Ross Anderson, Ph.D.
Education & Training
Ph.D., 2019
University of Oregon
Quantitative Research Methods
B.A. , 2004
Yale University
Architecture
I work in education research with a focus on enhancing educators’ beliefs and practices about the creative development of adolescents in school. The driving motive in my work is to create greater equity in access and opportunities for students marginalized due to their identities related to race, ethnicity, language, sexuality, ability, and family socioeconomic privilege. During the past five years I have partnered with teaching artists to design intensive professional development and coaching to more than 120 K-12 educators. The theoretical foundation to that work integrates educational psychology, creativity theory, and the role of embodied cognition to the meaning-making process. I study creative development in teaching and learning at three interdependent levels: the school as a learning organization, educators in that ecosystem with unique beliefs, motivations, and growth potential, and individual students as diverse learners developing within the sociocultural context of school.
Current Projects
Publications
Anderson, R.C., Haney, M., Pitts, C., Porter, L., & Bousselot, T. (2021). “Mistakes can be beautiful”: Creative engagement in arts integration for early adolescent learners. Journal of Creative Behavior 54; 3; 662-675.
Anderson, R. C. & Graham, M. (2021). Creative potential in flux: The leading role of originality during early adolescent development. Thinking Skills and Creativity Volume 40, June 2021.
Anderson, R.C., Porter, L., & Adkins, D. (2020). A dramatic confrontation: Arts integration teacher development, organizational learning, and school change. Leadership and Policy in Schools; 19:3; 369-389.
Katz-Buonincontro, J. & Anderson, R.C. (2020). Observation methods for researching creativity: Past approaches and recommendations for advancing the field. Journal of Creative Behaviors 54 3; 495-745.
Madison, E., Anderson, R.C., & Bousselot, T. (2019). Self-determined to write: Catalyzing critical thinking, collaboration, and self-direction in middle school. Reading and Writing Quarterly. 35:5;473-495.
Anderson, R.C., Graham, M., Kennedy, P., Nelson, N., Stoolmiller, M., Baker, S., & Fien, H. (2019). Student agency at the crux: Mitigating disengagement in middle and high school. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 56, 205–217.
Anderson, R.C. (2018). Creative engagement: Embodied metaphor, the affective brain, and meaningful learning. Mind, Brain, and Education, 12(2), 72–81.
Katz-Buonincontro, J. & Anderson, R.C. (2018). How do we go from good to great? The need for better observation studies of creativity in education. [Special Issue] Frontiers in Psychology, 9(2342).
Pitts, C., Anderson, R.C., & Haney, M. (2018). Measure of Instruction for Creative Engagement: Making metacognition, modeling, and creative thinking visible. Learning Environments Research, 21(1), 43–59.
Anderson, R.C., Pitts, C., & Smolkowski, K. (2017). Creative ideation meets relational support: Measuring links between these factors in early adolescence. Creativity Research Journal, 29(3), 244–256.
Anderson, R.C., Thier, M., & Pitts, C. (2017). Interpersonal and intrapersonal assessment alternatives: Self-reports, situational judgment tests, and discrete choice experiments. Learning and Individual Differences, 53, 47–60.
Anderson, R.C., Guerreiro, M., & Smith, J. (2016). Are all biases bad? Collaborative grounded theory in developmental evaluation of education policy. Journal of Multidisciplinary Evaluation, 12(27), 44–57.
Thier, M., Smith, J., Pitts, C., & Anderson, R.C. (2016). Influential spheres: Examining actors’ perceptions of education governance. International Journal of Education Policy & Leadership, 11(9), 1–21.
Experience
2014–present Principal Researcher; Planning, Research, & Evaluation, Inflexion, Eugene, OR
2018–present Co-Founder, Creative Engagement Lab, LLC, Eugene, OR
2019–present Courtesy Research Assistant Professor, University of Oregon, College of Education, Eugene, OR
2014, 2018–19 Graduate Research Fellow, University of Oregon, College of Education, Eugene, OR
2013–14, Graduate Research Fellow, Grant Writing and Outreach, University of Oregon, Northwest Indian Language Institute, Eugene, OR
2013–14 Grant Writer and Evaluation Specialist, Lane Education Service District, Eugene, OR
2007–13 Director of Strategic Initiatives, Norwich Public Schools, Norwich, CT
2004–07 Builder and designer, Independent, Brooklyn and Tivoli, NY