Biographies
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Published:12 Jul 2023
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Special Collection: 2023 ebook collection
Digital Learning and Teaching in Chemistry, ed. Y. Dori, C. Ngai, and G. Szteinberg, The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2023, pp. P015-P030.
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Gyde Asmussen is currently a Ph.D. student at the IPN Leibniz-Institute for Science and Mathematics Education in Kiel, Germany. She studied chemistry and biology for teaching at the high school level and graduated with a Master’s degree. Her research interest is in investigating and supporting students’ problem solving in organic chemistry.
Shirly Avargil is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. She is the head of the chemistry education research group and the chemistry teaching diploma track. She received her Ph.D. in 2011 from the Technion and then spent two years as a postdoctoral researcher at University of Maine, USA. Her research interests include choosing chemistry as a major and career, students’ higher-order thinking skills in chemistry and chemistry teachers’ assessment knowledge. She is a member of the National Chemistry Education Committee in her country.
Miri Barak (Engr.) is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion- Israel Institute of Technology. She investigates cognitive and sociocultural aspects of online learning and the promotion of 21st century skills. Dr Barak is a Cum Laude graduate of the Faculty of Food Engineering and Biotechnology, at the Technion, and worked in the past as an R&D Engineer. She received her M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees at the Technion and was a postdoctoral fellow at MIT—Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. Currently, she is the Vice Dean for Graduate Studies and the Assistant to the SVPR for the Promotion of Learning and Teaching.
Catherine Barth studied graphic design at the Akademie U5 in Munich. Later on, she switched to teacher education studies and is currently studying chemistry and English teaching with a focus on lower secondary education at the Weingarten University of Education. In her bachelor thesis, she studied the creation of AR learning environments.
Nadja Belova is a PostDoc in the chemistry education group of the University of Bremen and a chemistry teacher at the Gymnasium Vegesack in Bremen. Her main research focus is media literacy in the science classroom. In this context, she explicitly addresses modern media types such as social media and has designed and published a number of curricular innovations involving different types of media using Action Research.
Sascha Bernholt works as a research scientist at the IPN Leibniz-Institute for Science and Mathematics Education in Kiel, Germany. His research interests lie on conceptual learning, competency modelling, as well as language, formulae, and terminology in chemistry education.
Ron Blonder is a Professor in the Department of Science Teaching at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. She is the head of the chemistry group and the head of the Rothschild-Weizmann Master’s Program for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. Her research focuses on chemistry teachers’ professional development in the context of contemporary science using innovative technological tools and environments. She has published over 100 peer-reviewed and invited papers as well as book chapters in which she has explored chemistry teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs and knowledge development when they learn contemporary research in chemistry (mainly nanochemistry) and when they incorporate technological tools in their chemistry teaching. She has also investigated differentiated instruction in heterogeneous chemistry classes with and without the aid of technology to promote personalization in chemistry teaching. Prof. Blonder has applied the results of her educational research to chemistry teachers’ professional development and continuing education. Prof. Blonder is the recipient of the 2023 NARST Fellows Award.
Brittland DeKorver is an associate professor in the Chemistry Department at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, MI, USA. She earned her Ph.D. in chemistry education from Purdue University. Dr DeKorver has conducted research in informal science education, working with the Fusion Science Theater group to develop demonstration shows that teach science concepts. She has also conducted research about undergraduate students’ experiences in chemistry laboratory coursework and digital badging to evaluate students’ lab skills. Her current research interests explore issues of diversity and equity in chemistry coursework. She is also the administrator and moderator of Strategies for Teaching Chemistry Online, the virtual community that is the focus of this manuscript.
Dermot F. Donnelly-Hermosillo is an Associate Professor of Chemical Education at California State University Fresno, specializing in the impact of curriculum and learning technologies on student experimental practices. He has published in several leading peer-reviewed science and chemistry education journals and has reviewed over 100 journal submissions. He is a member of the American Chemical Society, the American Educational Research Association, and the California Association of Science Educators. Dermot earned his Ph.D. at the University of Limerick, Ireland, and completed postdoctoral work at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, and at the University of California, Berkeley.
Yehudit Judy Dori is a Professor at the Faculty of Education in Science and Technology at the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology and was the Dean of the Faculty during 2015–2020. Professor Dori holds an MSc in Life Sciences and a PhD in Science Education from the Weizmann Institute of Science. She was intermittently a Visiting Professor or Scholar at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, between 2000 and 2020. Her research interests encompass learning in technology-rich environments, assessment, visualizations, 21st century STEM skills, and metacognition at the high school and university levels. She has mentored about 80 graduate and postdoctoral students, published more than 140 papers in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters, and co-edited two books on cognition and metacognition in STEM education, published by Springer in 2012 and 2018. Prof. Dori received the 2020 NARST Distinguished Contributions to Science Education through Research Award (DCRA) for her exceptional research contributions and strong national and international community engagements.
Julia Eckhard is currently a Ph.D. student at the Institute of Chemistry Education at the Justus-Liebig-University in Giessen, Germany. She studied chemistry, biology, and educational sciences for teaching at the high school level and graduated by the first Staatsexamen. Her research focuses on mechanistic reasoning, problem-solving strategies and designing meaningful instructions to foster students’ learning in organic chemistry.
Rachel Eidelman is founder, manager, and a teacher for the ‘chemistry online’ project in the Davidson Institute in the Weizmann Institute of science. Dr Eidelman leads the design, development, and the research of the COBLE programme. She is an active high school chemistry teacher, and an academic lecturer.
Ingo Eilks FRSC is a Professor in chemistry education at the University of Bremen. His research interests encompass, among others, learning with and about digital media and education for sustainable development.
Ola Faris is a high school chemistry teacher in Peki’in, a Druze village in the Galilee, Israel. She received her B.Sc. and Ed. in 2010 with a specialization in Chemistry and Environmental Science, and her M.Sc. in science education, both from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. Her Master’s thesis, supervised by Prof. Yehudit Judy Dori and Dr Orit Herscovitz, is entitled “Adapting and implementing online assignments: Reflections of pre- and in-service chemistry teachers.” Ola is leading a special project, Pre-ATIDIM, which encourages excellent students from underrepresented groups to acquire a high-quality matriculation certificate, with a focus on STEM disciplines.
Marcel Frailich holds a PhD in Science Education from the Weizmann Institute of Science. Since 1982, she has been teaching chemistry and at the same time has developed interactive online learning environments for middle and high school students, while guiding teachers and implementing the environments in the field. She was a partner in the development of the “General Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry at the Service of Mankind” website and the “We Have Chemistry!” National Projects Competition. She researched the impact of teaching and learning high school chemistry in an online environment through this website.
Fun Man Fung earned his postgraduate degrees from NUS and Technical University of Munich. As a passionate Singaporean educator, he has written on the Channel News Asia (CNA), The Straits Times, and The Conversation. He is the co-editor of two books: (1) 10 Things You Must Know About the International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) and (2) Technology-Enabled Blended Learning Experiences for Chemistry Education and Outreach (Elsevier). He served on the IChO steering committee for two terms (2014–2018). In 2022, Fun Man was elected council member of the Singapore National Institute of Chemistry (SNIC), and he represented SNIC on the IUPAC Committee on Chemistry Education since 2020. Since 2021, Fun Man served as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board at the Journal of Chemical Education, ACS Publications.
Libby Gerard is a Research Scientist and Lecturer in the University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Education. Her research examines how innovative learning technologies can capture student ideas and help teachers use those ideas to make decisions about classroom instruction. Libby’s recent projects explore the use of automated scoring of student written essays using natural language processing to provide immediate guidance to students as they progress through an inquiry project, and, to support teachers’ customization of instruction both in real-time and between lessons. Libby’s research is published in leading peer-reviewed journals including Science and the Review of Educational Research.
Nicole Graulich is an Associate Professor of chemistry education at the Justus-Liebig-University Giessen and director of the Institute of Chemistry Education. The current research of her group focuses on investigating instructional designs that influence meaningful learning in organic chemistry, by elucidating students’ perception of organic representations with new technologies and the nature of mechanistic reasoning. In 2016, she received the prestigious Ars legendi award for teaching excellence. Since 2019, she is an Associate Editor for Chemistry Education Research and Practice.
Jia Yi Han graduated from the NUS with a B.Sc. in Chemistry in 2020 amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. He joined NUS as a Research Assistant through the SG United Traineeship scheme (a Singapore Government-funded scheme to train recent graduates during the employment uncertainty brought about by the pandemic) in the Department of Chemistry under the tutelage and supervision of his former environmental chemistry lecturer. During his traineeship, he assisted his supervisor in areas such as pedagogical research and videography.
Alina Heckenthaler is a full-time chemistry teacher at the Cato Bontjes van Beek-Gymnasium in Achim, Germany. Her master thesis focused on the inclusion of social media into the chemistry classroom.
Deborah Herrington is a Professor and Chair of the Chemistry Department at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, MI, USA. She obtained her Ph.D. in Chemistry Education, from Purdue University and her M.Sc. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Waterloo. Herrington is the co-developer of the award-winning Target Inquiry teacher professional development program and the director of the grant funded Retaining and Inspiring students in Science and Engineering program that provides support for academically talented, low-income STEM majors. Her current research focuses on supporting student learning and self-assessment using technology, three-dimensional instruction and assessment, and STEM faculty development.
Orit Herscovitz is a Senior Teaching Fellow, Senior Researcher, and the Head of the STEM Novice Teachers’ Induction and Mentors Unit at the Faculty of Education in Science and Technology at the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. Her research interests include developing and assessing higher-order thinking skills in chemistry education, promoting professional development (PD) of pre- and in-service science and technology teachers, and assessing the implementation of advanced educational technologies in education. She published over a dozen articles in peer-reviewed international and national journals, co-authored several book chapters and several learning units for high school chemistry students for Israeli students.
Felix Ho is Associate Professor at the Department of Chemistry—Ångström Laboratory at Uppsala University, Sweden, where he is also the subject coordinator for education programs in chemistry. He is currently a Titular Member and Secretary of the IUPAC Committee on Chemical Education. His research interests span both chemistry education and biophysical chemistry, including student reasoning and conceptual understanding in combining both chemistry and mathematics in problem solving, systems thinking in chemistry education, as well as mechanistic studies of water oxidation in Photosystem II during photosynthesis.
Avi Hofstein is an Emeritus Professor with a PhD in chemistry from the Weizmann Institute of Science. He served as head of the chemistry group, head of the National Center for Chemistry teachers, and head of the Department of Science Teaching at the Weizmann Institute. For more than 50 years, Prof. Hofstein has been involved in all facets of the curricular process in chemistry. In 2014 he was awarded the ACS-CEI, in 2016 the ACS award for his contribution to research in chemistry education, and in 2017 he was awarded the NARST DCRA (Distinguished Contribution for Research Award).
Muhamad Hugerat is a Professor of Science Education; Ph.D. in physical chemistry from The Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Was Vice-President of the Academic Arab College for Education (AACE) in Israel—Haifa, Dean of the science education department, Dean of Continuing Education Department. Editor of “DARUNA”—journal of AACE. Researcher in the centre of science and environmental education—The Galilee Society. He has conducted research in many areas of science education (e.g., learning environment, laboratory work, science education at all age levels, microscale and nano laboratories, teaching science through research, argumentation, and sustainability in science education, history, and philosophy of science).
Johannes Huwer is a Professor in science education—with special emphasis on chemistry education—at the University of Konstanz. His research interests are digital learning in chemistry and science classes, education for sustainable development in formal and non-formal learning environments, individualization, and transformation processes of science education.
Krenare Ibraj is currently an undergraduate research assistant in the research group of Nicole Graulich at the Institute of Chemistry Education at the Justus-Liebig University in Giessen, Germany. She studies chemistry, English and educational sciences for teaching at the high school level.
Rhiannon Iha grew up in the Pacific Northwest and obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at the University of Puget Sound. She completed an M.Sc. in organic chemistry at Cornell University, and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry and polymer science at Washington University in St Louis. She teaches organic chemistry for the Post-Baccalaureate Pre-medical program, and serves as Chemistry Subject Librarian, focusing on increasing chemistry information literacy. Rhiannon has taught courses online and face-to-face, employing online resources for “flipping” the classroom and educating students on responsibly using resources, references, and literature in an accountable manner.
Maria Joselevich, Ph.D., is a Professor at the Institute of Engineering and Agronomy, Universidad Nacional Arturo Jauretche, Argentina where she teaches a general chemistry course for engineers. She also teaches a graduate-level course, Teaching Chemistry at Secondary and Superior Levels, at the School of Education, Universidad de San Andrés, Argentina. Dr Joselevich holds a Ph.D. and a Bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a major in education and ICT. Her research interests include the study of how recent technologies such as remote laboratories and audiovisual resources may enhance learning at Secondary and University levels. She has worked in technology integration in science education both face-to-face and online settings.
Miri Kesner holds a PhD in Science Education from the Weizmann Institute of Science and served as Head of The Israeli Chemical Industry-Education Link Centre at The Weizmann Institute of Science for more than 20 years. She initiated and managed the development and implementation of the website “General Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry at the Service of Mankind” and the “We Have Chemistry!” National Projects Competition up to 2018. She has written textbooks on the chemical industry and was involved in their implementation. She also was involved in the professional development of science and mathematics teachers at the Davidson Institute of Science Education.
Joseph Krajcik serves as Director of the CREATE for STEM Institute and is a University Distinguished Professor and the Lappan-Phillips Professor of Science Education at Michigan State University. His work focuses on improving science education by engaging in innovation while working with science teachers to design and test learning environments to reform science teaching practices and research student learning. He received many professional awards and recognitions for his contributions to science education through the years. In 2010 Joe received the Distinguished Contributions to Science Education Through Research Award from NARST, and in 2020, he was elected to the National Academy of Education and received the prestigious McGraw Prize in Pre-K–12 Education in recognition of his many accomplishments and contributions to transforming education.
Joachim Kranz has been a teacher of chemistry and physics at the High School since 1981, and from 2009 he was a senior schoolteacher for natural sciences and economics, labour, and technology at the Senate Department for Education, Youth and Family in Berlin. He is a book author and further education trainer as well as co-author of the science standards for the middle school graduation in chemistry of the KMK Germany (2004) and currently a doctoral student at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
Axel Langner is currently a Ph.D. student at the Institute of Chemistry Education at the Justus-Liebig-University in Giessen, Germany. He studied biotechnology/biopharmaceutical technology and received a B.Sc. Furthermore, he studied chemistry and biology for teaching at the high school level and graduated by the first Staatsexamen. His research focuses on representational competence, eye-tracking and eye-gaze stimulated retrospectives in organic chemistry.
Rea Lavi, PhD, is a lecturer and curriculum designer with the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics and with the New Engineering Education Transformation program, both in the School of Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, USA. He is also expert-in-residence at the MIT Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab. Dr Lavi designs and teaches undergraduate courses on approaches to ill-defined problems. His research focus is on systems thinking, problem formulation, and creative ideation in engineering education. Dr Lavi received his PhD from the Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel. Dr Lavi is the inventor of the SNAP Method® for structured creative problem-solving (US and UK trademarks).
Gwendolyn Lawrie is an Education-Focused Professor in the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences (SCMB) at the University of Queensland (UQ). Her research considers how students learn through collaborative and self-regulated inquiry-based tasks in large classes to support diversity particularly in blended environments. Gwen has been the recipient of multiple institutional and national awards for her teaching and outstanding contributions to chemical education.
Sebastian Leach has recently completed an undergraduate science degree at The University of Sydney, culminating in the submission of an exemplary Honor’s thesis in distance education and remote learning of chemistry. Deeply interested in education, Sebastian intends to complete a Master’s degree in teaching to continue in this field and apply his enthusiasm and knowledge to teaching future students.
Marcia C. Linn is the Evelyn Lois Corey Professor of Instructional Science in the Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley, specializing in science and technology. She is a member of the National Academy of Education and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, the American Educational Research Association, and the International Society of the Learning Sciences. Linn earned her Ph.D. at Stanford University where she worked with Lee Cronbach. She spent a year in Geneva with Jean Piaget and was a Fulbright Professor in Israel.
Jia Luo obtained her B.Sc. in chemistry at Xiamen University, China, and her Ph.D. in chemistry at Washington University. She is a Senior Lecturer, teaching Introductory General Chemistry, and the Director of the General Chemistry Transition Program. She oversees the Chemistry Peer Mentoring Program to provide support to first-year students. Dr Luo co-teaches Women in Science. She is part of the HHMI Inclusive Excellence Steering Committee, Undergraduate Work Committee of the Chemistry Department, Advisor for Washington University STEM Education Association, helps with the Catalysts for Change STEM outreach program, and is interested in education research.
Bryn Lutes is a Senior Lecturer and General Chemistry Lab Director at Washington University. After completing her Ph.D. in chemistry, she spent several years as an Assistant Director at The Teaching Center at Washington University in St Louis where she supported faculty in incorporating active-learning techniques and technology in their classrooms. Bryn also teaches General Chemistry for post-baccalaureate premedical students and Quantitative Reasoning.
Debora Marchak is the Head of the National Centre for Chemistry Teachers, at the Department of Science Teaching, Weizmann Institute of Science. She holds a PhD in Physical Chemistry from Tel Aviv University and completed her postdoctoral studies on Surface Chemistry at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Since 2013, Debora has been a chemistry educator. In parallel, she developed an arts-integrated approach to teaching chemistry, and she conducts research on the influence of implementing the approach. Her research interests are arts-integrated science education, neuro-pedagogy, and visualization in chemistry. Between 2018 and 2020, she was head of the “We Have Chemistry!” National Projects Competition.
Agustina Martínez, B.S., holds a Bachelor’s degree in science teaching specialized in biology didactics, and majors in biology teaching for a scientific culture and science teaching. She is a Professor at the Facultad de Exactas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina, in a university teaching initiation course, which provides training to new teachers entering the institution. She is an Assistant Professor at the Health Institute, Universidad Nacional Arturo Jauretche, Argentina, where she teaches biology. Her research interests include the didactic use of virtual learning objects.
Elizabeth Mavhunga is a Full Professor and a rated researcher in Science Education at Wits University, South Africa. Her research is focused on developing teachers’ professional knowledge for teaching the difficult science content using a theoretical construct called Topic Specific Pedagogical Content knowledge (TSPCK). Her research contributions in this area have been acknowledged with two prestigious research awards from the two national professional bodies, SAARMSTE and SACI, respectively. Internationally, her work has contributed to the development of the famous model for describing teachers’ professional knowledge called the Refined Consensus Model of PCK. Professor Mavhunga leads a research team pioneering the digitization of TSPCK. The digitized TSPCK empowers teachers to design and create engaging digital Science lessons in formats such as teaching videos and animations, the much needed skills for 4 IR participation. She has graduated many postgraduate students, delivered plenary talks at international conferences, and authored several book chapters and journal articles in accredited publications. She is regarded as one of the leading female professors of colour in science teacher education in South Africa.
Valery Milner is an Associate Professor of physics, at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Department of Physics and Astronomy in Vancouver, Canada. He conducts research in the field of chemical physics, specifically in the area of atomic molecular and optical physics. He has also been teaching secondary, undergraduate, and graduate physics courses, pioneering the implementation of data collection, visualization, and analysis tools in large and small classrooms.
Marina Milner-Bolotin, Ph.D. is a Professor of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education at the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, Canada. She studies how modern technologies can facilitate the development of teachers’ capacity for implementing active learning environments.
Pablo D. Moro is a chemistry and physics high-school teacher. He is interested in teaching chemistry using NICTx for science learning. He has worked in the inclusion of ICT resources into Secondary school teaching and STEM learning materials. He has done research in the field of Organic Synthesis at the Department of Organic Chemistry, FCEyN, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina, publishing articles and attending congresses of the specialty.
Alice Motion is the leader of the Science Communication, Outreach, Participation and Education Research Group at the School of Chemistry, University of Sydney. Alice is a research chemist and award-winning educator and science communicator who aims to connect people with science through her teaching, research, and practice.
Jacinta Mutambuki is an assistant professor and the Edward Bartlett Professor of Pedagogy in Chemistry, Department of Chemistry at Oklahoma State University. Dr Mutambuki’s research involves investigating the effects of evidence-based classroom instructional approaches on students’ cognitive and affective outcomes, and development of assessment instruments for characterizing instructional practices in college STEM classrooms. Dr Mutambuki teaches the General Chemistry courses, and a graduate-level course, Teaching and Research Innovations in Chemistry and STEM Education, aimed at preparing future STEM faculty on evidence-based instructional practices.
Caroline Muteti is a chemical education doctoral student in the chemistry department at Oklahoma State University. Caroline joined OSU in Fall 2019. Caroline’s research interests focus on the infusion of metacognition instruction and Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) in the General Chemistry courses and assessing the effects of these approaches on performance and students’ perceived learning experiences.
Courtney Ngai is the Associate Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research & Artistry at Colorado State University, where she manages a lab program supporting underrepresented students in STEMM. Her previous research focused on student thinking when solving problems using chemistry, and she has collaborated with K-12 teachers and university researchers on the Chemical Thinking Learning Progression project. Courtney’s current research and facilitation work focuses on organizational culture and change in higher education.
Roee Peretz received his B.Sc. with plant sciences major (B.Sc. Agr.) from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a master’s degree in biology education at Oranim Academic College, Summa Cum Laude. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. with the Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, under the supervision of Prof. Yehudit Judy Dori. His research interests include systems thinking, conceptual modeling, and interdisciplinary learning, particularly in science and engineering online teaching and learning.
Reyne Pullen is currently employed as an education-focused lecturer in the School of Chemistry, University of Sydney. Reyne has experience in delivering online and blended learning experiences, and designing course-level blended learning models, both at the tertiary level. Reyne has also worked within the secondary education sector, teaching both science and mathematics.
Marc Rodemer is a research scientist at the Department of Chemistry Education at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany. His research interests lie on cognitive processes of conceptual learning with regard to models and representations from primary to tertiary science education.
Marissa Rollnick is Professor Emeritus in science education at Wits University. She holds a doctorate from Wits University and is a specialist in academic development and science education. Her professional career includes appointments as teacher, teacher educator, lecturer, and professor in chemistry education. She currently also has appointments at the Universities of Pretoria and Johannesburg. Her research areas include language in science education, student access to science in higher education and pedagogical content knowledge. She has published over 70 refereed publications. She has received several awards, most recently the distinguished contribution to research award from NARST in the USA.
Peter Rutledge is Professor of chemistry at the University of Sydney. He received his BSc and MSc from the University of Auckland and D.Phil. from the University of Oxford. Peter has held lectureships in Oxford and Dublin and visiting fellowships in Warwick and Cambridge. His current research interests include chemistry education, natural products chemistry, antibiotics discovery, molecular sensors, biosynthesis and biocatalysis. Peter is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Siegbert ‘Siggi’ Schmid graduated with a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from the University of Tübingen, Germany, and after post-doctoral research at the ANU, completed a Habilitation at his alma mater. He currently serves as Chair of the Chemistry Education & Communication Research theme at the School of Chemistry of the University of Sydney. His education research investigates changes to teaching practices that enhance the student experience and learning outcomes, with particular emphasis on inclusive teaching. He led an OLT-funded national project on Assessing the Assessments and was awarded the 2019 Fensham Medal of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute for sustained contributions to chemistry education in Australia.
Anat Shauly is a doctoral student at the Faculty of Education in Science and Technology at the Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, under the supervision of Dr Shirly Avargil. Her Ph.D. studies center on the professional development of chemistry teachers’ communities. She holds B.Sc. Ed. in chemical education, a B.Sc., and M.Sc. degrees in chemical engineering from the Technion. Prior to joining the Faculty of Education, she had worked as a research assistant at the Rabin Desalination Laboratory at Technion, and as a characterization engineer at Semi-Conductor Devices (SCD).
Gabriella Shwartz was a postdoctoral researcher at the Faculty of Education in Science and Technology at the Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, under the supervision of Dr Shirly Avargil. During her postdoc her research dealt with chemistry teachers’ assessment knowledge as reflected in educational escape rooms. She received her Ph.D. in 2019 from the Technion, focusing on choosing a teaching career, preparing novice STEM teachers, and their integration into the teaching profession. She is currently teaching academic courses in chemistry education and high school students who major in chemistry, and guiding novice chemistry teachers in their first years of teaching.
Yael Shwartz is a scientist at the Weizmann Institute of Science, incumbent of the Maurice Levy Staff Scientist Chair in the Science Teaching department. In 2014, she was awarded the ACS-CEI. She is the co-founder and researcher of the COBLE program. She is the head of the National Center for Science Teachers and Leads PeTeL—Personalized Teaching and Learning online environment for middle-school science.
Antje Siol is an analytical chemist. For many years, she works in outreach programs of the University of Bremen, especially in the design and operation of non-formal laboratory learning environments for secondary school students in the field of education for sustainable development.
Jaclyn J. Stewart is a Professor of teaching in the Department of Chemistry at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. As an educational psychologist and chemistry educator, she is passionate about helping students learn and inspiring educators to transform curriculum and instructional approaches. Her teaching specialities are introductory and non-majors organic chemistry, as well as science communication. Dr Stewart also leads a Canada-wide research Consortium investigating equity in first-year science courses. The consortium brings educators and researchers together to implement and gather evidence regarding inclusive teaching practices with the goal of addressing systemic inequities.
Gabriela Szteinberg obtained her B.A. in chemistry at Lawrence University, and her Ph.D. in chemical education at Purdue University, with post-doctoral work at University of Massachusetts Boston. She has experience working with peer mentoring programs, such as Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL). Dr Szteinberg is now an Assistant Dean for the College of Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St Louis, for which she serves as a four-year, Chemistry, and pre-health advisor, and progress counselor. Dr Szteinberg has a passion for helping students thrive and succeed, by promoting a growth mindset and resilience, through collaboration with peers and instructors.
Marina Tal is a Researcher at the Technion Research and Development Foundation, Haifa, Israel. She received her B.Sc. in chemistry in 2006, M.Sc. in physical chemistry in 2009, M.Sc. in chemistry education, summa cum laude, in 2018, and Ph.D. in water chemistry in 2014. Since October 2020 she has been a postdoctoral researcher at the Mofet Institute, Tel Aviv, Israel. Her research interests include water quality, water and wastewater treatment, teachers’ knowledge types, and STEM teachers’ sustainability and systems thinking.
Vicente Talanquer is a University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Arizona. His current research focuses on undergraduate chemistry education. He has published over 125 peer-reviewed and invited papers where he has explored the conceptual difficulties that students face when learning chemistry and the effect of different teaching strategies on student understanding. He has also investigated prospective science teachers’ reasoning and practices. Dr Talanquer has applied the results of his educational research to the development of innovative curricula for undergraduate chemistry education. He has received various awards during his academic career, including the 2021 ACS Award for Achievement in Research for the Teaching & Learning of Chemistry by the American Chemical Society.
Rüdiger Tiemann studied chemistry and physics for high-school teaching. Since 2005 he has been the head of the chemistry education group at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Prof. Tiemann conducts research on problem solving and mental modeling as well as on digital teaching and assessment methods (www.tiemannlab.de).
Jan Mathis Tietjen is a full-time chemistry teacher at the Wilhelm-Kaisen-Oberschule in Bremen, Germany. His master thesis dealt with teachers’ views on social media in the chemistry classroom.
Marcy H. Towns is the Bodner-Honig Professor of Chemistry and Director of General Chemistry at Purdue University. She is a member of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine Board on Science Education. She received the 2017 American Chemical Society Award for Achievement in Research for the Teaching and Learning of Chemistry, the 2017 James Flack Norris Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Teaching of Chemistry from the Northeast Section of the American Chemical Society, and the 2019 Nyholm Prize in Education from the Royal Society of Chemistry, in addition to numerous teaching awards from Purdue University. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the American Chemical Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Maya Usher is a Research Associate at the Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. She received her PhD in Learning Technologies from Technion in 2019. During 2020–2021, she has been a postdoctoral researcher at the School of Education at Tel Aviv University, Israel. Her research interests include designing and evaluating learning processes in diverse online learning environments.
Denise van der Merwe is currently completing her Ph.D. in science education at Wits University, South Africa. She works as an acting Principal at a secondary school in Gauteng, South Africa. Her studies aim to empower teachers to create pedagogically reasoned teaching content on digital platforms using animations. She holds a Master’s degree in science education, as with her Honours degree, cum laude despite being a part-time student from the same University. She began her teaching career in 1999, teaching mathematics, life sciences and physical sciences, which she continued at the time of studies. She has co-authored two articles focusing on topic-specific pedagogical content knowledge in science education.
Merav Versano received her B.Sc. in chemical engineering in 1995 and her M.Sc. as a MABATIM II–Views graduate, in 2020, both from Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. Her Master’s supervisors were Prof. Yehudit Judy Dori and Dr Orit Herscovitz. She is the head of a team of programmers at a high-tech company, and also works at the Davidson Center, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. At this center, she teaches chemistry virtually, prepares Arab high-school students for matriculation exams in machine learning, and participates in an Intel-led pilot project to prepare middle school students to be young scientists.
Shane Wilkinson is a lecturer in the School of Chemistry, University of Sydney. He has a keen interest in the adoption of technology to enhance how we teach and deliver chemistry in both classroom and laboratory environments. An example is augmented reality (AR) and how it can be used as a tool in education or as means of inclusivity for disadvantaged students. Shane is adept in the use of “teaching analytics” software to deliver personalised student experiences in large scale teaching environments. He also has a passion for laboratory pedagogy with a focus on authentic and competency-based laboratory assessments.
Stephen George-Williams is an education-focused lecturer based at the School of Chemistry, University of Sydney. His research has explored several areas including the purpose of the chemistry teaching laboratory, the relationships built between students and teaching assistants in the teaching laboratory, and the use of virtual reality (VR) to support teaching chemistry in the classroom.
Kim Yongbeom is a computer science student at the National University of Singapore. While he studies computing, his keen interest in chemical education and the learning sciences has led him to write in Channel News Asia (CNA), the Journal of Chemical Education and the IEEE International Conference of Teaching, Assessment and Learning for Engineering (TALE). Lastly, as an international student in Singapore, he hopes to be part of education systems that are more diverse, accessible, and inclusive.
Christian Zowada is an associate member of the chemistry education group of the University of Bremen and a full-time chemistry teacher at the Gymnasium Osterholz-Scharmbeck, Germany. His research focuses on curricular innovations in the context of education for sustainable development.
Dana Zreke is an M.Teach Senior in education of chemistry at The Arab Academic College for Education in Israel, Haifa. She received her B.Sc. degree in chemistry from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in 2020. Her research interests include sustainability and environmental education.