Welcome to my Science Literacy Website. Here you will find resources related to the idea that all citizens, worldwide, need and deserve the knowledge and skills to live successively in a world driven by science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. That goal I call Science Literacy for All or, more simply, Science for All.
Here you will find resources that were developed by Project 2061 of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) where I have been Deputy Director since 2002. You will also find materials that I have personally written about the theory and implementation of Science for All as well as links to websites and publications of other scholars, researchers, and practitioners that support the idea of universal science literacy.
As deputy director for Project 2061 of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, DC, I oversee the project’s programs and activities in the areas of curriculum, instruction, and assessment. I came to this position in 2002 after serving for two years as Program Director in the Division of Elementary, Secondary, and Informal Science of the National Science Foundation. That followed a career as Professor of Educational Studies at Colgate University where I am now Professor Emeritus. In addition to my teaching responsibilities at Colgate, I held various administrative positions, including director of the Graduate Summer Session, director of the Master of Arts in Teaching Program, chair of the Education Department, and acting director of the Division of Social Sciences. Prior to becoming a university professor, I taught chemistry, biology, and earth sciences at Glenbrook South High School in Glenview, Illinois, and chemistry, biochemistry, and microbiology at the Evanston Hospital School of Nursing, Northwestern University Medical School, in Evanston, Illinois.
During my career as a science educator, I have focused my research efforts on clarifying the goals of the science curriculum, analyzing the history of science education, exploring the many meanings of science literacy, and investigating ways to assess student understanding of key science ideas. I am the author of A History of Ideas in Science Education: Implications for Practice (Columbia University Teachers College Press, 1991) and The Role of Public Policy in K-12 Science Education (Information Age Publishing, 2011) as well as numerous articles, book chapters, and reviews. I have made presentations at national and international conferences, including annual meetings of the International History and Philosophy of Science and Science Teaching Group, the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, the American Educational Research Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the National Science Teachers Association, among others. I have also served as advisory board member for numerous federally funded science education research projects, science education advisor to the Shanghai Association for Science and Technology in China, and consultant to the College Board and member of the Science Advisory Committee of the National Assessment of Educational Progress in the U.S.
My academic credentials include a Ph.D. in science education from Northwestern University, an M.A.T. in biochemistry and science education from the University of Iowa, and a B.A. in biology and chemistry from Hope College. I am a member and fellow of the American Educational Research Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching and the American Association of University Professors.
I hope you will find the resources listed here useful in your own work. My contact information is included if you wish to make comments or to seek input on projects you are engaged in. I trust that together we can continue to provide the youth and adults of this country—and the world—the knowledge and skills they need so that we can achieve the goal of Science Literacy for All!