About

Robert Culbertson is an associate professor in the Department of Physics at Arizona State University. He has been the director of the Master of Natural Science Program in physics since 2007. His educational background includes a Ph.D. in Physics from Pennsylvania State University obtained in 1979 and a B.S. in Physics from Kent State University in 1975. His research and professional activities encompass a wide range of topics in physics, including semiconductor interfaces, ion beam analysis, and materials science, as well as educational initiatives aimed at improving science and engineering education. He has contributed to numerous research projects and publications, including patents related to wafer bonding and hydrophobic implant surfaces, and has been involved in various NSF-funded projects focused on physics teacher pipelines, educational change, and STEM literacy. His work also includes developing programs for high school physics teachers, promoting technical literacy through musical instruments, and enhancing the quality of science and mathematics teaching in Arizona. His extensive involvement in research, education, and outreach reflects a commitment to advancing physics knowledge and improving science education at multiple levels.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Sociology
• Psychology
• Pedagogy
• Political Science
• Engineering
• Mathematics education
• Marketing
• Medicine
• Engineering ethics
• Medical education
• Mathematics
• Engineering management
• Knowledge management
• Management
• Business

Selected publications

• A Multi-Year Professional Development Program to Advance Active Learning Pedagogical Practices for Engineering Faculty

  AEE Journal · 2024-01-01 · 5 citations

  articleOpen access

  Active learning pedagogical practices are more effective than instructor-centered teaching in building students’ knowledge, skills, and understanding of engineering content and concepts. As such, a large-scale professional development (PD) program was created to move faculty toward the use of active learning. The project aimed to engage faculty in active learning best practices through workshops

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• GaAs to Si Direct Wafer Bonding at T ≤ 220 °C in Ambient Air Via Nano-Bonding™ and Surface Energy Engineering (SEE)

  Silicon · 2022-05-02 · 5 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• A Social Network Analysis of Engineering Faculty Connections: Their Impact on Faculty Student-Centered Attitudes and Practices

  Education Sciences · 2022 · 10 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Psychology
  • Medical education

  Connections among faculty who might be potential resources for diffusion of learner-centered practices across STEM departments were examined at a major research university. Specifically, the research assessed the impact of these connections on learner-centered beliefs among faculty and the implementation of learner-centered practices across the network. Participants were recruited from Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics departments, and from departments in the College of Engineering. A snowball sampling procedure began with 21 randomly selected faculty from each department engaged in the STEM instruction of engineering students. These faculties then identified the colleagues they utilize as resources for improving their instruction. Characteristics of faculty connectedness in the network consisted of number of connections and depth of connections for both individual faculty and within and across departments. Outcome measures consisted of a survey of learner-centered attitudes and classroom observations of faculty instructional practices. The results show that faculty exhibiting more learner-centered behaviors had deeper and more extensive social networks than their peers who were more instructor-centered. The results are discussed in terms of the need for intra- and inter-departmental faculty professional development experiences that build and support collaborative organizations of faculty working together to transform early engineering experiences.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Angular Dependence of Surface Energy with Crystal Directions of LiNbO 3 (110) for Nano-Bonding TM to Si and α-quartz SiO 2

  Bulletin of the American Physical Society · 2021-03-18

  article
  Publisher

• GaAs to Si Direct Wafer Bonding at T ≤ 220°C in Ambient Air via Nano-BondingTM and Surface Energy Engineering (SEE)

  Research Square · 2021-04-27

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Surface Energy Engineering of GaAs and Si for NanoBonding in Tandem Solar Cells

  Bulletin of the American Physical Society · 2021-03-16

  article
  Publisher

• Attitude Shifts In High School Math And Science Teacher Practice Through Connecting Math, Science, And Engineering In A Math Science Partnership: Project Pathways

  2020-09-04

  articleOpen access

  He is a member of the Leadership Team in the Math-Science Partnership

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Creating and Scaling an Evidence-based Faculty Development Program

  2020-09-10 · 4 citations

  articleSenior author

  Abstract For more effective teaching and learning in undergraduate engineering education, there is a strong need for evidence-based faculty professional development to shift from instructor-centered teaching to student-centered, active learning, which is more effective (Freeman, et al., 2014). The NSF's Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) program funded a large-scale faculty development program at a large, public university which uses a train-the-trainer approach, similar to Pimmel, et al., to engage faculty in a year-long modeling program with a semester of eight biweekly workshops, followed by a semester of six biweekly Community of Practice innovation discussions. Here, we describe the creation, scaling, and evaluation of this evidence-based faculty development program. More specifically, we outline the benefits and barriers to faculty development; structure and management; strategies, topics, and materials; assessment; and lessons learned and takeaways in an interactive format. In the “benefits and barriers” component, attendees will learn about foundational research by Prince, Freeman, Smith, and others in the area of engagement and active learning as well as learn about how the represented university addressed barriers to implementation. Attendees will discuss and brainstorm participation incentives from both the administrative and faculty perspectives. During “structure and management”, presenters will discuss the program overview in more detail, including recruitment, organization, and workshop and community of practice structure. Attendees will consider different types of faculty development options and think about implementation and structure in the context of a particular type of institution. During the “strategies, topics, and materials” component, we will describe the project’s models of change, including Rogers’ model of Diffusion of Innovation and Coburn’s model of Sustainable Innovation Scaling. Presenters will also share all workshop materials by Google Drive on topics such as learning objectives, Bloom’s taxonomy, interactive classes, implementing active learning, cooperative learning, student motivation, and inclusive learning environments. Attendees will discuss topics that would be most important for faculty development at their institution. In the “assessment” section, we will provide an overview of how we assessed our faculty development program in terms of the evaluation framework. We will discuss what the instruments measure and the outcomes from the instruments in our setting. Attendees will discuss other potential assessment techniques and how to implement. Throughout the presentation, facilitators will present key lessons learned from the project as well as important points about support and sustainability. In summary, participants will not only learn evidence-based strategies for the class but learn how to structure, implement, scale, and evaluate a faculty development program using lessons learned from a successful, large-scale example.

  PublisherDOI

• Detecting Alzheimer's Disease Biomarker Methylglyoxal in Blood Plasma via Two Portable and Fast Small Volume Blood Diagnostics Devices to Compare Solid vs. Liquid Phase Colorimetry

  Bulletin of the American Physical Society · 2020-10-23

  article
  Publisher

• Corroborating LiTaO$_{\mathrm{3}}$ Surface Energies Measured by Three Liquid Contact Angle Analysis (3LCAA) with Computed Gibbs Energy for Wafer Bonding Engineering

  Bulletin of the American Physical Society · 2020-10-23

  article
  Publisher

Frequent coauthors

• Nicole Herbots

  46 shared

• Stephen Krause

  Applied Materials (United States)

  44 shared

• Eugene Judson

  Arizona State University

  35 shared

• James A. Middleton

  31 shared

• Keith D. Hjelmstad

  Arizona State University

  29 shared

• Lydia Ross

  29 shared

• Ying‐Chih Chen

  Arizona State University

  20 shared

• Lindy Mayled

  20 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Physics

  Pennsylvania State University

  1979

• B.S., Physics

  Kent State University

  1975

Awards & honors

• Winner of Benjamin J. Dasher Award for Best Paper at FIE 200…