David Feldon

Dr. David Feldon is a Professor in the Instructional Technology & Learning Sciences department at Utah State University's Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services. His research focuses on expertise development in STEM, instructional design, and the impact of cognitive load on learning. He has led major grants, including a Howard Hughes Inclusive Excellence initiative, and evaluates programs to diversify STEM faculty. Feldon teaches courses on mixed methods research and the 4C-ID instructional design model, emphasizing systems complexity. He has advised numerous graduate students and contributed to over 100 peer-reviewed publications. His awards include the 2019 AERA Contribution Award and USU's Researcher of the Year honors (2017, 2018). Key projects include longitudinal studies on PhD trajectories and brain imaging research on motivation. His work bridges educational psychology, technology integration, and systemic equity in STEM.

Education:

• Ph.D., Educational Psychology, University of Southern California (2004)
• M.S.Ed., Instructional Technology, University of Southern California (1999)
• B.A., Cognitive Science, Johns Hopkins University (1997)

Research Interests: Cognitive components of expertise, simulation-based assessments, STEM skill development, instructional design models (4C-ID), and equity in graduate education. He explores how cognitive load influences motivation and learning outcomes in high-stakes environments.

Grants & Projects:

• PI: $1.4M NSF grant (2020-2025) on hard/soft skills in STEM careers
• PI: $2.4M NSF grant (2018-2022) tracking PhD career trajectories
• Director: Howard Hughes Inclusive Excellence grant ($1M, 2017-2023)

Awards: 2019 AERA Contribution Award, USU Researcher of the Year (2017, 2018), NAS committee member.

Advising: Supervised over 20 graduate students in STEM education and research methods. Active in mentoring initiatives for underrepresented scholars through the Southern Regional Education Board.

Lab/Teams: Leads the LEAP NIRS Brain Imaging Lab studying cognitive load and motivation. Collaborates on interdisciplinary projects like the Agent-Based Watershed Simulation for environmental education.