Andrea Christensen

Biography

Andrea Christensen is Director of Education, Schooling, and Society (ESS) and Associate Teaching Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Notre Dame, where she teaches core courses and electives in both ESS and psychology. A former schoolteacher, she studies effective teaching and the classroom practices that support students’ motivation to learn. She founded RECESS Matters (ESS 23510), a community-engaged course in which Notre Dame students coach recess at South Bend elementary schools while studying the developmental role of play and the factors that shape children’s access to it. She received the 2021 Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, C.S.C., Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and the 2019 Arthur Quigley, Ph.D. Award for her service to South Bend’s Northeast neighborhood.