Assistant Professor | University of Georgia | United States
Dr. Georgia W. Hodges is a distinguished scholar in science education, with a research portfolio deeply rooted in improving STEM learning, teacher development, and educational equity across diverse classroom contexts. Her work spans science teacher retention, immersive learning technologies, serious educational gameplay, self-regulated learning, and rural science education reform. With an h-index of 9 and over 280 citations, she has significantly shaped contemporary conversations about how students and teachers engage meaningfully with science content.A major component of Dr. Hodges’ research investigates the power of immersive and technology-enhanced learning environments. Her influential studies explore how virtual worlds, augmented chemistry laboratories, and interactive curricular case studies can strengthen students’ conceptual understanding—particularly in complex topics such as redox reactions, molecular representation, and biology content mastery. She has also led longitudinal investigations showing how serious educational gameplay supports learning gains in both elementary and secondary science classrooms.Another core area of her work focuses on science teacher trajectories, with attention to retention challenges in rural regions and the effects of educational policy, deprofessionalization, and school climate on career stability. Her research offers critical insights into how rural schools can strengthen recruitment, support systems, and ecojustice-informed STEM opportunities.Dr. Hodges also contributes extensively to teacher professional development, examining how preservice teachers adopt self-regulated learning strategies, improve questioning skills, and integrate equitable teaching practices for multilingual learners. Through her innovative, interdisciplinary scholarship, Dr. Hodges continues to advance science education research that promotes access, equity, technological innovation, and sustainable teacher development.
Profiles: ORCID | Google Scholar
Featured Publications
Hodges, G. W., Wang, L., Lee, J., Cohen, A., & Jang, Y. (2018). An exploratory study of blending the virtual world and the laboratory experience in secondary chemistry classrooms. Computers & Education, 122, 179–193.
Hodges, G. W., Tippins, D., & Oliver, J. S. (2013). A study of highly qualified science teachers’ career trajectory in the deep, rural south: Examining a link between deprofessionalization and teacher dissatisfaction. School Science and Mathematics, 113(6), 263–274.
Hodges, G. W., Flanagan, K., Lee, J., Cohen, A., Krishnan, S., & Ward, C. (2020). A quasi-experimental study comparing learning gains associated with serious educational gameplay and hands-on science in elementary classrooms. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 57(9), 1460–1489.
Hodges, G. W., Oliver, J. S., Jang, Y., Cohen, A., Ducrest, D., & Robertson, T. (2021). Pedagogy, partnership, and collaboration: A longitudinal, empirical study of serious educational gameplay in secondary biology classrooms. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 30(3), 331–346.
Oliver, J. S., & Hodges, G. W. (2014). Rural science education: New ideas, redirections, and broadened definitions. In Handbook of Research on Science Education (Vol. II, pp. 266–283).
Dr. Georgia W. Hodges’ research advances science education by integrating immersive technologies, evidence-based pedagogy, and equitable teaching practices to improve STEM learning outcomes. Her work strengthens teacher development, supports rural and underserved communities, and drives innovative approaches that shape future-ready STEM education systems. By bridging technology, practice, and educational equity, her contributions influence global STEM innovation, empowering both learners and educators.