Matt Kloser

Hackett Family Director, Institute for Educational Initiatives; Professor of the Practice

Matt Kloser headshot (updated 2022)
Office
307G Carole Sandner Hall
Notre Dame, IN 46556
Phone
574-631-4120
Email
mkloser@nd.edu

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Additional Roles: Founding Director, Notre Dame Center for STEM Education

Research Interests

Science education, instructional practice, assessment, teacher education, science & religion intersections

Biography

Matthew Kloser, Ph.D. is a professor of science education and currently serves as the Hackett Family Director of the Institute for Educational Initiatives. He founded the Notre Dame Center for STEM Education in 2013 and has served on the faculty at Notre Dame since 2012.

Kloser’s research focuses on issues of teaching, learning, and assessment in science classrooms with a special focus on biology education. His research includes experimental studies that identify affordances and constraints of learning biology from different text types, mixed methods studies on the relationship between instructional practice and teacher value-added models, models of assessment, and the influence of various structures for teacher professional learning. Recent work has partnered with the Vatican Dicastery for Integral Human Development on coursework for integral ecology—connections between ecology, sustainability, and spiritual formation.

Kloser received his M.Ed. through the Alliance for Catholic Education program at the University of Notre Dame and taught high school physics and math for five years prior to earning his M.S. in biology and Ph.D. in science education from Stanford University.

Education

  • Ph.D. in Science Education, Stanford University
  • M.S. in Biology, Stanford University

  • M.Ed., University of Notre Dame

Courses Taught

  • ESS 30632 - Science Education: Values, Policies, and Practices
  • ESS 43640 - Education, Schooling, and Society Research Seminar
  • EDU 60192 - Elementary Science and Social Studies Methods
  • EDU 60685 - Science Methods I (MS and HS)
  • EDU 60795: Science Assessment

Selected Publications

  • Lewis, K. M., Whaley, M. A., Quardokus Fisher, K., Chaloner, D. T., Jones, S. E., Kloser, M. J., Archie, E. A., Champion, P. A., Lee, S. W., Schorey, J. S., & D’Souza-Schorey, C. (2026). From vision to action: A theory of change for introductory biology education reform. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education, 0(0), e00234-25. https://doi.org/10.1128/jmbe.00234-25
  • Kloser, M., Borko, H., Wilsey, M., & Rafanelli, S. (2022). Leveraging portfolios in professional development for middle school science teachers’ assessment and data-use practice. Science Education, 106(4), 924-955.
  • Kloser, M., Wilsey, M., Madkins, T., & Windschitil, M., (2019). Connecting the dots: Linking frameworks for facilitating discussion to novice teacher practice. Teaching and Teacher Education, 80, 115-127.
  • Kloser, M. (2018). The nature of the teacher’s role in supporting student investigations in middle and high school science classrooms: Creating and participating in a community of practice. A report commissioned by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Washington D.C.
  • Kloser, M. and Troy, S. (2018). Reading nature: Engaging biology students with evidence from the living world. Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.
  • Kloser, M., Wilsey, M., Hopkins, D., Dallavis, J. W., Lavin, E., & Comuniello, M. (2017). Dual identities: Organizational negotiation in STEM-focused Catholic schools. Cultural Studies in Science Education, 13, 549-579.

  • Kloser, M. (2014). Identifying a core set of science teaching practices: A Delphi expert panel approach. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 51(9), 1185 – 1217.