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Dr. Nancy M. Holincheck
PhD, George Mason University
Associate Professor
Academic Program Coordinator, Advanced Studies in Teaching and Learning
Teaching and Teacher Education , PhD in Education
Associate Director, Center for Social Equity Through Science Education
Global Online Teacher Education Center

Contact Information

Send email to Dr. Holincheck

Phone: (703) 993-8136
Email: nholinch (@gmu.edu)

George Mason University
Fairfax Campus
Thompson Hall 2605
4400 University Dr.
MS 1E8
Fairfax, VA 22030

Curriculum Vitae

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Profile

Dr. Nancy Holincheck is an Associate Professor of STEM Education and the Academic Program Coordinator of the Advanced Studies in Teaching and Learning (ASTL) program. Dr. Holincheck teaches doctoral courses in the Teaching and Teacher Education and Science Education programs in Mason's College of Education and Human Development, and master's level courses in science and STEM education, teacher research, and teacher reflection in the ASTL program.  Dr. Holincheck is Associate Director of Education of Mason's Quantum Science and Engineering Center (QSEC), Associate Director of Mason's Center for Social Equity through Science Education [C(SE)2], and an associate member of Mason's Global Online Teacher Education Center. 

Dr. Holincheck's broad research interests encompass AI in education, K12 quantum education, STEM teaching and learning, teacher reflection & teacher inquiry, identity of STEM learners and teachers, gender in STEM and science, physics education, problem solving, science teaching and learning, and problem-based learning. Dr. Holincheck is PI on two current NSF funded projects, EAGER: Quantum is Elementary: Quantum Teaching and Learning in Elementary Classrooms and Quantum in the Middle: Quantum Progressions from Elementary to High School.  She previously served as co-PI on the NSF funded projects Cultivating Physics Identity and Belonging for Women in Physics: Mentorship and Leadership Development through the Pion Program and George Mason University's Quantum Postdoctoral Fellowship, and co-PI on the Department of Education Quantum Workforce Development grant projects. She also serves as Evaluator on the NSF funded ExLENT project, Pivots: Reshaping Education in Nanofabrication for the Northern Virginia Ecosystem and Workforce (RENEW). Earlier in her career she served as Co-PI and Evaluator on the NSF funded Teaching Critical Thinking Skills in Science with sInvestigator, internal evaluator and Co-PI on an IARPA Crowdsourcing Evidence, Argumentation, Thinking and Evaluation (CREATE) Project, Cogent Argumentation System with Crowd Elicitation (Co-Arg), and Evaluator of the U.S. Department of Education's Jacob K. Javits grant funded Project ExCEL.  

In addition to her K12 quantum education research, Dr. Holincheck's current research projects focus on AI in education, STEM teaching and learning, and the under-representation of groups in STEM.  She researches STEM teacher identity, undergraduate students' perspectives on quantum science and computing, how gender plays a role in the experiences of women in STEM, and teacher reflection in teacher education courses.  She has ongoing projects that examine how participation in middle and high school robotics influences the development of STEM identity, the role of mentors in the recruitment and retention of students from under-represented groups in STEM, explorations of gender in physics and science, and promoting the success of students from minoritized populations in college STEM. . 

A former high school physics teacher, Dr. Holincheck holds a PhD in Education and an MS in Applied and Engineering Physics from George Mason University and a B.S. in Physics from The College of William and Mary. A National Board Certified Teacher from 2001-2021, Holincheck began her teaching career in Fairfax County, Virginia and taught at Hayfield Secondary and Chantilly High School. Before coming to Mason, Dr. Holincheck served as term faculty in education policy at American University in Washington, D.C..

Research Interests

Teacher learning, teacher reflection, science teaching and learning, STEM teaching and learning, AI in education, K12 quantum education, workforce development, under-represented groups in science and STEM, gender in STEM, Integrated STEM Teacher Identity, STEM learner identity, computational thinking, physics education, problem solving, problem-based learning (PBL), project-based learning (PjBL), teacher education, teacher research, research utilization by teachers, teachers’ professional persistence

Recent Publications

  • Holincheck, N., & Galanti, T. (2026). STEM teacher identity and agency: A cross-case analysis of four teachers' actions for equity in STEM. Journal for STEM Education Research, 9(1), 85–107. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41979-025-00163-2 
  • Dreyfus, B. W., Rosenberg, J. L., & Holincheck, N. M. (In press). Quantum Chutes and Ladders: A quantum tabletop board game. The Physics Teacher.
  • Douglas, K., Holincheck, N., Neumann, K., & Hartman, N. (In press). STEM Education in Support of Workforce Development. In C. C. Johnson, M. Mohr-Schroeder, T. Moore, & L. English (Eds.), Handbook of research on STEM education, 2nd edition. Routledge. 
  • Akesson, L., Rosenberg, J. L., Holincheck, N., & Dreyfus, B. (2025). Physics identity: Examining the role of recognition for undergraduate women in physics. In 2025 Physics Education Research Conference Proceedings. https://www.per-central.org/items/perc/6040.pdf
  • Simons, J. R., Holincheck, N., & Rosenberg, J. L. (2025). Pathways to quantum: Fostering high school student interest in quantum information science. In Proceedings of the 2025 IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing & Engineering, Quantum Science and Engineering and Education Conference. https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.03838 
  • Rosenberg, J. L., & Holincheck, N. (2025). Building student understanding of quantum information science and engineering through projects on applications to medical technologies.  In Proceedings of the 2025 IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing & Engineering, Quantum Science and Engineering and Education Conference. https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.03850 
  • Galanti, T. M. & Holincheck, N. (2025).  Dominant discourses about what it means to be “good” at mathematics: How high-achieving young women negotiate tensions within their evolving STEM identities. Education Sciences, 15(1), Article 92. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15010092 
  • Barnes, E., Bennet, M. B., Boltasseva, A., Borish, V., Brown, B., Carr, L., Easton, E. W., Economou, S. E., Edwards, E. E., Finkelstein, N. D., Fracchiolla, C., Freericks, J. K., Goss, V., Hannum, M., Holincheck, N., Kelly, A. M., Lewandowski, H. J., Matsler, K. J., Mercurio, E., Montaño, I., Murdock, M., Perron, J. K., Richardson, C. J. K., Ross, R. S., Ryu, M., Searles, T. A., Singh, C., Tingle, A., Zwickl, B. M. (2025). Outcomes from a Workshop on a National Center for Quantum Education. EPJ Quantum Technology: Collection on Quantum Education, 12, Article 40. https://epjquantumtechnology.springeropen.com/articles/10.1140/epjqt/s40507-025-00343-4  
  • Holincheck, N., Bergeron, L., & *Butler, T. N. (2024). Introduction to a special issue: Designing for equity within problem-based and project-based learning. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.14434/ijpbl.v18i1.40819 
  • Holincheck, N., Galanti, T. M., & *Butler, T. N. (2024). Promoting teachers’ advocacy and agency for equity in STEM education through research and reflection. Journal of Research in Science Teaching.  Advance Online Publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21970 
  • Zhang, X., Holincheck, N., Rosenberg, J. L., Dodman, S., Dreyfus, B., & *Simons, J. (2024). Why teach quantum: Elementary teachers' initial beliefs about quantum. In Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing & Engineering (QCE24), Quantum Science and Engineering and Education Conference (QSEEC). https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10821202 
  • Rosenberg, J. L., & Holincheck, N. (2024). Quantum awareness for post-secondary students. In Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing & Engineering, Quantum Science and Engineering and Education Conference. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10821018
  • Janis, M., & Holincheck, N. (2024). Layering identities as artist and theatre educator: Reflecting beyond experiences.  Teachers and Teaching. Advance Online Publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2024.2349023 
  • Rosenberg, J., Holincheck, N. & *Colandene, M.  (2024). STEM undergraduates knowledge and interest in quantum: Barriers and opportunities to building a diverse quantum workforce. Physical Review: Physics Education Research, 20, Article 010138. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.20.010138 
  • Marttinen, R., Banville, D., Holincheck, N., *Ferrer, V., Stehle, S.  (2024). Learning to integrate STEM into physical education through asynchronous professional development modules. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education. Advance Online Publication. https://doi.org/10.1123/jtpe.2023-0137 
  • Holincheck, N., *Kraft, T., Galanti, T., Baker, C., & Nelson, J. (2024). “Everybody was included in the conversation”: Teachers’ perceptions of student engagement as a path to transdisciplinary STEM learning in diverse elementary schools. Education Sciences, 14(3), Article 242. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14030242 
  • Galanti, T. M., & Holincheck, N. (2024). Developing integrated STEM teacher identity using guided curation of K-12 engineering activities. Research in Integrated STEM Education, 2, 31-55. https://doi.org/10.1163/27726673-bja00010    
  • Galanti, T. M., & Holincheck, N.  (2024). Integrating computational thinking in elementary STEM using the engineering design process. School Science & Mathematics. Advance online publication. http://doi.org/10.1111/ssm.12638 
  • Holincheck, N., Rosenberg, J. L., *Zhang, X. L., *Butler, T. N., *Colandene, M., Dreyfus, B. W.  (2024)). Quantum science and technologies in K-12: Supporting teachers to
  • integrate quantum in STEM classrooms. Education Sciences, 14(3), Article 219. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14030219 
  • Rosenberg, J. L., Holincheck, N., *Fernandez, K., Dreyfus, B.W., *Wardere, F., Stehle, S., *Butler, T. (2024). The role of mentorship, career conceptualization, and leadership in developing women’s physics identity. Physical Review: Physics Education Research, 20, Article 010114. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.20.010114 
  • Holincheck, N., & Galanti, T. M. (2023). Applying a model of integrated STEM teacher identity to understand change in elementary teachers’ STEM self-efficacy and career awareness. School Science & Mathematics, 123(6), 234–248. http://doi.org/10.1111/ssm.12610 
  • Galanti, T. M., & Holincheck, N. (2022). Beyond content and curriculum in elementary classrooms: Conceptualizing the cultivation of integrated STEM teacher identity. International Journal of STEM Education, 9, Article 10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-022-00358-8 
  • Holincheck, N., & Galanti, T. M. (2022). Are you a STEM teacher?: Exploring K-12 teachers’ conceptions of STEM education. Journal of STEM Education: Innovations and Research, 23(2). https://jstem.org/jstem/index.php/JSTEM/article/view/2551 
  • Holincheck, N., Galanti, T. M., & Trefil, J. (2022). Assessing the development of digital scientific literacy with a computational evidence-based reasoning tool. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 60(7), 1796-1817. https://doi.org/10.1177/07356331221081484 

Other Information

N. Holincheck (PI), J. Rosenberg, & B. Dreyfus. Quantum in the Middle: Quantum Progressions from Elementary to High School. National Science Foundation, Discovery Research PreK-12 (DRK-12). $449,785. 2025-2028. Funded September 2025.

J. Rosenberg, P. Danquah-Brobby, N. Holincheck (co-PI), & J. Nelson. George Mason University Quantum Education Research Postdoctoral Fellowship. National Science Foundation, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education Organizational Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (STEM Ed OPRF). $1,246,608. Funded August 2024. Terminated May 2025.

N. Holincheck (PI), J. Rosenberg, S. Dodman, & B. Dreyfus. EAGER: Quantum is Elementary: Quantum Teaching and Learning in Elementary Classrooms. National Science Foundation, Discovery Research K12 (DRK12) EAGER submission. $299,852.  Funded July 2023. 

J. Rosenberg, N. Holincheck (co-PI), & B. Dreyfus. Building the Quantum Pipeline. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Educational Sciences, Congressional Earmark Funding. $650,000. 2022-2023. Funded August 2022.

J. Rosenberg, N. Holincheck (co-PI), & B. Dreyfus. Cultivating Physics Identity and Belonging for Women in Physics: Mentorship and Leadership Development through the Pion Program. National Science Foundation, Investigating Undergraduate Science Education (IUSE). $299,898, 2021-2024. Funded August 2021.

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