Thomas J. McKenna
Program Director, AI & Education
Director, Center for STEM Professional Learning at Scale
Associate Director, Educator Engagement and Impact, AI & Education Initiative
Clinical Assistant Professor, Science Education
Dr. Thomas “TJ” McKenna is a clinical assistant professor of Science Education and program director for AI & Education at Boston University Wheelock College of Education and Human Development. He is also director of the Center for STEM Professional Learning at Scale, associate director of educator engagement and impact at the AI & Education Initiative, and affiliated faculty at BU’s Rafik B. Hariri Institute for Computing.
For more than two decades, Dr. McKenna has worked as a scientist, educator, on-air science communicator, faculty member, and educational designer focused on sensemaking in STEM, teacher learning, and how ambitious instructional designs can scale without losing the thinking that makes them powerful. His work has included the design and leadership of large-scale professional learning systems, curriculum resources, and public learning environments, including NGSX and the OpenSciEd Design Specifications. He also serves on the OpenSciEd AI Advisory Group. He works with school systems, states, curriculum developers, nonprofits, and education organizations to design and study learning environments, professional learning systems, and AI-enabled tools that can operate at scale without sacrificing the intellectual work of teachers and students.
His current work extends that agenda into artificial intelligence and pedagogy. He directs BU’s EdM in AI & Education and companion Graduate Certificate program, both launched in 2026, and designs AI-enabled systems for instructional coaching and student sensemaking. His recent AI-enabled designs, including curriculum-specific coaching and sensemaking environments, have been used across all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and nearly 30 countries. These systems are designed to deepen rather than bypass professional judgment and student thinking, with different architectures matched to different instructional purposes. He is also the founder of Phenomena for NGSS, an educational resource that has drawn more than 5.4 million views from educators and students across more than 100 countries.
Dr. McKenna’s scholarly work includes the book Making Sense of Sensemaking: Designing Authentic K–12 STEM Learning Experiences (Teachers College Press & NSTA Press, 2025) and research on how the defaults of generative AI, including fluency, efficiency, and answer generation, can work against the conditions that make learning possible, and what it means to design differently. His work has been recognized in the United States and internationally. He is a Fellow of the International Society for Design and Development in Education and recipient of Boston University’s 2026 Gerald and Deanne Gitner Family Award for Innovation in Teaching with Technology. His international engagement includes collaborative work with researchers designing related systems in other national contexts, as well as presentations at ISDDE, the European Science Education Research Association, and the University of Cambridge.
Across two decades, his work has centered on a common design problem: how do we build learning environments that scale without designing the thinking out of them?
Recent News
In the Media
Education
PhD, Science Ed Curriculum & Instruction, University of Connecticut
MS, Entomology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
BS, Biology, Central Connecticut State University
Courses
ED 350: Sensemaking in STEM
CH 300/515: Elementary Science Methods
WED SC570 OL: Secondary Science Methods I
WED SC572 OL: Secondary Science Methods II
SC 521: STEM Education Theory & Practice
ED 111: Technology in Education
ED 130/131: Exploring Professions: STEM Learning, Action & Impact
Selected Publications
McKenna, T. J. (2026, April). Sensemaking in science. Educational Leadership, 83(7). https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/sensemaking-in-science
McKenna, T. J., Rasmussen, I., Ludvigsen, S., Arvatz, A., Asterhan, C., Chen, G., Cohen, J., Flammia, M., Han, D., Hayward, E., Hill, H., Kolikant, Y., Lehndorf, H., Li, K., Matsumura, L. C., Tjønn, H., Wang, P., & Wegerif, R. (2025). Report from workshop on dialogue alongside artificial intelligence [Preprint]. arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.05625
McKenna, T. J. (2025). Making sense of sensemaking: Designing authentic K–12 STEM learning experiences. Teachers College Press; NSTA Press.
McKenna, T. J. (2025, July 30). 4 strategies to create a curious classroom. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/4-strategies-to-promote-curiosity-classroom/
McKenna, T. J., & Michaels, S. (2024). Democratizing STEM: Developing a culture of sensemaking. In F. Crawford, F. T. Coleman, & E. Wiehe (Eds.), Contemporary issues in equity, democracy, and public education: Multidisciplinary perspectives from education, social science, and health. Routledge.
Geary-Teeter, A., McKenna, T.J. (October, 2024). Using Citizen Science to Learn About Climate Change: Investigating the Phenomenon of Increasing Carbon Dioxide Levels Using Fossil Ginkgo Leaves. The Science Teacher. NSTA Press.
Recchia, B., McKenna, T.J., (February, 2024) Field Trips to Zoos and Aquariums: Solving Pedagogical Challenges Using the Next Generation Science Standards. Connected Science Learning.
Campbell, T., Lee, H., Longhurst, M. L., McKenna, T. J., & Coster, D. (January, 2021). Next generation science classrooms: The development of a survey for examining student experiences in science classrooms. School Science and Mathematics.
Vo, T., Fick, S., & McKenna, T. J. (2022, October). Why and how should I use crosscutting concepts to enhance my science instruction? STEM Teaching Tools Initiative, Institute for Science + Math Education. Seattle, WA: University of Washington. Retrieved from https://stemteachingtools.org/brief/91
Wilson, S., & McKenna, T. J. (2021). Increasing the circle of light on professional development: The case of the next generation of science exemplar facilitator learning. https://open.bu.edu/handle/2144/44271
McKenna, T. J., Schilling, V., Campbell, T., & UConn Mentor Teacher Collaborative (2017, April). How can mentor teachers and university educators support preservice science teachers? STEM Teaching Tools Initiative, Institute for Science + Math Education. Seattle, WA: University of Washington. Retrieved from https://stemteachingtools.org/brief/49
Selected Presentations
McKenna, T. J., Adhikari, B., Colley, C., Li, T., Menon, D., Schwarz, C., Sharma, M., & Esbenshade, L. (2026, April). Cultivating joyful transgression in elementary science methods: A collaborative self-study of AI integration and radical imagination [Conference symposium, peer-reviewed; organizer and presider]. NARST 2026 Annual International Conference, Seattle, WA, United States.
McKenna, T. J. (2026, April). Exploring joyful transgressions in STEM: A thematic analysis of student notebooks from a university sensemaking in STEM course [Conference paper]. NARST 2026 Annual International Conference, Seattle, WA, United States.
McKenna, T. J. (2025, October 24). Leading the shift: From knowledge delivery to student sensemaking in K–12 science [Keynote address]. Massachusetts Science Education Leadership Association (MSELA) 2025 Annual Fall Conference, Marlborough, MA. https://www.msela.org/2025-annual-fall-conference
McKenna, T.J. (2025, September) STEM AI Curriculum Coach: A custom-built RAG-based system turning static curriculum into dialogue. Workshop on Educational Dialogue: Moving Thinking Forward (Educational Dialogue Alongside Artificial Intelligence strand), University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
McKenna, T. J. (2025, August). From theory to practice: Developing capacity for sensemaking in K–12 education, and university methods courses. European Science Education Research Association, Copenhagen, Denmark.
McKenna, T. J. (Presenter), Crawford, F. A., Osborne, M., Shah, B., Labadorf, A., & Rueger, T. (2024, March). Teaching more than facts: A systematic approach for detecting bias in scientific communications. European Science Education Research Association, Copenhagen, Denmark.
McKenna, T. J. (2025, May). Designing sensemaking-centered instruction across K–12 and methods courses [Conference presentation]. International Society for the Design and Development of Education (ISDDE) Conference, University of Galway, Ireland. https://www.isdde.org/about-isdde/list-of-fellows/
Osborne, M., McKenna, T. J., Crawford, F. A., Shah, B., & Labadorf, A. (2025, March). FELIX: Detecting bias in scientific communications. Paper presented at the National Science Teacher Association, Philadelphia, PA.
McKenna, T. J. (2025, March). Making sense of sensemaking: Designing authentic K-12 STEM learning experiences. Paper presented at the National Science Teacher Association, Philadelphia, PA.
McKenna, T. J. (2025, March). Grappling with critical problems of practice within our diverse informal elementary science teacher education community. Symposium presented at the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) International Convention, Washington, DC.
McKenna, T. J. (2024, April). Panel on statewide launch for Maryland State Department of Education. [Panel presentation]. Maryland, United States.
McKenna, T. J. (2024, April). Developing science teacher professional development facilitators. [Webinar presentation]. National Science Education Leadership Association (NSELA), Webinar.
Crawford, F. A., Osborne, M., Shah, B., Labadorf, A., McKenna, T. J., & Rueger, T. (2024, March). Teaching more than facts: A systematic approach for detecting bias in scientific communications. [Conference presentation]. National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) International Convention, Denver, CO, United States.
McKenna, T. J. (2023, September). Panel on convergence education. [Conference presentation]. Henry Ford Institute, MI, United States.
McKenna, T. J. (2023, June) Building organizational capacity for STEM Educational reform. [Conference presentation]. National Science Education Leadership Association (NSELA) Summer Leadership Institute, Providence, RI, United States.
Brkich, K., Burgess, T., De La Cruz, I., Luna, M., McKenna, T. J., Moldavan, A. M., Nafzinger, B., Schwarz, C., Sharma, M., & Starr, M. Symposium: Elementary science and teacher education standards in the US: Implementation and future directions. [Conference presentation]. 2023 National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) International Convention, Chicago, IL, United States.
Crawford, F. A., Osborne, M., Shah, B., Labadorf, A., McKenna, T. J., & Rueger, T. (2023, March). An instrument for detecting bias in text. [Conference presentation]. American Association of Colleges & Universities Conference on Diversity, Equity, and Student Success: Can we handle the truth? Henderson, NV, United States.
McKenna, T. J. (2022, March) Building an elementary science teacher education community to advance equity and justice. [Conference presentation]. National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) International Convention, Vancouver, Canada.
McKenna, T. J. (2023). A model of racial equity training that empowers school nurses to promote an antiracist environment. [Conference presentation]. 2023 National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI) International Convention, Washington, DC, United States.
McKenna, T. J. (2022, March) Building an elementary science teacher education community to advance equity and justice. [Conference presentation]. National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) International Convention. Vancouver, Canada.
McKenna, T. J. (2022, April) Asset-based approaches to science learning. [Leadership Series]. National Science Education Leadership Association, Virtual.
McKenna, T. J. (2021, November) Can education change the world? [Keynote address]. Curiosity and Learning Conference, Virtual.
McKenna, T. J. (2021, October) Making science education meaningful. [Keynote address]. Nebraska Association of Teachers of Science, Lincoln, NE, United States.