Office: Education 268

Gina Childers is an Associate Professor of STEM education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Texas Tech University. She currently serves as a co-director of the Center for Advocacy in Teacher Leadership for Youth and Schools with Technology (CATALYST) and is on the editorial board for the International Journal of Science Education. Previously, Dr. Childers was an Assistant Professor of Middle Grades/Secondary Education at the University of North Georgia, Director of Research and Development for a nonprofit education organization, instructional coach serving rural, suburban, and urban schools in North Carolina, and a high school biology teacher in Savannah, Georgia.

Currently, Dr. Childers is directing research studies focused on interest and learning of STEM at science fiction conventions and within recreational games. Furthermore, Dr. Childers recently has been awarded three National Security Agency (NSA) grants in collaboration with the University of North Georgia in designing cybersecurity education professional learning opportunities for K-12 teachers in Georgia and conducting research on teachers' perceptions of cybersecurity awareness.

She was named Texas Tech University’s Outstanding Researcher in 2023, and she was awarded the Texas Tech Alumni New Faculty Award (2023), Applied Research in Immersive Environments for Learning (ARIEL) SIG “Best Paper” in 2017 by the American Education Research Association (AERA), and the John C. Park National Technology Leadership Fellowship Award in 2016 by the Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE) in collaboration with Dr. Rebecca Hite (Texas Tech University) and Dr. M. Gail Jones (North Carolina State University). In 2011, she was recognized as Teacher of the Year at Savannah Early College. Dr. Childers has an energetic cat and a zany chihuahua and enjoys crocheting, gardening, hiking, and playing computer games.