Barbara A. Crawford
Mathematics and Science Education (Faculty)
Professor - Science Education
212C Aderhold
Phone: 706.542.1763
Email: barbarac@uga.edu
Education:
Ph.D. The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
M.S. Biology, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
B.S. Microbiology, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Research Interests:
Inquiry based science teaching and learning; evolution education; teacher knowledge of inquiry and nature of science; authentic science; models and modeling
Related Website:
www.fossilfinders.org
Some Background:
I earned secondary science teaching certification in the State of Michigan, and taught science (middle and high school biology, chemistry, physics, physical science, life science, and earth science) in public schools for over 16 years. My passion is to change the way we teach science in most science classrooms. I was recently elected a Fellow of the AAAS. My previous faculty positions have been at Cornell University, Penn State University, and Oregon State University. I was elected to the Board of Directors of The National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST) and the Association of Science Teacher Education (ASTE) organizations, and served as chair of the NARST Publications Advisory Committee. I teach courses in learning and teaching science, and I collaborate with scientists to develop investigative classrooms.
Research Focus:
The ultimate goal of my research is to facilitate the majority of students in science classrooms in developing images of science consistent with current practice, and in understanding what science is, what science is not, and the relevancy of science to society. In order to accomplish this goal, I have focused on researching teachers' knowledge and beliefs of scientific inquiry and the nature of science. I believe that one of the most important issues in science education reform is how to move teachers towards an inquiry orientation. An assumption of my work is that teachers cannot change their current practice of teaching science as a rhetoric of facts to teaching science as inquiry, without have a deep understanding of the nature of scientific inquiry. The recent controversy related to teaching evolution in science classrooms underscores the need to rethink the way we prepare science instructors to assist future citizens in building a robust understanding of the nature of science. My research examines viable ways to support prospective and practicing teachers in developing knowledge of scientific inquiry and beliefs that teaching about scientific inquiry is important. The context for professional development is situating teachers in authentic settings, which include both scientific research settings and alternative experiences using learning technologies. My research is contributing towards developing a research-based model of how to move students of all age levels towards the inner circle of science literacy.
Selected Publications:
Conner, T., Crawford, B., Capps, D., & Ross, R. (in press). Engage all of your students using project-based learning. Science Scope
Goldfisher, D., Crawford, B., Capps, D., & Ross, R. (in press). Fossils, inquiry, and the English language learners Science Scope.
Meyer, X., Capps, D. K., Crawford, B.A., Ross, R. M. (in press). Using inquiry and tenets of multicultural education to engage Latino ELL in learning about geology and nature of science " Journal of Geoscience Education.
Capps, D. K., & Crawford, B. A. (2012). Inquiry-based instruction and teaching about nature of science: Are they happening? Journal of Science Teacher Education. DOI 10.1007/s10972-012-9314-z.
Capps, D. K., Crawford, B. A., & Constas, M. (2012). A review of empirical literature on inquiry professional development: Alignment with best practices and a critique of the findings. Journal of Science Teacher Education. 23:291–318.
Moebius-Clune, B., Elsevier, I., Crawford, B. A., Trautmann, N., Schindelbeck, & van Es, H. (2011). Moving Authentic Soil Research into High School Classrooms: Student Engagement and Learning. Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education. 40: 1: 102-113.
Meyer, X. and Crawford, B.A. (2011). Teaching science as a cultural way of knowing: Merging authentic inquiry, nature of science, and multicultural strategies. Cultural Studies in Science Education DOI:10.1007/s11422-011-9318-6.
Smrecak, T.A., Ross, R.M., Capps, D.K., & Crawford, B.A. (2011) Assessing pre-college student Devonian marine paleontological data from a teacher professional development project. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 43, No. 5, p. 523.
Crawford, B. A. (2007). Learning to teach science as inquiry in the rough and tumble of practice. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 44(4):613-642.
Crawford, B. A., C. Zembal-Saul, D. Munford, and P. Friedrichsen. (2005). Confronting prospective teachers' ideas of evolution and scientific inquiry using technology and inquiry-based tasks. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 42(6):613-637.
Crawford, B. A. and M. J. Cullin. (2004). Supporting prospective teachers' conceptions of modelling in science. The International Journal of Science Education 26 (11):1379-1401.
Schwartz, R. S., N. G. Lederman, and B. A. Crawford. 2004. Developing views of nature of science in an authentic context: An explicit approach to bridging the gap between nature of science and scientific inquiry. Science Education 88:610-645.
Bell, R., L. Blair, B. Crawford, and N. Lederman. 2003. Just do it? The impact of a science apprenticeship program on high school students' understandings of the nature of science and scientific inquiry. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 40:487-509.
Cullin, M. and B. A. Crawford. 2003. Using technology to support prospective science teachers in learning and teaching about scientific models. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education 2(4) [online serial. Available: http://www.citejournal.org/vol2/iss4/science/article1.cfm
Zembal-Saul, C., D. Munford, B. Crawford, P. Friedrichsen, and S. Land. 2002. Scaffolding preservice science teachers' evidenced-based arguments during an investigation of natural selection. Research in Science Education 32:437-463.
Crawford, B. A. 2000. Embracing the essence of inquiry: New roles for science teachers. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 37:916-937.
Recent Doctoral Students and Current Positions:
Daniel K. Capps, Ph. D. (Chair) Assistant Professor, The University of Maine
Maya Patel, Ph. D. (Member) Assistant Professor of Biology, Ithaca College, New York
Xenia Meyer, Ph. D. (Chair) Post Doctoral Scholar, UC Berkeley
Michael Cullin, Ph. D. (Chair) Associate Professor of Physics and Science Education, Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania
Mustafa Cakir, Ph. D. (Chair) Assistant Professor of Biology Education, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey