Most Recent Publication
Holles, C., Snieder, R., James, C., & Zhu, Q. (2025). Teaching with heart: Pedagogical love in STEM for higher education. In E. Vanderheiden, C. Mayer & A. Barcelos (Eds.), Pedagogical love in adult education (pp. 105-123). Cham, Switzerland: Springer. 
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​This chapter presents findings from Teaching With Heart, a John Templeton Foundation-funded project aimed at fostering character development through community in STEM higher education. The initiative seeks to build a network of engineering and science faculty committed to teaching with love, inspiring a cultural shift in how STEM is taught. Three cohorts of approximately 20 faculty members each were recruited from various institutions. This chapter focuses on data from the first two cohorts and their students to assess how the program influences classroom practices, faculty and student well-being, and overall student experiences. The researchers hypothesized that integrating loving pedagogy would enhance both faculty and student outcomes. Despite a broad desire for transformation in higher education, structural challenges—such as high performance demands, limited time, and risk of burnout—often hinder change. Faculty reflections and student questionnaires were analyzed to identify what support systems are necessary for nurturing humane and effective learning environments. The research underscores the particular need for reform in STEM disciplines, which traditionally emphasize rigor and rigidity. Flexibility and attention to human needs are essential to cultivating healthier academic cultures. The findings advocate for greater institutional support for faculty who prioritize student well-being, suggesting that such support is foundational for sustainable change. The Flow of Care model introduced here emphasizes the systemic nature of educational care, showing how well-supported faculty are better positioned to support students. A nuanced understanding of loving pedagogy—as adaptive care tailored to varied needs—is crucial to reimagining higher education.
Who We Are
LANCSET (Laboratory and Network for the Cultural Studies of Engineering and Technology) is an interdisciplinary research group at Virginia Tech. ​

Based at Virginia Tech, LANCSET is an open and inclusive laboratory and community of scholars dedicated to exploring technology and engineering through culturally responsive lenses. We explore the role of cultures in shaping the professional formation of socially responsible and globally competent engineers, as well as the ethical development and deployment of critical and emerging technologies such as AI, robotics, and quantum computing. In our research, we examine various levels of cultural concepts, including individual cultural traits, classroom learning environments, professional and discipline-based norms, institutional and organizational cultures, sociocultural metaphors, and cross-cultural and global contexts. We frequently draw on less prominent Western intellectual resources (e.g., pragmatism) and non-Western philosophical traditions (e.g., Confucianism) in our theory-building and empirical inquiry. We employ philosophical and conceptual approaches, as well as interpretive and experimental methods, in our research.

If you are interested in exploring potential collaboration opportunities, please visit the Contact Us page to leave a message or send us an email. We thank you for your interest in our work and look forward to collaborating with you!​