Crawford named Fellow of American Association for Advancement of Science
Writer:
Dasjah Bledsoe, 706/542-5889,
dbled1@uga.edu
Contact:
Barbara Crawford,
barbarac@uga.edu
Published in Awards / Honors, Faculty / Staff, MSE, Press Releases
Crawford's research on teaching the nature of science and scientific inquiry for teachers is a critical issue raised by several prominent national education organizations.
University of Georgia College of Education professor Barbara Crawford, one of the few researchers in the nation addressing the inconsistency between the nature of scientific inquiry and classroom teaching of scientific inquiry, has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Research on teaching the nature of science and scientific inquiry for teachers is a critical issue raised by several prominent national education organizations. Her work has been supported by the National Science Foundation.
Crawford’s research findings connected to teachers’ knowledge of models and modeling indicate that software scaffolds can support prospective teachers in building and testing dynamic models of scientific phenomena, something prospective teachers report never having done in their undergraduate science coursework.
Her recent findings have appeared in the Journal of Research in Science Teaching, International Journal of Science, Science Education and many other scientific journals.
In addition to having nationally recognized expertise in teacher education research, Crawford has more than 16 years of classroom teacher experience.
Crawford, who joined the college’s department of mathematics and science education this month from Cornell University, is also director of the Fossil Finders Project, an NSF-grant funded program that has developed curriculum and resources and an interactive website for upper elementary and middle level students and their teachers. The project focuses on learning about evolutionary concepts, through an authentic inquiry-based investigation of Devonian-aged fossils.
Crawford was elected to the Board of Directors of the National Association of Research in Science Teaching and served as chair of the NARST Publications Advisory Committee and Editor of the E-NARST News.
She received her Ph.D. in science education in 1996 from the University of Michigan.