Tina L. Heafner, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Middle, Secondary, and K-12 Education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her administrative responsibilities include Directing the M.Ed. in Secondary Education and the Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction. Tina is the 2020-2021 Past-President of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and was the 2015-2016 Chair of the NCSS College and University Faculty Assembly (CUFA).
Tina's teaching and research focus on effective practices in social studies education with particular emphasis in online learning, technological integration, and disciplinary literacy. Her research also examines curriculum and policy issues in social studies education. She has devoted almost two decades to empirically documenting the marginalization of social studies in American schools and the association between instructional practices and student learning outcomes in K-12 social studies. Tina’s publications include seven co-authored books and five edited books including titles such as Beginning inquiry: Short texts for inexperienced readers in U.S. History, Seeds of inquiry: Using short texts to enhance students' understanding of world history, and Exploring the Effectiveness of Online Education in K-12 Environments. She has published numerous articles in peer reviewed journals such as Teacher's College Record, Educational Researcher, Kappa Delta Phi, Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, Teacher Education and Practice, Theory and Research in Social Education, Journal of Social Studies Research, The Social Studies, Social Education, Social Studies and the Young Learner, and Middle Level.
Tina has received four research awards from the American Education Research Association for her contributions to the fields of social studies and online learning, two research awards from the NCSS College and University Faculty Assembly and the Society for Information Technology and Education (SITE), and four awards in teaching, research and service at UNC Charlotte.
