, Lawrence, KS.

DiBello, L. V., & Gane, B. D. (2016, June). Designing tasks for assessing threedimensional learning. Presentation at the 2016 National Conference on Student Assessment (NCSA), Philadelphia, PA.

Gane, B. D., Okoroh, C., DiBello, L. V., & Minstrell, J. (2015, April). Making sense of big data from classroom assessments: Teacher case studies and facets-based physics assessments. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association annual meeting, Chicago, IL.

Denick, D., Miller, R., Streveler, R., Pellegrino, J., DiBello, L. Schroeder, L. Gane, B. D., James, K. & Jorion, N. (2014, April). The use of evidence centered design to reverse engineer an existing CI and develop new questions for diagnostic reporting. In J. W. Pellegrino (Chair), Evaluating and Improving Concept Inventories as Assessment Resources in STEM Teaching and Learning. Symposium conducted at the American Educational Research Association annual meeting, Philadelphia, PA.

Grossman, S., Ryan, M., Gane, B., & Usselman, M. (2013, April). Supporting teachers adopting an engineering-based, PBL middle school science curriculum. Paper presented at the 86th National Association for Research on Science Teaching (NARST) annual international conference, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.

Gane, B. D., & Hendricks, C. (2012, April). Implementing a problem-based learning curriculum in a university-school collaborative project for improving middle school science education: Lessons from year one on fidelity of implementation. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association annual meeting, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Gane, B. D., & Catrambone, R. (2010, November). Using rate of performance improvement to quantify and compare amount of practice within and across experiments. Poster presented at the 51st annual meeting of the Psychonomic Society, St. Louis, MO.

Invited Presentations

Gane, B. D. (2017, June). A design framework for developing science assessment tasks for formative use. Presentation at the 2017 RiSE Conference at the University of Maine. Orono, ME.

Workshops

Gane, B. D., Lehman, E. M., & Zaidi, S. Z.(2022, July). NGSS-Aligned assessments for formative use in the elementary classroom. Workshop conducted at the 2022 NSTA National Conference, Chicago, Illinois.

Harris, C. J., Krajcik J. S., Severance, S., Pellegrino, J. W., Zaidi, S. Z., & Gane, B. D. (2018, June). Designing knowledge-in-use assessment tasks and rubrics to assess and promote deep learning in science classrooms. Full day workshop conducted for the 13th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2018. London, UK.

Memberships —

  • American Educational Research Association (AERA)
  • International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS)