My story:
My story begins as a middle school science teacher in Michigan, evolved into high school, community college, directing a large Math and Science Center serving 11 school districts, teaching undergraduate geology at the University of Michigan and graduate science education at a number of other universities. I arrived in Colorado in 1994; soon realizing it was the best professional move I had made. Here at the CU Denver I have initiated a number of informal science partnerships including the National Park Service, NASA, NOAA, USGS, Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Denver Botanical Gardens and twenty other metropolitan Denver informal agencies and institutes for internships, joint curriculum development and school program enrichment. I developed a research lab of university faculty, doctoral students and informal institute members investigating teacher professional development impacts, experiential education, and teacher self-efficacy and student science inquiry. I lead an extensive science national and international field study program with courses in Hawaii, Grand Canyon, Galapagos, Ecuador, Tanzania and Micronesia. While doing this I have had the fortune to work alongside a large cohort of Colorado Front Range science teachers that do research, publish, present at conferences together and participate in inquiry science project development and implementation.
My students at University of Colorado Denver
Students in the science education program are in for the adventure! The experiential, inquiry nature of most of the program attracts individuals that want to take an active role in their professional growth. They are or soon will be leaders in their schools, districts and the profession as a whole. The professional cohort nature of the program keeps these science leaders together throughout their careers, long after they have taken their last degree course.
Classes I've taught at the University of Colorado Denver School of Education & Human Development
- Geology Processes I - Geology 5002
- Geology Processes II Field Course - Geology 5004
- Integrating Science and Social Studies for Elementary Teachers - IPTE 5004
- Inquiry Science Methods - SECE 5350
- Secondary Science Methods - SECE 5351
- Elementary Science Methods - ELED 5350
- Science Curriculum Issues for School Leaders - SECE 6110
- School Residencies for Mathematics and Science - IPTE 5910, 5911, 5912, 5913
- Leadership Area Clinical Field Experience Supervision, Content Area Seminars
- Teacher Inquiry - IPTE 5080
- Mathematics and Science Connections - ELED 5416
- Environmental Science Methods - SECE 5650
- Energy Education - SECE 5660
- Geology of the Hawaiian Islands for Teachers' Field Study - SECE 6910
- Integrated Field Study in the Grand Canyon for Teachers - SECE 5800
- Experiencing Science in Africa: Trek on Kilimanjaro and Safari - SECE 5800
My research interests:
- Professional development aspects of teacher education
- Student research in the science classroom
- Experiential learning
- Building science partnerships.
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