Cary Academy wishes to congratulate Robert Coven on his completion of a PhD in curriculum and instruction from North Carolina State University. The title of Dr. Coven‘s dissertation is: An Action Research Study of Conceptual Modeling Pedagogy in High School History.

His research focuses on the ways in which conceptual modeling illuminates, supports, and enhances historical thinking; and examines the extent to which modeling can help students get past the misconceptions that form barriers on their way to gaining better understanding.  Conceptual modeling is designed to give students the opportunity to develop theory and derive meaning from historical evidence.

Dr. Coven and former English teacher Carole Hamilton developed the conceptual modeling pedagogy for the humanities as an adaptation of the modeling Dr. Greenwolfe has been using in his physics classes for many years.  Dr. Coven’s research demonstrated the effectiveness of this Cary Academy pedagogy in helping students create meaning and theory through inductive reasoning and develop deep and permanent understanding, transferable to all their endeavors.