Faculty Profiles

Colleges and Departments

Dr. Alice R Olmstead

  • Associate Professor - Physics
  • Non-Pay Staff - College of Science & Engineering

Education

Doctorate Degree

PhD in Astronomy

Univ of Maryland College Park, 2016

Master's Degree

MS in Astronomy

Univ of Maryland College Park, 2012

Bachelor's Degree

BA in Astronomy and Physics

Boston University, 2009

Teaching Interests

Research Interests

  • Olmstead, Alice R (Principal). Collaborative Research: Furthering the Work of STEM Undergraduate Transformation: Modeling Instructional Change Teams, National Science Foundation, Federal, $464671. (Submitted: December 11, 2018, Funded: January 1, 2020 - December 31, 2022). Grant.
  • Close, Eleanor W (Principal), Olmstead, Alice R (Co-Principal). Learning Assistant Professional Development for Facilitation Practices in Active Learning STEM Courses, NSF, Federal, $28756. (Funded: October 1, 2024 - September 20, 2027). Grant.
  • Olmstead, Alice R. Supplement to Furthering the Work of STEM Undergraduate Transformation: Modeling Instructional Change Teams, NSF, Federal, $99947. (Submitted: November 2020, Funded: January 1, 2020 - December 31, 2023). Grant.
  • Galloway, Heather C, Close, Eleanor W, Olmstead, Alice R, Luxford, Cynthia J, Feng, Li. Building Capacity: Creating Faculty-Student Communities for Culturally Relevant Institutional Change, National Science Foundation Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), Federal, $2499933. (Submitted: March 6, 2019, Funded: October 1, 2019 - September 30, 2025). Grant.
  • Sachmpazidi, D., Thompson, A. N., Fitzgerald-Russell, M., Olmstead, A. R., Luxford, C. J., Beach, A., … Kunz, A. (2026). Snapshots of team functioning:  Development and validation of the Team Member Perceptions of Instructional Change Collaborations (TM-PICC) survey. International Journal of STEM Education, 13(1).
  • Olmstead, A. R., Montecinos, A., Castro, H., Atkinson, T., Close, E. W., Fitzgerald-Russell, M., … Hedge, K. (2026). Faculty and undergraduate Learning Assistants’ perspectives on barriers and supports for instructional change in introductory biology at a Hispanic-Serving Institution. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 25(2).
  • Olmstead, A. R., Gutmann, B., Ochoa-Madrid, E., Vasquez, A., Pike, C., & Barringer, D. F. (2023). How can we design instruction to support student reasoning about physicists’ ethical responsibilities in society? The Physics Teacher, 61(5), 343–350. https://doi.org/10.1119/5.0087490
  • Sachmpazidi, D., Olmstead, A. R., Thompson, A. N., Henderson, C., & Beach, A. (2020). Team-based instructional change in undergraduate STEM: Characterizing effective faculty collaboration. International Journal of STEM Education, 8(15). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-021-00273-4
  • Olmstead, A. R., Beach, A., & Henderson, C. (2019). Supporting improvements to undergraduate STEM instruction: An emerging model for understanding instructional change teams. International Journal of STEM Education, 6(20).
View all scholarly/creative works
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Presidential Distinction Award for Excellence in Service, Texas State University. August 21, 2020
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Presidential Distinction Award for Excellence in Service, Texas State University. August 2022
  • Award / Honor Recipient: College Achievement Award for Excellence in Service, College of Science and Engineering, Texas State University. August 2021
  1. Member

    Faculty Hiring Committee

  2. Co-Chair

    UNIDOS Center for HSI Community Coordination - Funded Projects Working Group

  3. Other

    Physics / STEM Communities Learning Assistant Activities

  4. Reviewer / Referee

    International Journal of STEM Education

  5. Reviewer / Referee

    The Physics Teacher

  6. Reviewer / Referee

    Physical Review Physics Education Research

  7. View all activities