Sierra Gilliam: Mapping Classroom Movement to Improve Student Outcomes

ATLANTA — Sierra Gilliam (Ph.D. ’25) founded the first drone technology program for Guilford County Public Schools in Greensboro, N.C., while teaching Advanced Placement computer science classes.

The program not only gave her students hands-on experience with coding, programming and software development, but also a glimpse into potential career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.

Her passion for providing high-quality STEM education for students and her background in geospatial technologies soon led Gilliam to the instructional technology doctoral program in Georgia State’s College of Education & Human Development, where she’s been able to conduct research on teacher education, information visualization and maker-based learning.

“I have always wanted to combine my geospatial background with my work in education,” she said. “From early on, I hoped to introduce geographic information systems into teacher education to show how spatial tools can be applied across different research and instructional practices. That vision has shaped much of my current work.”

While in the doctoral program, Gilliam was selected for the Processing Foundation Fellowship Program. She used the funding to develop the Interactive Creative Coding Workshop for Teachers to Explore Computer Science, which provided culturally relevant experiences for teachers interested in teaching or integrating computer science into their teaching.

She also worked with Assistant Professor Ben Shapiro on a project using interaction geography – mapping how teachers and students interact over time and how they physically move around the classroom – to identify and define four categories of movement in a classroom. They published their findings in Educational Researcher, along with the 2D and 3D models they created during the project.

Gilliam decided to use this same technology in her dissertation. She conducted a case study of a university-level maker-education course, where she mapped and studied the teacher’s movement during a semester.

“It allowed me to understand how instructors coordinate their movement to support student learning, manage tools, facilitate group work and foster student agency,” she explained. “My findings show how spatial pedagogies evolve across a semester, how teaching teams distribute roles through movement and how the physical layout of a maker-based classroom influences instructional decision-making.”

She has presented her work at the American Educational Research Association’s annual conferences and shared how educators can use her research findings to improve academic outcomes for all students.

“A key insight that continues to stand out for me is that teacher movement is a powerful pedagogical tool. How teachers position themselves, circulate through a room and share space with learners shapes participation, equity and access in ways that often go unnoticed,” she said. “My work aims to make those invisible dynamics visible so educators and designers can create more responsive and inclusive learning environments.”

Gilliam will be the first in her family to earn a Ph.D. when she graduates this fall. After graduation, she hopes to use her research to develop strong computer science and maker-based programs in K-12 schools and universities.

“I hope to train teachers and future educational leaders to design learning environments that are responsive, student-centered and grounded in hands-on, creative problem-solving,” Gilliam said. “I want to equip educators with the skills to thoughtfully integrate emerging technologies, leverage physical space intentionally and support equitable participation so that they and their students are prepared to thrive in an AI-empowered world.”