Academic Profile : Faculty

Asst Prof Chang Wen-Chia (張文嘉)
Assistant Professor, Policy, Curriculum and Leadership
Assistant Professor, National Institute of Education - Policy, Curriculum & Leadership
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Dr. Chang, Wen-Chia is an Assistant Professor in the Policy, Curriculum, and Leadership Academic Group at the National Institute of Education/Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. She obtained her Ph.D. in Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation from Boston College in the United States. Her research seeks to understand whether, how, and under what conditions teachers learn to understand and enact teaching with a commitment to equity and social justice goals through a critical socio-political lens. As a researcher trained in quantitative and measurement traditions, her most recent work seeks to understand what it means and takes to center equity in quantitative and measurement research.
Wen-Chia’s work has always revolved around education, be it in the field of international development or research on teaching and teacher education. She worked with Education Development Center (EDC) Thailand regional office for four years. In her role as a program officer, she managed, designed, and implemented evaluations of programs addressing issues on poverty, education, public health, and migration in the Asia Pacific region. She worked closely with various stakeholders, including multinational corporations, community-based organizations, state and local government, international development agencies, communities, schools, educators, parents, and children. In the U.S., she also worked with multiple research centers to design and implement program evaluation studies on teacher learning and retention/completion of community college students. Her evaluation experience working in and with marginalized communities paved the way for her scholarly commitment to advancing equity and social justice within and beyond classroom walls.
She teaches courses on designing, interpreting, and evaluating education research (MED900) and curriculum and program evaluation (MCT912). She is passionate about guiding and facilitating aspiring researchers and practitioners to see research/evaluation as a knowledge construction process critically. Her teaching philosophy is grounded in ideas of culturally responsive/relevant/sustaining pedagogies.
Wen-Chia’s work has always revolved around education, be it in the field of international development or research on teaching and teacher education. She worked with Education Development Center (EDC) Thailand regional office for four years. In her role as a program officer, she managed, designed, and implemented evaluations of programs addressing issues on poverty, education, public health, and migration in the Asia Pacific region. She worked closely with various stakeholders, including multinational corporations, community-based organizations, state and local government, international development agencies, communities, schools, educators, parents, and children. In the U.S., she also worked with multiple research centers to design and implement program evaluation studies on teacher learning and retention/completion of community college students. Her evaluation experience working in and with marginalized communities paved the way for her scholarly commitment to advancing equity and social justice within and beyond classroom walls.
She teaches courses on designing, interpreting, and evaluating education research (MED900) and curriculum and program evaluation (MCT912). She is passionate about guiding and facilitating aspiring researchers and practitioners to see research/evaluation as a knowledge construction process critically. Her teaching philosophy is grounded in ideas of culturally responsive/relevant/sustaining pedagogies.
My interdisciplinary research resides in the intersection of measurement/ evaluation and teaching and learning to teach with a commitment to equity and social justice. I examine the assumptions and mechanisms of accountability/evaluation initiatives and how they shape teachers’ and teacher educators’ work; I develop research and reflection tools to facilitate teachers’ learning to teach for equity and/or social justice; and I conduct critical reviews of research pertaining to teaching and teacher education, moving the processes and results of knowledge construction toward transformative goals. My most recent research focuses on equity issues in measurement, evaluation, and assessment in the context of teaching and learning to teach culturally and linguistically diverse students with a commitment to equity and social justice.
- Toward equity-centered diversity-affirming teaching practice in Singapore: Exploring the role of reflection in transformative teaching and learning
- Evaluating Reading Gain from a Mobile Library Intervention in a Low-Income Neighbourhood
Awards
2024 - World Educational Research Association Best Poster Award
2021 - AERA Rasch SIG Georg William Rasch Early Career Award
2020 - American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education Outstanding Book Award
2019 - Society of Professors of Education Outstanding Book Award
2019 - AERA Division K Exemplary Research in Teaching and Teacher Education Award
2018 - American Educational Studies Association Critic’s Choice Book Award
2017 - George Madaus Graduate Student Research Award (Lynch School of Education and Human Development, Boston College, USA)
2016 - Donald J. White Teaching Excellence Award (Graduate School of the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, Boston College, USA)
2021 - AERA Rasch SIG Georg William Rasch Early Career Award
2020 - American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education Outstanding Book Award
2019 - Society of Professors of Education Outstanding Book Award
2019 - AERA Division K Exemplary Research in Teaching and Teacher Education Award
2018 - American Educational Studies Association Critic’s Choice Book Award
2017 - George Madaus Graduate Student Research Award (Lynch School of Education and Human Development, Boston College, USA)
2016 - Donald J. White Teaching Excellence Award (Graduate School of the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, Boston College, USA)
Fellowships & Other Recognition
2018 - Visiting Research Fellowship, School of Education, University of South Australia
2016 - Summer Dissertation Development Grant (Lynch School of Education and Human Development, Boston College, USA)
2016 - Summer Dissertation Development Grant (Lynch School of Education and Human Development, Boston College, USA)
Courses Taught
MED900 - Educational Inquiry
MCT912 - Program and Curriculum Evaluation
MCT933 - Affirming Diversity in Teaching and Learning
MEM902 - Assessment Quality and Standards
ED/PSY 7460 - Interpretation and Evaluation of Research
ED/PSY 2216 - Research Methods and Analyses
MCT912 - Program and Curriculum Evaluation
MCT933 - Affirming Diversity in Teaching and Learning
MEM902 - Assessment Quality and Standards
ED/PSY 7460 - Interpretation and Evaluation of Research
ED/PSY 2216 - Research Methods and Analyses