Notes on Contributors
Nayif Awad
is a post-doc researcher at the Technion and a lecturer at Sakhnin Academic College for Teacher Education. Nayif’s professional background is in computer engineering. His research focus is on the development of integrated STEM subjects and includes subjects such as project-based learning, problem solving, pre-service training and teachers’ professional development. Nayif has extensive experience in developing innovative curricula in areas such as sound waves robotics and promoting computational thinking in computer science education. Nayif has participated in leading international conferences and published many papers in prestigious journals.
David Barlex
is an acknowledged leader in design & technology education, curriculum design and curriculum materials development. He taught science and technology in comprehensive schools for 15 years before becoming a teacher educator. He directed the Nuffield Design and Technology Project, which produced an extensive range of curriculum materials widely used in primary and secondary schools in the UK. He was Educational Manager of Young Foresight, an initiative that has developed approaches to teaching and learning that enhance students’ ability to respond creatively to design & technology activities. In 2002 he won the DATA Outstanding Contribution to Design & Technology Education award. David’s research activity stems from his conviction that there should be a dynamic and synergic relationship between curriculum development and academic research. He currently pursues this activity through partnerships with researchers in the UK, USA and Australia. David’s research interests include pedagogy that develops design ability and creativity and the professional development of teachers. He has presented work regularly at international conferences and published in the Journal of Design and Technology and the International Journal of Technology and Design Education Research. He was the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) consultant to the Design & Technology Association from 2007–2012. He is on the editorial board for the annual PATT Conference and Review Board for the Biennial International Technology Education Research Conference. He shares a website with Torben Steeg on matters concerning design & technology education (http://dandtfordandt.wordpress.com/).
Alexandra C. Bazdar
(MEd) is a clinical mental health counselor at an outpatient facility in Midlothian, VA. She primarily focuses on treatment of trauma survivors, mood disorders, and treatment of personality disorders. As a graduate student at the College of William & Mary, she worked on large-scale teacher professional development projects to incorporate culturally responsive engineering design strategies into middle school science and mathematics curriculum. She has published in national and international psychology and education journals including Journal of Prevention and Intervention in Communities, Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, and AERA publications.
Saouma BouJaoude
graduated from the University of Cincinnati, USA in 1988 with a doctorate in science education. Between 1988 and 1993 he was assistant professor at Syracuse University, Syracuse, USA. In 1993 he joined the American University of Beirut (AUB) where he served as Director of the Science and Math Education Center (1994–2003), Chair of the Department of Education (2003–2009), and is presently the Director of the Center of Teaching and Learning and Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. BouJaoude has published in the Journal of Research in Science Teaching (JRST), Science Education, International Journal of Science Education, Journal of Science Teacher Education, The Science Teacher, and School Science Review, among others. In addition, he has written chapters in edited books in English and Arabic, edited one book, and has been an active presenter at science education conferences. BouJaoude is presently an associate editor of JRST and serves on the editorial boards a number of science education journals.
Heba EL-Deghaidy
is a Professor of Curricula and Science Education. She is a tenured Faculty at the American University in Cairo where she teaches MA students at the Graduate School of Education. As a specialist in Science Education, she leads the STEAM education initiative as an internationally wide approach to an interdisciplinary learning model. She is the PI of the ‘Bilingual STEAM education project’ and Co-PI of the Erasmus+ Project ‘School and University Partnership for Peer Communities of Learners’. Her doctoral degree comes from the University of Birmingham, UK. Dr. EL-Deghaidy is an active member at the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST). She served as a Strand coordinator from 2011–2013 and is currently a member of the Publishing Advisory Committee.
Marwa Eltanahy
is a curriculum developer who has an extensive experience in the educational field with specific expertise in teaching, coordination, training new and in-service teachers, and school accreditation. In addition to her experience as a researcher and a peer reviewer in academia. She was awarded her PhD in education from the British University in Dubai in 2019. Her research interest includes STEM education, Science education, curriculum and instruction. She worked in different projects concerning inquiry-based learning which resulted in published papers and conference presentations. The current focus of Eltanahy’s research studies is on exploring interdisciplinarity of learning and integrated practices. She developed an E-STEM model to incorporates entrepre-neurial practices into STEM education to enhance students’ entrepreneurial competencies.
Sibel Erduran
is a Professor of Science Education and Fellow of St Cross College at University of Oxford, United Kingdom. She is also Professor II at University of Oslo, Norway. She is the President of the European Science Education Research Association; Editor-in-Chief of Science & Education and an Editor for International Journal of Science. Her work experience includes positions in the USA, Ireland as well as the UK. Her research interests focus on the infusion of epistemic practices of science in science education and she has a keen interest in the professional development of science teachers. Her work on argumentation has received international recognition through awards from NARST and EASE. She is currently leading three funded projects: Project Calibrate (Wellcome Trust, Royal Society and Gatsby Foundation), OARS Project (Templeton World Charity Foundation) and FEDORA Project (European Union Horizon 2020). Her recent books published in 2019 are entitled Argumentation in Chemistry Education: Research, Policy and Practice (Royal Society of Chemistry) and Transforming Teacher Education through the Epistemic Core of Chemistry: Empirical Evidence and Practical Strategies (Springer).
Sufian Forawi
is currently an Associate Professor of Science Education in the Faculty of Education at the British University in Dubai. Dr. Sufian obtained a bachelor degree in Biology from the University of Alexandria, Egypt, a master’s degree in Education from Omdurman Islamic University, Sudan, and an EdD in Science Education from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Massachusetts, USA. His areas of expertise are in the Nature of Science, Teacher Education and Science Technology. He was awarded the distinguished US Fulbright Scholar exchange at the UAE University in 2007–2008. Dr. Sufian has over 15 years of science teaching and coordination experience in higher education and 6 years of high school science teaching and administrative experience. He has been a member of several science education organizations such as the National Association of Research on Science Teaching (NARST) and the American Educational Research Association (AERA), the New Directions in the Humanities & the European Science Education Research Association (ESERA). He also presented at the prestigious Oxford Round Table in the UK and at the SLO International Conference in the Netherlands. He worked as Chair and Editor of the Science Education Section of the Missouri Academy of Science. He has published widely in peer reviewed journals. He has a strong external grant record, e.g. NSF and Ohio State Department of Education, in the USA and Emirates Foundation in the UAE.
Clare Gartland
is an Associate Professor of Education at the University of Suffolk. Her research focuses on equality and social justice in education and she has worked extensively in the field of widening access to HE and school outreach. Clare’s research interests include exploring ways to support progression in STEM amongst currently underrepresented groups and she has worked with many different UK organisations, including the Royal Academy of Engineering, Cambridge University, Bristol University, Engineering UK and the Science and Learning Centre, in considering best practice in outreach activity. She has a particular interest in how school students’ gendered, classed, ethnic and cultural identities intersect with the development of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) subject identities. Clare’s publications include a monograph and peer reviewed journal articles about university student ambassadors’ contribution to STEM university outreach work with school students.
Lilia Halim
is Professor in Science Education in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy, Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Her research interests include understanding science teachers’ thinking, development of teachers’ professional knowledge namely teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and the design of innovative science teaching and learning. Lilia Halim is also an expert and resource person to various organizations that include Regional Centre for Science and Mathematics Education (RECSAM), World Wide Fund-Nature, Malaysia and International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) Netherlands. She has written practically-oriented books for science and physics teachers, co-editor of books about science (teacher) education, articles in local and international referred journals and article reviewer of various international research journals.
Ying-Shao Hsu
is a professor of graduate institute of science education and the department of earth sciences at the National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU). She received her PhD degree in 1997 from the department of curriculum and instruction at the Iowa State University. Her expertise in research includes: technology assisted inquiry learning, science curriculum design, and metacognition. She has published journal articles in leading journals of science education such as Science Education, Computers and Education, International Journal of Science Education, British Journal of Educational Technology, International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, and Research in Science Education. She was a visiting scholar in the Technology Enhanced Learning in Science (TELS) Center at University of California, Berkeley from February to August in 2011 and June in 2016. Professor Hsu’s research work was recently recognized as Outstanding Research Award by the Minister of Science Technology (MOST) in Taiwan (2011 and 2015), National Science Council Reward Special Talents (2010 & 2011), National Taiwan Normal University Research Award (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2012), and Wu Da-Yu Memorial Award (2005). She has held the position of Research Chair Professor at National Taiwan Normal University from October 2012 to January 2015, and from January 2016 to December 2018.
Zanaton H. Iksan
is a Senior Lecturer in science education. She graduated with a PhD in Science Education from University of Malaya. She has been teaching at school as a science teacher and at the Matriculation Center of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) for 5 years. From 1999 until now, she served in the Department of Innovation in Teaching and Learning, Faculty of Education, as a lecturer in science education. Her research focus is on the process of teaching and learning through the lens of Lesson Study at schools and higher education levels. She is also actively involved in STEM Education namely in the informal settings.
Deena Khalil
is an Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Howard University. Her research focuses on issues related to accessing and constructing diverse and equitable learning environments, and their connections to the micro and macro socio-cultural dynamics of public education both nationally and internationally. Dr. Khalil has been awarded several highly competitive intramural and extramural grants totaling over three million dollars. These grants allow Dr. Khalil and her co-principal investigators to address the challenges of P-20 STEM education in nondominant communities through rigorous research and strong teacher professional development. Most recently, she is serving on three National Science Foundation grants, as principal investigator of “Scaling up STEM Equity Audits and E-Communities: Investigating How a Collaborative between Engineers and Teachers Influences Underserved Youth’s Participation in Engineering Design”, and co-principal investigator of “Building Connections and Learning Communities at HBCUs”.
Meredith W. Kier
is an Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the College of William and Mary. She works on large-scale teacher professional development projects and preservice teacher recruitment and preparation to teach in high-needs schools. Her research emphasis is studying the motivations of teachers and students to incorporate culturally responsive engineering design strategies into middle school science and mathematics curriculum, and how professional stakeholders are included in curriculum development and instruction. She currently serves as a co-principal investigator on two NSF grants, including “E-Communities: Investigating How a Collaborative between Engineers and Teachers Influences Underserved Youth’s Participation in Engineering Design” and “Preparing Equity-Minded Mathematics and Science Teachers to Work with Diverse Communities of Learners”. She has published in national and international science education journals locally, nationally, and internationally including Teaching and Teacher Education, Science Education, Research in Science Education, Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, and publications for the National Science Teacher Association.
Nasser Mansour
is a professor of science education, Graduate School of Education at University of Exeter, UK. He is Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA). He is a key member of the accreditation team in UK for Thinking Schools. His research involved analyzing STS Education, STEM Education, teacher professional development and STEM, cultural issues related to science education and science textbooks. He published in prestigious education journals such as Science Education, International Journal of Science Education, Journal of Science Teacher Education, Cultural Studies of Science Education, Research in Science Education, Computer and Education and European Educational Research. His first book focused on Models of Understanding Science Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices: Challenges and Potentials for Science Education. Other recent books are Science Education for Diversity: Theory and Practice (Springer, 2013, co-edited with Rupert Wegerif) and Science Education in the Arab Gulf States: Visions, Sociocultural Contexts and Challenges (Sense Publishers, 2015, co-edited with Saeed Al-Shamrani). He was the Co-PI of the science education for diversity funded by EU, FP7.
Mohamad Sattar Rasul
is a senior lecturer in the Department of Innovation in Teaching and Learning, Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). He obtained a Master’s and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Industrial Engineering & System from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) in 2004 and 2010 respectively. Besides, as a senior lecturer in the field of specialization TVET, he was appointed as a coordinator of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) at the university level. His research interest mostly is in TVET and Engineering Education which focus more on career development and employability skills of TVET and Engineering students. He is also a team member of a research about CDIO (Conceive Design Implement Operate) Initiative in Empowering Engineering and Built Environment Education.
Seema Rivera
holds a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from the University at Albany. She joined Clarkson University (formerly Union Graduate College) as an Assistant Professor of STEM Education in the Education Department in 2015. Her current research interests include the professional development of Graduate STEM Teaching Assistants, teacher identity of preservice and new secondary STEM teachers and inquiry learning in secondary science classrooms. One of Rivera’s major goals is to improve STEM pedagogical practices in higher education. Formerly, Rivera was a high school chemistry teacher in New York State and is also still committed to improving secondary science education in the United States. Rivera has presented her research at major science education conferences, both nationally and internationally.
Dalene Swanson
is a senior academic and Director of Access to Degree Studies in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Stirling, where she is also Faculty Lead on Mathematics Education. She is Faculty Associate of the Centre for Culture, Identity and Education at the University of British Columbia, and an advisory board member of the UNESCO Chair in Democracy, Global Citizenship, and Transformative Education, (Université du Québec). Dalene has lived, taught and researched in Canada, South Africa, the Middle East, and the UK. Dalene’s expertise is in critical mathematics education and STEM, curriculum studies, and critical global citizenship education. Dalene writes from critical poststructural and postcolonial/decolonial perspectives. In mathematics education, she has researched on the ‘social construction of disadvantage’ through the discourse and practice of school mathematics, and critical perspectives that inform mathematics and STEM education in social and political context. Dalene also writes on indigenous thought. She brings creative, arts-based methodologies to bear on the teaching of mathematics and on educational research more broadly. Dalene is particularly concerned with educational exclusion and inequality in education and is committed to anti-oppressive practices and educational justice.
Paige Teamey
is a creative educator, designer, and explorer working in the medium of science and technology to promote self development, civic connections, and learning approaches to understanding collective and individual worldviews. She has consulted on a variety of STEM curriculum and instructional projects, including being the lead engineering education consultant on the NSF E-Communities project. Teamey is also the Lead SHTEAM Content and Curriculum Specialist at International Education Association in Beirut, Lebanon. Through diverse funding sources such as Ford Foundation and UNICEF, she uses using SHTEAM as a way to promote students’ self-development and civic connections. She also has facilitated the integration of coding into technology-based education in Syrian refugee camps.
Tuan Mastura Tuan Soh
is a lecturer of science education in the Department of Innovation in Teaching and Learning, Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). From 2008 until 2011, she was a Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) at UKM where her work focused on establishing Malaysia Science Education Standard for Secondary School Students, designing of Programme Assessment Plan in the context of Outcome Based Education (OBE) and developing of 21st-century skills instrument in Malaysia. Her research interests lie in the areas of attitudes towards science and exploration of impact on non-formal learning approaches of young people’s responses towards science, mathematics, technology and engineering.
Russell Tytler
is Alfred Deakin Professor and Chair in Science Education at Deakin University, Melbourne. He has researched and written extensively on student learning and reasoning in science. His interest in the role of representation in reasoning and learning in science extends to pedagogy and teacher and school change. He researches and writes on student engagement with science and mathematics, school-community partnerships, and STEM curriculum policy and practice. His current interest is in interdisciplinarity leading to critical and creative reasoning. He is widely published, and has been chief investigator on a range of Australian Research Council and other research projects.
Noël G. Williams
is a doctoral candidate in the Educational Policy, Planning and Leadership program at the College of William & Mary. She has a Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts in Teaching from James Madison University. Prior to pursuing her doctorate, Noël was an elementary school teacher in Virginia for five years and served as lead teacher. She has worked on two large scale federal grants; one through the Institute of Education Services (IES) and the other through the National Science Foundation (NSF). Through this work, she has experience developing curriculum and professional development for teachers, and collecting, analyzing, and managing data. From 2015–2018 she served as co-editor of the Creativity Network Newsletter, a special interest group of the National Association of Gifted Children (NAGC). She is a lead reviewer for the William & Mary Educational Review. Noël has presented at national and state conferences, and her research interests include family engagement, discourse analysis, and curriculum development.
Yi-Fen Yeh
is an Assistant Professor in the College of Teacher Education at National Taiwan Normal University and a Visiting Senior Research Associate at University of Johannesburg. Her research interests include Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK), STEM education, science reading, and International Baccalaureate Education.