Research Partnerships
Center for Innovation and Learning Design
The Center for Innovation in Learning Design (CILD) brings researchers, educators, students and community partners together to study questions that matter in real learning settings. We work with partners to understand a challenge, design and test possible approaches, and share what we learn in forms educators can use.
Our work spans K–16 education and includes collaborative learning, STEM and engineering education, emerging technologies, and opportunities for students to engage deeply with ideas. Across projects, we ask how learning experiences can help students explain their thinking, solve meaningful problems, and learn with others.
The Center for the Study of Education, Democracy & Justice
The Center for the Study of Education, Democracy & Justice (EDJ) is a cross-discipline institution dedicated to exploring critical issues impacting the Commonwealth of Virginia. The EDJ collaboratively engages in original and pioneering research to facilitate understanding and advance knowledge on the historical and present-day problems confronting residents in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The center brings together a constellation of scholars from diverse academic communities to work collaboratively on an array of concerns specific to the Commonwealth to inform law, policy-decision making and practice to create a more democratic, just and equal society.
THRIVE Research & Innovation Center
The THRIVE Research and Intervention Center exists to deepen our understanding of the factors that help individuals and communities recover from adverse life and social circumstances and promote the use of evidence-based tools that support thriving.
The Thrive Center is based on the premise that individuals have the capacity to learn how to cope effectively with life challenges and to transform suffering and despair into personal well-being and meaningful action. We also contend that targeted interventions and appropriate levels of social support can facilitate this transformation. Conversely, individuals who are unable to identify positive pathways to transform their pain will likely transmit it to others through violence and destructive action, which creates a cycle of despair and violence across generations. Developing the capacity to THRIVE has become a critical public health issue and a growing concern for society.
Next Move @ William & Mary
Next Move @ W&M is a grant-funded, William & Mary-sponsored research project started in 2018 to support youth and young adults with developmental disabilities in our community. In partnership with the William & Mary School of Education, NextMove @ W&M creates on-campus, guided summer internship experiences for young adults with disabilities. We pair the on-campus internship experience with classroom-based transition skills instruction to create a thoughtful and interactive experience.
The mission of Next Move @ W&M is to combat the estimated 70% unemployment rate for young adults with diverse needs in the Commonwealth. Through vocational education and on-campus job training, we empower these individuals to achieve their goals and prepare them to find long-term sustained employment and fulfillment within their communities.