Science
Education
Since
1991 I have become increasingly interested in how people learn. I teach
biochemistry and chemistry courses to our undergraduates and graduate
students, so what I learn through research I can bring into my classroom
with the
goal of improving the learning environment. I have published four monographs
about K-12 teachers conducting action research or scientific research, and one on scientists involved in K-8 education.
I also served on a National Research Council committee that issued the
book, Educating Teachers of Science, Mathematics, and Technology: New Practices
for the New Millennium (2002).
I
have conducted action research in my own university classrooms. For instance,
I’ve published one action research study in a book
I co-edited with Peter Taylor and Ken Tobin, called Transforming Undergraduate
Science Teaching:
Social Constructivist Perspectives, published in 2002 by Peter Lang
Publishers, Inc. My chapter concerned the action research I did with my
Honors General
Chemistry students.
In 1997 I started a quest for a second doctorate in Science Education
through Curtin University of Technology. In 2004, I finished writing
the doctoral thesis and earned a D. Sc.Ed. It was an action research
study of my own upper division, biochemistry classroom in which I
utilized collaborative groups and technology in the classroom. My
thesis included chapters, all focused on collaboration and technology.
The sections included an autobiography, a fictionalized story about my
classroom, ethnographic data about the learning environment from my
students, and a metalogue with one of my biochemistry colleagues.
My
Science Education graduates have studied K-12 classrooms or written
educational autobiographies. For instance, Dr. Yvette Greenspan studied
one female Hispanic student who was in Yvette’s 3rd and 5th grade
science classrooms about how she perceived working with boys in her
collaborative group. Dr. Terrie Kielborn studied how middle school
students perceived scientists and science differently after having
participated in scientific inquiry when they examined a stream on their
school’s property. Dr. Julie Lambert studied students’ learning and
attitudes about marine science from high school marine science
classrooms across the state of Florida. Ms. Sherri Hood interviewed
five secondary school teachers who were thinking of leaving (or had
left) teaching, and compared their stories with her own educational
autobiography. Dr. Lori Hahn determined how scientific research
experiences during one to two summers influenced the teaching of two
middle school teachers.
My
two most recent doctoral graduates to finish their degrees include Dr.
Marcie Bosseler who studied two students in a low-income elementary
school who were part of an after-school program in science where technology
was a door to inquiry experiences. The other is Dr. Ajda Kahveci (jointly
with Dr. Sherry Southerland as co-major professor) studied how a living
learning experience for freshman woman undergraduates interested in
mathematics, science, or engineering influenced their attitudes and
persistence in remaining as majors in science, mathematics or engineering.
In
addition, Caren Prichard and Linda Kitner from the Panama City, FL campus each completed their
master’s degree portfolios with me as their major professor.
A major part of Caren's portfolio concerned the scientific research she
did with me on identifying exotic plant species at Falling Waters
State Park and using chemical treatments. She followed up with bringing
what
she learned into the science classes she teaches at Chipley High
School. Linda did her scientific research at St. Andrew's State Park. She studied exotic plant species for her first summer, and the least tern and snowy plover birds for the second summer. She brought her learning to her kindergarten students.
Ethics in Science
I have also been active in the area of teaching ethics in science in science
classrooms at the university level. I testified before the U.S. House
of Representatives in 1989 on how I do this, given keynote addresses at
the
National Academy
of Sciences on this topic, and served on an Institute of Medicine committee
that published the book, Integrity in Scientific Research: Creating
an Environment That Promotes Responsible Conduct (2002). I have served
on the editorial board for the journal, Science and Engineering Ethics,
since
its inception in 1997.
Biochemistry
In the past, in my biochemical research we studied cell-cell recognition
events between immune T cells and their tumor target cells. We purified
cell-surface
glycoproteins and inserted them in model membranes of defined composition
and showed that the primed T cells recognized the model membranes
containing the glycoproteins. We focused on the cell-surface molecules
that contain
carbohydrates because we found that the type of modification of the
cell-surface sialic
acids could modulate immune recognition.