Pi-Sui Hsu knows her mission.
“Scientific argumentation is one of the eight essential practices in the Next Generation Science Standards,” says Hsu, a professor in the Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment.
“I firmly believe that this practice can produce young adults who can think critically and argue effectively about the important issues in their world,” she adds. “However, establishing engagement is challenging.”
Challenge accepted.
“My work involves the intersection of educational technology, scientific argumentation and engagement,” Hsu says. “Witnessing how middle school students and how middle school teachers grow is a driving force.”
Hsu has spent more than a decade visiting middle school science classrooms, forming alliances with teachers across northern Illinois and earning their buy-in, building connections between students and even bridging oceans through the facilitation of online, live interactions between young minds in Downers Grove and Taiwan.
Accomplishing this has at times meant daily 5 a.m. commutes to the suburbs, international journeys where she convinced adolescents to return to school at 8 p.m. to meet with their U.S. counterparts (who logged in at 7 a.m.), creating and running week-long summer camps and after-school programs in Rockford and making sure she’s back on campus to teach her own evening classes.
Towns on her list of partners also include DeKalb, Sycamore, Creston, Genoa-Kingston, St. Charles, Huntley and Chicago.
“I see myself not only as a scholar but a practitioner,” says Hsu, who joined NIU in 2005. “I share what I learn from the classrooms with my doctoral students in their graduate-level classes. They are amazed how I put theory into practice.”
Putting theory in practice with passion and perseverance has earned Hsu the 2024 NIU Presidential Engagement and Partnership Professorship – and her supporters are applauding.
Known as “a supportive mentor and supervisor,” Hsu regularly enlists students to assist her in research and to help her deliver STEM programming in schools. Those chosen for her guidance are encouraged to “work with integrity” and reassured that their ideas and different perspectives are welcome and valued.
“What sets Dr. Hsu apart is her exceptional ability to work effectively in interdisciplinary teams,” says Crystal Berrios, a technical sales engineer with Omron Automation who has worked closely with Hsu in various capacities.
“She has demonstrated a key understanding of diverse fields and seamlessly integrated this knowledge into collaborative projects,” Berrios adds. “This interdisciplinary approach not only enriches Dr. Hsu’s thinking but also greatly contributes to the success of any initiative undertaken.”
Brooke Holstrum, a seventh-grade biology teacher at Mannheim Middle School in Melrose Park, served as Hsu’s undergraduate research assistant in 2019 and 2020 during the professor’s “Scientific Argumentation in Transportable Invention Space” in the Rockford Public Schools.
For their final project, students built and raced miniature, solar-powered cars.
Getting there first required learning about 3D printing, seasons, direct and indirect sunlight, power and the best angle for solar panels to maximize energy collection. Because the students worked in teams, the task also meant scientific argumentation to agree on design decisions.
Holstrum enjoyed “a unique and invaluable professional development experience” that “permanently influenced my thinking and approach to teaching science” and made her “a better teacher for my students.”
“Not only were the students learning about, and using, multiple branches of science – life and physical – but they were also learning about, and using, engineering, technology and science,” she says. “Students were engaged throughout the entire experience and through every activity, showing high levels of achievement.”
Meanwhile, she adds, “my work with Dr. Hsu deepened my cultural competency and allowed me to see firsthand how significant it is to promote equity and inclusiveness in education.”
“I currently teach in a district that is very similar to Rockford,” Holstrum says. “Every single day, I approach my class with the belief and practice that every student deserves a rigorous, culturally competent, inclusive education.”
Silvia Rehulina Ginting, an assistant professor at National Chengchi University in Taiwan, saw the same example.
Ginting assisted Hsu in the after-school program at the Rockford Environmental Science Academy during the 2018-19 academic year, while she was a doctoral candidate pursuing
NIU’s Ph.D. in Instructional Technology.
“Throughout the program, Dr. Hsu helped me to understand better the student populations and how the personal situations of underserved students affected their behavior in class,” Ginting says.
“By the end of the after-school program, I observed how students changed their attitude about learning science,” she adds. “I have gained cultural competency through observations and interactions with underserved students, which now helps me understand, respect and support students with diversity, equity and inclusiveness.”
Hsu also provided career aspirations to the middle schoolers, many of whom came from marginalized communities, and talked about college, different majors and, naturally, engineering.
Travis Woulfe, executive director of Improvement and Innovation for the Rockford Public Schools, says the district believes in Hsu’s vision.
“Pi-Sui’s pedagogical style has left indelible marks on numerous students, fostering critical thinking, curiosity and a deeper understanding for STEM-related fields,” Woulfe says.
“We calculate that dozens of teachers, thousands of middle school students and the greater community of Rockford have benefited from the worthwhile partnership with Dr. Hsu. Her desire and effective engagement on a small scale has continually grown and will have further impacts.”
NIU alumna Jan Marie Solano, who also supported Hsu’s work in Rockford, appreciates the role model.
“She has the students’ best interests at heart and is willing to move toward positive change when difficulties arise, even at short notice,” Solano says.
“Especially with the uncertainty of this time of COVID-19, she has proven herself to be flexible to meet the needs of students to ensure their safety while also keeping them engaged in hands-on learning,” she adds. “For the unpredictable schedule of the students at that time, Dr. Hsu worked toward pacing and challenging students appropriately to meet them where their understanding was.”
That extends to her doctoral students.
Margot Van Dyke, STEM teacher at Butler Junior High School in Oak Brook, has worked with Hsu since the professor served on her dissertation committee.
Their professional collaboration began in 2013 with the global discussions between middle school students in Illinois and Taiwan.
It grew when the two hosted a summer camp in DeKalb for the Taiwanese students – something lauded for immersing the young visitors in a foreign culture and bettering their understanding of their roles in a thriving global community – and since has meant presenting their research to hundreds of teachers at conferences throughout Illinois.
“I would not be the teacher I am today without her guidance and collaboration,” Van Dyke says. “Her energetic spirit and level of commitment is unparalleled.”
Additional letters endorsing Hsu’s nomination came from Yi-Ting Yang, principal of the National University of Tainan Affiliated Primary School in Taiwan, and from Cassandra Sendra, rootEd advisor at Southwest High School in Washburn, Missouri.
Hsu is grateful for it all.
“The journey of establishing engagement and partnerships can be lonely sometimes,” she says, also crediting her department and college colleagues along with Gail Jacky, David Walker, Portia Downey, Terry Borg and Eric Monsu Lee. “Without their support, I could not go this far.”