Mahnaz Moallem

Biography

Mahnaz Moallem is a professor and chair of the Department of Learning Technologies, Design and School Library Media, College of Education, Towson University, Maryland. She joined Towson University in Aug. 2018. She was a professor of Instructional Technology and Research and Grant Coordinator at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW), College of Education where she worked as a faculty member since 1993. She received her Ph.D. in Instructional Systems Design/Learning Systems and her Program Evaluation Certificate from Florida State University. As a learning science/learning design researcher, she studies applications of various learning and instructional design theories and models for learning and human performance improvement. She has a particular interest in the application of Problem-Based/Project-Based Learning (PBL) and assessment of complex learning outcomes such as problem-solving and critical thinking for STEM fields. During her career, she has designed, developed, and successfully implemented and evaluated several programs that have been using PBL as their pedagogical framework. Mahnaz has been the recipient of several awards in scholarship, teaching, and graduate mentorship. Besides, within the last fifteen years, she has been awarded funding to coordinate several innovative projects sponsored by the National Science Foundation and Department of Education on the integration of PBL with computer modeling and simulation. She has worked with many international colleagues and serves on editorial board of a number of prestigious national and international journals. Mahnaz has been the recipient of several teaching and research awards and has served as a rotating scientist (IPA) for two years at the National Science Foundation.

Selected Book Publications

• Moallem, M., Harati, H., & Duan, S. (2026). Large Language Models (LLMs) in Education: Applications, Challenges, and Use Cases. In A. Moallem, H. Degen, & S. Ntoa (Eds), Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models: A Scientific Perspective (pp. 91-121). Publisher: CRC Press/Taylor & Francis/Routage, DOI: 10.1201/9781003492252-4
• Kirmani, M. H., Chapman, A. L., Steele, B. M., Moallem, M., & Schroth, S. T. (Eds.). (2023). Supporting Children and Youth Through Spiritual Education. IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-6371-0
• Haverback, H.R., Moallem, M., Guerrero, J. C., Daniel, J., Li, Q. & Wadadekar, R. (2023). Virtual reality and preservice teachers: An examination of social immersion, empathy, multilingual learners, and self-efficacy. In Todd Cherner and Alex Fegely (Eds). Bridging the xr technology-to-practice gap: methods and strategies for blending extended realities into classroom instruction, volume ii, 81. AACE Publication.
• Moallem, M. (2021). Smart Educational System. In A. Moallem (Ed.), Smart and Intelligent Systems: The Human Elements in Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Cybersecurity (n.d.) (pp. 1-33), Rutledge/Taylor & Francis Group., United States: CRC Press.
• Moallem, M., & Igoe, E. (2020). Using computer-based scaffolds to improve problem-solving and reasoning skills in distance education. In Demetrios Sampson & Dirk Ifenthaler (Eds), Online Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (Eds) (pp. 135-161), Springer Nature, Switzerland AG 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48190-2 
• Moallem, M., Sterrett, W. L., Gordon, C., Sukhera, S., Mahmood, A., & Bashir, A. (2020). An investigation of the effects of integrating computing and project/problem-based learning in the context of environmental sciences: A case of Pakistani STEM teachers. In Stephen T. Schroth and Janese Daniels (Eds), Handbook of Research on Building STEM Skills through Environmental Education (pp. 49-89), IGI Publication.
• Moallem, M., Hung, W. & Dabbagh, N. (2019, Eds.). Wiley Handbook of Problem-Based Learning, Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell Inc. ISBN-10: 1119173213.
  • This is the first Handbook in PBL and has five sections, 29 chapters, and 275,000 words
• Moallem, M. (2019). Effects of PBL on Learning Outcomes. In M. Moallem, W. Hung, & N. Dabbagh, (Eds), Wiley Handbook of Problem-Based Learning (pp. 106-135), Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell Inc.
  
• Hung, W., Moallem, M., & Dabbagh, N. (2019). Social Foundations of PBL.  In M. Moallem, W. Hung, & N. Dabbagh, (Eds), Wiley Handbook of Problem-Based Learning (pp. 51-81), Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell Inc.

Selected Journal Publications

• Moallem, M., Vandiver, M.J., Loksa, D.C. Li, Q., Harati, H., Kara Atas, M., Billman, R.H., & Christenson, L. (2026). Co-Design as an Innovative Professional Development Model: Equipping PK-8 Preservice Teachers to Learn and Teach Computational Thinking. TechTrends, 70, 122–137. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-025-01137-2  
• Moallem, M. & Agbolade, F. (2025). The Impact of Immersive Virtual Reality on Preservice Teachers’ Intercultural Sensitivity. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 33(2), 361-398. DOI: https://doi.org/10.70725/441614vcrvnj   
• Li, Q., Moallem, M., Boettinger, J. Cai, Q., & Levi, M. (2024). An educational model of equity and computing: a study of marginalized student experience during COVID pandemic. Education Technology Research & Development, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-024-10443-0 
• Radfar, S., Zarai, E., Sodani, M. & Moallem, M. (2022). Evaluation of the effectiveness of parenting education to parents on reducing social problems and lack of attention to adolescents, Rooyesh-e- Ravanshenasi Journal (RRJ) Psychological Journal, 11(4), 229-240.
• Cai, Q., Moallem, M. (2021). Applying Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction to redesign an online graduate course through the rapid prototyping approach. TechTrends, 66, 212–222, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-021-00658-w 
• Sterrett, W., Azam, R., Moallem, M., Boersma, J., Bashir, A., Ricanek, K., Saeed, M., Butt, I., Mahmood, A., Sukhera, S. and Gordon, C. (2020), Sharing a powerful IDEA: learning organizations collaborating to innovate and design engaging applications in STEM education, Development and Learning in Organizations, 34 (2), pp. 9-12. https://doi.org/10.1108/DLO-06-2019-0137  

Grants and Contracts

• Principal Investigator (2025), Cultivating Cyber-Civic Futurists: A PK-12 Pipeline for Youth-Led Social Innovation, Neilom Foundation Impact Award, $10,000 
• Co-Principal Investigator, Cybersecurity Curriculum Taskforce 2.0: A Coalition for Cybersecurity Education and Innovation (2024-2026), PI: Blair Taylor,  NCAE-C, $3,506,216
• Principal Investigator (2025) USM Elkins Professorship Award, Breaking Barriers: Cultivating Young Girls’ Interest in Computational Thinking, AI, and Cybersecurity, $66,578
• Principal Investigator, Co-PIs: David Robinson, Robert Capes, & Fran Glick, Advanced Digital Literacy and Cybersecurity Education: Educator Workforce Knowledge and Skills Development, Maryland Center for Computing Education (MCCE),  $45,000 
• Principal Investigator, Preparing PK-8 Preservice Teachers to Teach Computer Science: An Alternative Pathway, Maryland Center for Computing Education (MCCE), Awarded, Sept. 2021, 2023, $49,736 
• Co-Principal Investigator, DSSAC: The Data Science and Sports Analytics Camp, Principal Investigator, Ari Kim. Towson University (TU)-SET Seed Funding (2021-2023), $16,383