Mariel Pfeifer

Assistant Professor of Biology

• Faculty
• Instructor

• Email:

  mapfeife@olemiss.edu

• Office Location:

  214 Shoemaker Hall

• Phone:

  662-915-7203

• Website:

  Google Scholar Publications

• Research Lab:

  Pfiefer Lab

Research Interests

Dr. Pfeifer's research centers on the question: 

• How can we (re)create educational practices in STEM to better support students and instructors? 

Publications

Pfeifer, M.A., Reiter, E.M., Hendrickson, M. et al. Speaking up: a model of self-advocacy for STEM undergraduates with ADHD and/or specific learning disabilities. IJ STEM Ed 7, 33 (2020).

Students with disabilities are underrepresented in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses. Students with disabilities who engage in self-advocacy earn higher GPAs and are more likely to graduate from college compared to students with disabilities who do not engage in self-advocacy. We utilized Test’s conceptual framework of self-advocacy, which breaks self-advocacy into four components: knowledge of self, knowledge of rights, communication, and leadership to investigate how students with invisible disabilities practice self-advocacy in undergraduate STEM courses. Through a partnership with a disability resource center (DRC), we recruited and interviewed 25 STEM majors who received accommodations for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and/or a specific learning disorder (SLD). Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed using content analysis.

Pfeifer, M. A.*, Zajic, C. J., Isaacs, J. M., Erickson, O. A., & Dolan, E. L. (2024). Beyond performance, competence, and recognition: Forging a science researcher identity in the context of research training. International Journal of STEM Education, 11(1).

Pfeifer, M. A.* & Dolan, E.L. (2023) Venturing into qualitative research: A practical guide to getting started SPUR 7 (1).

Pfeifer, M. A.*, Cordero, J. J., & Stanton, J. D. (2023). What I wish my instructor knew: How active learning influences the classroom experiences and self-advocacy of STEM majors with ADHD and specific learning disabilities. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 22(1), ar2.

Pfeifer, M. A.*, Reiter, E. M., Cordero, J. J., & Stanton, J. D. (2021). Inside and out: Factors that support and hinder the self-advocacy of undergraduates with ADHD and/or specific learning disabilities in STEM. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 20(2), ar17.