Researcher

Education:

• PhD, Purdue University
• MS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• BS, GMI Engineering & Management Institute

Dr. McComb’s research is focused on examining team communication, cognition, and collaboration; comparing and contrasting the cognitive complexity and motivation to learn among nursing and engineering students, and developing interventions to promote patient involvement in care provision. She has uncovered how communication patterns, shared cognition, and collaborative activities impact team productivity and performance; identified that students’ cognitive complexity increases while their motivation to learn decreases over time regardless of major; and determined that designing interventions requires an understanding of individual-level characteristics because it is not a one-size-fits-all activity.  She collects and analyzes attitudinal and behavioral data via questionnaires, but also uses a mix of quantitative, qualitative, and experimental study designs. She actively mentors undergraduate and graduate students in Nursing and Engineering, as well as new researchers in Nursing.  She teaches Systems Approaches in Healthcare, Project Management, Quantitative Approaches to Human Assessment, and Engineering and Public Health in the Service Sector:  A Rome Study Abroad Experience.