Derek will be a 5th year graduate student during the 2018-2019
academic year (Primary Advisor and Dissertation Chair: Dr. Cindy
Passmore, Secondary Advisor: Dr. Rick Pomeroy). Derek has
14 years of experience as a High School Chemistry, Honors
Chemistry, and Forensic Science teacher and has mentored UC Davis
undergraduate and science credential students in science
education for over 10 years. Derek has also been involved with
various other education projects and programs at UC Davis (TEAC,
CRESS, MAST, COSMOS, and CCBI).
Cindy Passmore, associate professor of science education, wrote a
guest entry on the National Science Teachers Association’s NSTA
Blog on November 10, 2014.
With funding from the National Science Foundation, Cindy
Passmore, professor of science education at the UC Davis School
of Education, Julia Gouvea, a researcher in the School of
Education, Arthur
Beauchamp, director of the Sacramento Area Science Project,
and Rick Grosberg, founding director of the Coastal and Marine
Sciences Research Institute, are leading a three-year $1.963
million effort to design an online resource of curriculum and
embedded professional development to support high school biology
teachers in the implementation of the Next Generation Science
Standards (NGSS). Ultimately, the project could result in a
national model for high school biology instruction.
UC Davis has received a $1.6 million grant from the S.D. Bechtel
Jr. Foundation that will allow it to improve science, technology,
engineering and math (STEM) education in schools throughout Davis
and Dixon.
“We want to provide (children), as future citizens, with a lens
into what it is that scientists actually do,” said Cindy
Passmore, the UC Davis associate professor who is leading the
project. “The exposure will help them make an informed choice
about whether they want to go into (science and math) fields or
not.”
Science is not boring, so why do so many middle and high school
students think it is? According to Cindy Passmore, assistant
professor and an expert on science education, students most often
experience science in school as the memorization of facts and
procedures with little practical utility or intellectual
interest.
“This results in an impoverished view of science as an
intellectual enterprise,” said Passmore.
The Sacramento Area Science Project (SASP) conducts science
education research and provides professional development in K-12
science instruction.
SASP is an education partnership between the University of
California, Davis, and California State University, Sacramento.
SASP is a regional site of the California Science Project.
SASP provides support to teachers, schools, and districts for
the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
and Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for Science and the
Technical Subjects.
