Gina Navoa Svarovsky

Gina Navoa Svarovsky is the faculty director of the Center for Broader Impacts, the interim director of the Center for STEM Education, and an associate professor of the practice at the University of Notre Dame.

Dr. Svarovsky has nearly two decades conducting research and evaluation on several NSF-funded projects and outreach efforts focused on STEM education. She has led multiple large-scale evaluations of public impact and learning around STEM learning as part of the National Informal STEM Education Network, conducts research on integrated STEM teaching and learning in formal classrooms and out-of-school learning contexts, and also leads strategic planning and logic model development sessions with program leaders. Svarovsky earned her Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Notre Dame.

• Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, University of Wisconsin
• M.S. in Educational Psychology, University of Wisconsin
• M.Ed., University of Notre Dame

• Pattison, S., Ramos-Montañez, S., López Burgos, V., Tominey, S., Quijano, M., Svarovsky, G.. (Under review). Whole Child, Whole Family, Whole Community: Developing Shared Problems of Practice with Latine Families Related to STEM Learning in Early Childhood. Submitted to the American Educational Research Journal.

• Pattison, S., Svarovsky, G.N., Ramos-Montañez, S., Burgos, V.L., Santiago, A., De Los Santos, S. (2023). Family-Centered Research: Reflections from a Zoom-based Recording Method of Families Learning Together at Home. Educational Researcher, 52(9). https://doiorg/ 10.3102/0013189X2312045

• Svarovsky, G. N., Wagner, C., Lettau, M., Marfo, K., Pattison, S., Ramos-Montañez, S., López Burgos, V., Corbett, A. R., Quijano, M. D., & Contreras, D. (2024). Supporting Early Childhood Educators in Implementing and Adapting Research-based Engineering Activities Designed for Families. Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, OR., June 2024. Best Paper in Division – Honorable Mention.

• Wagner, C., Svarovsky, G.N., Lettau, M., Marfo, K., Ortiz, A.L., Ryan, D., Pattison, S.A., Ramos-Montañez, S., Burgos, V.L., De Los Santos, S., Quijano, M., & Corbett, A. (2023). Exploring the Nature of Engineering During Home-based Engineering Activities Designed for Spanish- and English-speaking Families with Young Children. Paper presented at the American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition, Baltimore, MD., June 2023. Best Paper in Division – Honorable Mention.

• Pattison, S., Ramos-Montañez, S., & Svarovsky, G. (2022). Family values, parent roles,and life challenges: Parent reflections on the factors shaping long‐term interest development for young children and their families participating in an early childhood engineering program. Science Education, 106(6), 1568-1604.

• Cardella, M., Svarovsky, G. N., Pattison, S. (2020). Engineering Education in Pre-Kindergarten Through Fifth Grade: An Overview. Commissioned paper by the Committee on Enhancing Science and Engineering in Prekindergarten through Fifth Grade at The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.