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Ph.D., Learning, Literacies, and Technologies (2021)
Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ

M.A., Educational Leadership and Policy (2015)
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

B.A., Secondary Social Studies Education, History Minor (2011)
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI

Runner-Up, Excellence in Research Award. College of Education, University of Texas at Arlington. *Colleague-nominated

Nominee, William and Edwyna Gilbert Award for the Best Article on Teaching History. “Opportunities to practice historical thinking and reasoning in a made-for-school history-oriented videogame,” *National award

Recipient, National Technology Leadership Initiative (NTLI) Fellowship Award for Best Paper, College and University Faculty Association (CUFA) of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS): “Quantitative Ethnography and Epistemic Network Analysis in the social studies: A case study of a made-for-school history-oriented videogame,” November 30, 2022. *National award

Recipient, 2nd Place, Outstanding Assessment Practitioner Award, University of Texas at Arlington

Nominee, President’s Award for Transformative Online Education, University of Texas at Arlington’s College of Education

Recipient, Online Education Award, Department of Curriculum & Instruction, College of Education, University of Texas at Arlington

Recipient, Teaching Excellence Award, Graduate and Professional Students Association, Arizona State University

Recipient, Recognition of Spectacular Student Advising, UTA Advising Association, University of Texas at Arlington, November 3, 2023

Recipient, Certificate of Exploration and Innovation for Outstanding Contributions to the eLearning Transformational Model Program, University of Texas at Arlington, October 25, 2022

Recipient, University Graduate Fellowship, Spring 2019
Nominated and selected by ASU Graduate College faculty on the basis of academic excellence

REFEREED JOURNAL ARTICLES
[20] Kaka, S. J., & Kessner, T. M. (in press). Bots and beginners: A comparative study of AI- and PST-generated social studies lesson plans. Journal of Social Studies Research.
[19] Kessner, T. M., Kaka, S. J. (in press). Can ChatGPT make quality social studies lesson plans? The answer surprised us. Social Education.
[18] Kessner, T. M., Kaka, S. J., Francis, A. T., & Kennett, K. (in press). Navigating “divisive” issues in social studies education: Practical guidance for teachers. The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies.
[17] Kessner, T. M., *Scianna, J., & Harris, L. M. (2025). Interaction of avatar identity and opportunities to practice historical reasoning in a history videogame: A Quantitative Ethnography and Epistemic Network Analysis. Journal of the Learning Sciences. (Impact factor: 3.9)
[16] Kessner, T. M., & Harris, L. M. (2025). The potential of made-for-school history-oriented videogames in the classroom: The case of Mission US. Annals of Social Studies Education Research for Teachers 7(1), 54-67.
[15] +Root-Williams, R., Kessner, T. M., Bernier, J. (2024). Representation and its historical antecedents in new media: The queer-ious case of Assassin’s Creed. Games & Culture. (Impact factor: 2.8)
[14] Bernier, J., Gee, E. R., Gao, Y., Pérez Cortés, L. E., & Kessner, T. M. (2024). Patterns of Design Thinking in Playfixing Broken Games: An Exploratory Study. Information and Learning Sciences. (CiteScore: 9.5)
[13] Kaka, S. J., Kessner, T. M., Kennett, K., Francis, A. F., Littenberg-Tobias, J. (2024). “Divisive Issues” and Collateral Damage: The Evolving Needs of Teachers Entrenched in the Culture War. Journal of Education. (Impact Factor: 0.5)
[12] Kaka, S. J., Littenberg-Tobias, J., Kessner, T. M., Francis, A. F., & Kennett, K. (2024). “I have never wanted to quit more as a teacher”: How ‘Divisive Issues’ Legislation Impacts Teachers". Educational Research: Theory and Practice, 35(1), 133-156.
[11] Kessner, T. M., & Pérez Cortés, L. E. (2023). Mechanics and experience in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Opportunities for civic empathy. Simulation & Gaming, 54(2), 167-183. (Impact Factor: 2.0; CiteScore: 4.7)
[10] Pérez Cortés, L. E., & Kessner, T. M. (2023). The future of games scholarship: An interview with James Paul Gee. Games & Culture, 18(7), 907-918 (online Jan 4, 2023). (Impact factor: 2.18)
[9] Kessner, T. M., & Harris, L. M. (2022). Opportunities to practice historical thinking and reasoning in a made-for-school history-oriented videogame. International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, 34, 1-15. (CiteScore: 7.1)
[8] *Gao, Y., *Bernier, J., Kessner, T. M., Pérez Cortés, L. E., & Gee, E. R. (2022). No player left behind: Exploring the use of collaborative talk in a playfixing activity. CoDesign, 19(2), 128-141. (CiteScore: 4.2)
[7] Pérez Cortés, L. E., *Gao, Y., Kessner, T. M., *Bernier, J., & Gee, E. R. (2022). Playfixing broken games: A design-oriented activity for engaging in designerly ways of thinking. International Journal of Game-Based Learning, 12(1), 1-21. (Acceptance Rate ≈ 22%)
[6] Littenberg-Tobias, J., Kaka, S. J., Kessner, T. M., Francis, A. F., Kennett, K., & Reich, J. (2021). Digital practice spaces and clinical practice in teacher preparation: Current uses and future possibilities. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 38(1). (CiteScore: 2.6)
[5] Parekh, P., Gee, E. R., Tran, K. M., Aguilera, E., Pérez Cortés, L. E., Kessner, T. M., & Siyahhan, S. (2021). Board game design: An educational tool into environmental issues. International Journal of Science Education, 43(13), 2148-2168. (Impact Factor: 2.518)
[4] Kessner, T. M., Parekh, P., Aguilera, E., Pérez Cortés, L. E., Tran, K. M., Siyahhan, S., & Gee, E. R. (2021). (Design) thinking out loud: Adolescents’ design talk in a library Makerspace tabletop game design camp. Journal of Information and Learning Sciences, 122(9/10), 651- 670. (Impact Factor: 3.4; CiteScore: 4.8)
[3] Reid, S. F., Kessner, T. M., Harris, L. M., Benkert, V., & Bruner, J. (2021). Comparative genocide pedagogy and survivor testimony: Lessons from a unit on the Holocaust and Rwandan Genocide. The History Teacher, 54(2), 297-335.
[2] Kaka, S. J., Littenberg-Tobias, J., Kessner, T. M., Kennett, K., Francis, A. F., & Reich, J. (2021). Digital simulations as approximations of practice: Preparing preservice teachers to facilitate whole-group discussions of controversial issues. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 29(1), 67-90.
[1] Girard, B., Harris, L. M., Mayger, L. K., Kessner, T. M., & Reid, S. F. (2021/2020 online). “There’s no way we can teach all of this”: Factors that influence secondary history teachers’ content choices. Theory & Research in Social Education, 49(2), 227-261. (Impact factor: 3.645)

REFEREED PROCEEDINGS PAPERS
[11] Kessner, T. M. (2024). Historical dispositions for designerly citizenship: An attempt to bridge social studies education and learning sciences. In Lindgren, R., Asino, T. I., Kyza, E. A., Looi, C. K., Keifert, D. T., & Suárez, E. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 18th International Conference of the Learning Sciences - ICLS 2024 (pp. 474-481). International Society of the Learning Sciences. (38% acceptance rate)
[10] Kessner, T. M., Gee, E. R., & Pérez Cortés, L. E. (2020). Wicked play: Wicked problems, designerly citizens, and design games. In M. Gresalfi & I. S. Horn (Eds.) The interdisciplinarity of the learning sciences, 14th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS), volume 2, pp. 1118-1124. International Society of the Learning Sciences.
[9] Parekh, P., Gee, E. R., Tran, K. M., Aguilera, E., Pérez Cortés, L. E., Kessner, T. M., & Siyahhan, S. (2019). Water, levels, and loops: Evidence of teens’ emerging understanding of systems while designing games. Proceedings of FabLearn 2019, pp. 73-80.
[8] Kessner, T. M. (2022). Preparation for future learning and disposition development in a social studies-themed digital simulation game: A quantitative ethnography. In C. Chinn, E. Tan, C. Chan, & Y. Kali (Eds.) International collaboration towards educational innovation for all: Overarching research, development, and practices: Proceedings of the 2nd Annual Meeting of the International Society of the Learning Sciences, 1990-1992.
[7] Kessner, T. M. (2022). Taking up opportunities to practice in a social studies-themed digital simulation game: A quantitative ethnography. In C. Chinn, E. Tan, C. Chan, & Y. Kali (Eds.) International collaboration towards educational innovation for all: Overarching research, development, and practices: Proceedings of the 2nd Annual Meeting of the International Society of the Learning Sciences, 1828-1830.
[6] Kessner, T. M., & Hayward, C. (2021). Curriculum mechanics for motivation. In Proceedings of the 1st Annual Meeting of the International Society of the Learning Sciences.
[5] Gao, Y., Bernier, J., Kessner, T. M., Pérez Cortés, L. E., & Gee, E. R. (2021). No player left behind: Exploring the use of collaborative talk in a playfixing activity. In Proceedings of the 1st Annual Meeting of the International Society of the Learning Sciences.
[4] Kessner, T. M., Littenberg-Tobias, J., +Marvez, G. R., Smith, E., Kaka, S., Kennet, K. S., Francis, A. F. (2020, June). Facilitating discussion of controversial issues: Digital practice space. In M. Gresalfi & I. S. Horn (Eds.), The interdisciplinarity of the learning sciences, 14th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS), volume 4, pp. 2413-2414. International Society of the Learning Sciences.
[3] Gee, E. R., Pérez Cortés, L. E., & Kessner, T. M. (2020). Game making and designerly thinking. In M. Gresalfi & I. S. Horn (Eds.) The interdisciplinarity of the learning sciences, 14th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS), volume 2, pp. 1793-1794. International Society of the Learning Sciences.
[2] Pérez Cortés, L. E., Gee, E. R., & Kessner, T. M. (2020). To design, or to redesign?: Juxtaposing creation and play in game design. In M. Gresalfi & I. S. Horn (Eds.) The interdisciplinarity of the learning sciences, 14th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS), volume 2, pp. 1795-1796. International Society of the Learning Sciences.
[1] Pérez Cortés, L. E., Gee, E. R., & Kessner, T. M. (2020). Design games: A playful approach to cultivating designerly thinking. In Kalir, J. H., & Filipiak, D. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 2019 Connected Learning Summit. ETC Press.

BOOK CHAPTERS
[2] Kachorsky, D., & Kessner, T. M. (2022). Historical thinking and reasoning in a graphic novel: Opportunities for Practice in Harlem Hellfighters. In J. DeHart (Ed.) Handbook of research on exploring comics and graphic novels in the classroom, pp. 1-24. IGI Global.
[1] Sweet, J. D., & Kessner, T. M. (2020). An ecology of truth(s) telling amid the post-truth turn. In T. C. Wells, D. L. Carlson, & M. Ljungberg (Eds.) Intra-public intellectualism: Critical qualitative inquiry in the academy, Chapter TWO. Myers Education Press.

REFEREED (INTER)NATIONAL CONFERENCES
[53] Kaka, S. J., & Kessner, T. M., & Suskey, R. (November, 2025). Empowering teachers in contentious times: Building communities of practice. Session presented at the National Council for the Social Studies Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.
[52] Kessner, T. M., & Kaka, S. J. (November, 2025). Putting designerly citizenship in the driver’s seat: Foregrounding transfer and relevance in the design of driving questions. Session presented at the National Council for the Social Studies Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.
[51] Kaka, S. J., & Kessner, T. M. (November, 2025). Bots and beginners: A comparative study of AI- and PST-generated social studies lesson plans. Paper presented at the College and University Faculty Association of the National Council for the Social Studies Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.
[50] Kaka, S. J., & Kessner, T. M. (April, 2025). Exploring classroom realities in changing educational contexts. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Denver, CO.
[49] Kessner, T. M., & Kaka, S. J. (November, 2024). A (Re)examination of the knowledges and methodologies predominantly centered in social studies education research: A content analysis of a decade of Theory & Research in Social Education. College and University Faculty Association of the National Council for the Social Studies Annual Meeting, Boston, MA.
[48] Kessner, T. M. (June, 2024). Historical dispositions for designerly citizenship: An attempt to bridge social studies education and learning sciences. Long paper presented at the International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS) Annual Meeting, Buffalo, NY.
[47] Kessner, T. M., *Bernier, J., *Root-Williams, J., & Gee, E. R. (April, 2024). Ludoepistemic Consonance in Pre-Service Social Studies Teachers’ (Re)Design of Monopoly as a Classroom Simulation. Roundtable presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA.
[46] *Root-Williams, J., Kessner, T. M., & *Bernier, J. (April, 2024). Representation and Historical Antecedents in Videogames: The Queer-ious Case of Assassin’s Creed. Roundtable presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA.
[45] Kaka, S. J., Hollstein, M.,Patterson, N., Kenyon, E., Bronstein, E., Butler, A., Chandler, P., Cuenca, A., Kessner, T. M., Masyada, S., Mathews, S., Spinale, C., Stoddard, J., & Washington, E. (November, 2023). Cacophony at the State House: Stories of Faculty Activism in Troubled Times. College and University Faculty Association of the National Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference, Nashville, TN.
[44] Kessner, T. M., & Pérez Cortés, L. E. (October, 2023). Connecting Mechanics and Experience in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare to Opportunities for Civic Empathy. Connected Learning Summit, Online.
[43] Kaka, S. J., Kessner, T. M., Francis, A. T., Littenberg-Tobias, J., & Kennett, K. (February, 2023). “Divisive issues” and collateral damage: The evolving needs of teachers entrenched in the culture wars. American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education Annual Meeting, Indianapolis, IN.
[42] Kessner, T. M. (April, 2023). “Walking on a tight rope”: Social studies in an era of restrictions on teaching divisive issues. Symposium organized at American Education Research Association, Chicago, IL.
[41] Kessner, T. M., Kaka, S. J., Francis, A. F., Littenberg-Tobias, J., Kennett, K. (April, 2023). “These laws allege that we can’t be trusted”: The culture wars and the teaching profession. Paper presented at American Education Research Association, Chicago, IL.
[40] Kaka, S. J., Littenberg-Tobias, Kessner, T. M., J., Francis, A. F., Kennett, K. (April, 2023). “I have never wanted to quit more as a teacher”: How ‘Divisive Issues’ Legislation Impacts Teachers. Paper presented at American Education Research Association, Chicago, IL.
[39] Kessner, T. M., & *Scianna, J. (2022, November). Quantitative Ethnography and Epistemic Network Analysis in the social studies: A case study of a made-for-school history-oriented videogame. Paper presented at the College and University Faculty Association of the National Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference, Philadelphia, PA.
*National Technology Leadership Initiative (NTLI) Fellowship Award for Best Paper
[38] Kaka, S. J., Littenberg-Tobias, J., Kessner, T. M., Kennett, K., & Francis, A. F. (2022, November). ‘Divisive issues’ legislation: Teacher perceptions of curricular autonomy as related to practice. Paper presented at the College and University Faculty Association of the National Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference, Philadelphia, PA.
[37] Kaka, S. J., Kessner, T. M., Kennett, K., Littenberg-Tobias, J., Francis, A. F., +Marvez, G., Reich, J. (2022, November). Using online simulations to assist teachers in facilitating controversial discussions. Poster presented at the National Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference, Philadelphia, PA.
[36] Kachorsky, D., & Kessner, T. M. (2022, June). Historical young adult graphic novels: Lifelines between the past and the present. Session presented at The 2022 Summit on the Research and Teaching of YA Literature, Las Vegas, NV.
[35] Kessner, T. M. (2022, June). Taking up opportunities to practice in a social studies-themed digital simulation game: A quantitative ethnography. 2nd Annual Meeting of the International Society of the Learning Sciences, Hiroshima, Japan.
[34] Kessner, T. M. (2022, June). Preparation for future learning and disposition development in a social studies-themed digital simulation game: A quantitative ethnography. 2nd Annual Meeting of the International Society of the Learning Sciences, Hiroshima, Japan.
[33] Gee, E. R., Bernier, J., Kessner, T. M., Pérez Cortés, L. E., & Gao, Y. (April, 2022). Exploring patterns of design thinking in playfixing three different broken games. Roundtable presented at American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA.
[32] Kessner, T. M. (2021, November). Opportunities to practice using social studies knowledge, skills, and concepts as problem-solving tools in videogames. Paper presented at the College and University Faculty Association of the National Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference, Minneapolis, MN/Online.
[31] Kessner, T. M. (2021, November). Historical dispositions for designerly citizenship. Paper presented at the College and University Faculty Association of the National Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference, Minneapolis, MN/Online.
[30] Gee, E., Kessner, T. M., Pérez Cortés, L. E., Gao, Y., & Bernier, J. (2021, August). Virtual tabletop game play and design for diverse participants and purposes. Workshop facilitated at Foundations of Digital Games, Montreal, CA/Online.
[29] Kessner, T. M., & Hayward, C. (2021, June). Curriculum mechanics for motivation. Poster presented at the 1st Annual Meeting of the International Society of the Learning Sciences, held online.
[28] Gao, Y., Bernier, J., Kessner, T. M., Pérez Cortés, L. E., & Gee, E. R. (2021, June). No player left behind: Exploring the use of collaborative talk in a playfixing activity. Poster presented at the 1st Annual Meeting of the International Society of the Learning Sciences, held online.
[27] Parekh, Priyanka, Gee, E. R., Tran, K. M., Aguilera, E., Pérez Cortés, E. R., Kessner, T. M., & Siyahhan, S. (2021, April). Game making as model making: Implications for environmental education. Paper presented at the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, held online.
[26] Pérez Cortés, E. R., Gao, Y., Kessner, T. M., & Gee, E. R. (2021, April). Playing and fixing broken games: A design-oriented activity for engaging in designerly ways of thinking. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, held online.
[25] Kaka, S. J., Kessner, T. M., Littenberg-Tobias, J., Kennett, K., & Francis, A. F. (2021, April). Digital practice spaces and clinical practice in teacher preparation: Current uses and future possibilities. Roundtable presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, held online.
[24] Parekh, P., Gee, E. R., Tran, K. M., Aguilera, E., Pérez Cortés, E. R., Kessner, T. M., & Siyahhan, S. (2021, March). Making board games as building models: What are some implications for environmental science education? Paper presented at the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, held online.
[23] Francis, A., Kaka, S. J., Kennett, K., Kessner, T. M., Littenberg-Tobias, J., +Marvez, G., & Reich, J. (2021, February). Lessons from integrating digital simulations into teacher education: The case of Discussion Leader. Paper presented at the 2021 meeting of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.
[22] Kennett, K., Kaka, S. J., Littenberg-Tobias, J., Kessner, T. M., Francis, A. F., +Marvez, G., & Reich, J. (2020, December). Preservice teachers learning to facilitate classroom discussions of controversial issues. Paper presented at the Literacy Research Association Annual Meeting, Houston, TX.
[21] Kaka, S. J., Littenberg-Tobias, J., Kennett, K., Kessner, T. M., Francis, A. F., +Marvez, G., Reich, J. (2020, December). Social studies preservice teachers practice facilitating whole-group discussions of controversial issues: Examining the emergence of one high-leverage practice. Paper accepted at the College and University Faculty Association of the National Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference, Washington, D.C.
[20] Kessner, T. M. (2020, November). Mechanical landscapes and opportunities to practice in social studies-oriented simulation games. Accepted to the 2020 Learning Sciences Graduate Student Conference, Online format.
[19] Pérez Cortés, L. E., Kessner, T. M., Gao, Y., & Gee, E. R. (2020, October). “What are we supposed to do here?”: A case study on fixing broken games to cultivate designerly ways of thinking. Case study presented at the North American Simulation and Gaming Association annual meeting, Online format.
[18] Gee, E. R., Gao, Y., Kessner, T. M., & Pérez Cortés, L. E. (2020, October). Learning how to think like a (game) designer: Making tabletop games & design thinking. Poster presented at the North American Simulation and Gaming Association annual meeting, Online format.
[17] +Marvez, G. R., Kessner, T. M., Littenberg-Tobias, J. S., & Reich, J. (2020, July). Virtual branching practice spaces to prepare educators for political discourse in the classroom. Tech demo accepted at the Connected Learning Summit, Cambridge, MA.
[16] Kessner, T. M., Gee, E. R., & Pérez Cortés, L. E. (2020, June). Wicked play: Wicked problems, designerly citizens, and design games. Long paper presented at the International Conference of the Learning Sciences, Nashville, TN.
*Reviewer-nominated for Best Student Paper Award
[15] Pérez Cortés, L. E., Gee, E. R., & Kessner, T. M. (2020, June). To design, or to redesign? Juxtaposing creation and play in game design. Poster presented at the International Conference of the Learning Sciences, Nashville, TN.
[14] Gee, E. R., Pérez Cortés, L. E., & Kessner, T. M. (2020, June). Game making and designerly thinking. Poster presented at the International Conference of the Learning Sciences, Nashville, TN.
[13] Kaka, S., Littenberg-Tobias, J., Kessner, T. M., Francis, A. F., Kennet, K. S., +Marvez, G. R., & Reich, J. (2020, April). Discussion Leader. Poster/Demo accepted at the Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education, New Orleans, LA.
[12] Gee, E. R., Kessner, T. M., & Pérez Cortés, L. E. (2020, April). Design games and designerly thinking: A new approach. Roundtable presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA.
[11] Kessner, T. M., Gee, E. R., & Pérez Cortés, L. E. (2020, April). Rules are broken to be made: Broken games as a playful entrée to design. Roundtable presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA.
[10] Kessner, T. M., & Sweet, J. (2020, April). “Every time I see it, I kinda cringe”: Reconsidering ‘Public Intellectualism’ in the Post-Truth Era. Paper Presentation at American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA.
[9] Kessner, T. M., Harris, L. M., & Girard, B. (2019, November). “And that’s what you need to know”: A discourse analysis of history teachers’ perceptions of and responses to state standards. Paper presentation at College and University Faculty Assembly, Austin, TX.
[8] Pérez Cortés, L. E., Gee, E. R., & Kessner, T. M. (2019, October). Design games: A playful approach to cultivating designerly thinking. Workshop at the Connected Learning Summit, Irvine, California.
[7] Gee, E., Siyahhan, S., Gaydos, M., Tran, K., Pérez Cortés, L. E., & Kessner, T. (2019, August). Expanding the potential of game design for learning in diverse contexts. Panel presented at Foundations of Digital Games, San Luis Obispo, CA.
[6] Kessner, T. M. & Harris, L. M. (2019, April). A content analysis of mechanics and historical thinking in the Mission US videogame. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada.
[5] Girard, B., Harris, L. M., Mayger, L. K., Kessner, T. M., & Reid, S. F. (2019, April). An examination of factors that influence secondary history teachers’ instructional choices. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada.
[4] Parekh, P., Aguilera, E., Kessner, T. M., Tran, K. M., Pérez Cortés, L. E., Gee, E. R., & Siyahhan, S. (2019, April). (Design) thinking out loud: Analyzing the complexities of teens’ game design processes as enacted through talk. Roundtable session at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada.
[3] Parekh, P., Gee, E. R., Tran, K. M., Aguilera, E., Pérez Cortés, L. E., Kessner, T. M., & Siyahhan, S. (2019, March). Water, levels, and loops: Evidence of teens’ emerging understanding of systems while designing games. Paper presentation at FabLearn, New York, NY.
[2] Kessner, T. M. (2018, November) Playing the past: A directed content analysis of historical thinking in one history-oriented videogame. Paper presented at College and University Faculty Assembly (CUFA) Graduate Forum, Chicago, IL.
[1] Sweet, J. D. & Kessner, T. M. (2018, May). Complicit (anti-)intellectualism: (Re)considering the tensions between intellectualism and the public. Paper presented at International Conference for Qualitative Inquiry, Urbana-Champaign, IL.

INVITED and LOCAL PRESENTATIONS
[9] Kessner, T. M., & Harris, L. M (2024, November). Opportunities to practice historical thinking and reasoning in a made-for-school history-oriented videogame. Playing with the Past, Nicosia, Cyprus. Invited by Mario Carretero.
[8] Kachorsky, D., & Kessner, T. M. (2024, February). Graphic novels: Opportunities for critical & historical thinking. Professional development session presented at Bronco Con 2024, Phoenix, AZ.
[7] Kessner, T. M., & *Scianna, J. (2023, September). Quantitative Ethnography and Epistemic Network Analysis in the social studies: A case study of a made-for-school history-oriented videogame. Paper presented at the Honors Colloquium, The Honors College, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX.
[6] Kessner, T. M. & *Williams, J. (2023, February). Factors influencing pre-service social studies teachers’ ability to mod games for educational purposes. Paper presented at the Second Annual UTA College of Education Research Day, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX.
[5] *Williams, J., & Kessner, T. M. (2023, February). En/Decoding queer representation in Assassin’s Creed. Paper presented at the Second Annual UTA College of Education Research Day, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX.
[4] ++Al-Fadil, F. W., & Kessner, T. M. (2021, November). Taking up opportunities to practice in a social studies-themed digital simulation game. Poster presented at the Office of Undergraduate Research Colloquium at the University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX.
[3] Kessner, T. M. (2020, February). Towards conceptually integrated and consequentially engaging simulation games in history and social studies education. Poster presented to prospective PhD students at the invitation of the Learning, Literacies, and Technologies Programming Committee at Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ.
*Invited as awardee of the 2020-2021 Learning, Literacies, and Technologies Dissertation Support Grant
[3] Participant (2019, August). Summit on Games and Civics. J. P. Gee, & R. Halverson (Organizers). School of Education, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.
[2] Pérez Cortés, L. E., Gee, E. R., & Kessner, T. M. (2020, February). To design, or to redesign? Juxtaposing creation and play in game design. Poster presented at the Teachers College Doctoral Council Education Research Conference, Tempe, AZ.
[1] Kessner, T. M. (2018, November) Playing the past: A directed content analysis of historical thinking in one history-oriented videogame. Poster presented at the Institute for Social Science Research Graduate Student Poster Competition at Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ.