University
USC Professor Studies Conceptual Changes in Science
- USC Rossier School of Education professor Gale M. Sinatra
- Photo/Steve Cohn
By Andrea Bennett on October 27, 2011 9:44 AM
Gale M. Sinatra, who joined the USC Rossier School of Education this fall as visiting professor of education, hopes to change preconceived notions about science for learners and teachers through her work.
“Science education for too long has been approached as cold, rational, boring and not engaging,” she said. ”And science is everything but that - it’s exciting, and scientists are emotional and passionate.”
Sinatra, a fellow of the American Educational Research Association and the American Psychological Association, is renowned for her research on the roles of emotion and motivation in learning science, particularly controversial topics such as evolution and climate change.
Her work focuses on conceptual change, which explores cognitive, motivational and emotional barriers to promoting change in the ways students think about science.
Currently in the second year of a National Science Foundation (NSF) Research and Evaluation on Education in Science and Engineering study of emerging systems, Sinatra and her colleagues are looking at simulations of complex systems found in most scientific processes. She also is concluding a three-year cross-disciplinary study on teaching and learning about biological evolution, from which a volume is forthcoming from Oxford University Press.
Sinatra recently finished an NSF-funded project developing a simulation game to help students learn about water resources and the effects of climate change on Lake Mead. The simulation is being used in informal learning environments throughout Las Vegas. Before coming to USC, Sinatra was a professor of educational psychology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
She also will give a speech on climate literacy education at the American Geophysical Union in December. Her appearance is a rarity for the organization, which generally features speakers only from scientific fields.
“I’m really concerned about the lack of data-based decisions on critically important topics of our day, like climate change, and that the public is becoming less and less engaged with science,” she said.
“Any pressing problem of our day requires an appreciation for the data, evidence and informed decisionmaking that science provides. Too often, decisions are based on politics, not evidence.”
Sinatra plans to expand her research agenda to include more science education in urban and diverse populations - a fundamental mission at USC Rossier - and to collaborate with the school’s faculty.
“Far too few women and students of color enter science as a career,” said Sinatra, who sees the urban education focus of USC Rossier as an opportunity to broaden participation in that discipline.
TAGS: education
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