Norman G. Lederman

"Understandings of Nature of Science and Scientific Inquiry as Critical Components of Scientific Literacy"

Dr. Norman G. Lederman is Chair and Professor of Mathematics and Science Education at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He has been author or editor of 10 books, written 15 book chapters, published over 200 articles in professional journals, and made over 500 presentations at professional conferences around the world. He is the Co-Editor of the recently published Handbook of Research on Science Education.

Dr. Lederman is a former President of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) and the Association for the Education of Teachers in Science (AETS). He has also served as Director of Teacher Education for the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), and has served on the Board of Directors of NSTA, AETS, NARST, and the School Science and Mathematics Association. He was awarded an honorary PhD from Stockholm University in 2008, the first such degree awarded in science education. He also received a Fullbright Fellowhip in 2009.

Beverly Cooper

Director of Centre for Teacher Education, University of Waikato New Zealand         

"Connecting teachers and students with science and scientists: The Science Learning Hub"

Beverley Cooper is the Director of the Centre for Teacher Education at the Faculty of Education, the University of Waikato New Zealand. The Centre is responsible for 17 teacher education programmes across the early childhood, primary and secondary teaching sectors involving nearly 2000 students. She has had a long association with and a broad interest in science education, curriculum development and assessment. She has been a senior lecturer in chemistry and science education and previously a teacher of chemistry, science and horticulture in secondary schools. Bev is the Past President of the New Zealand Association of Science Educators (NZASE) and has been involved with the Waikato Science Teachers' Association for 25 years. She is currently the Australasia-pacific executive committee member of the International Council of Associations of Science Educators (ICASE).  Bev writes and edits books related to science and chemistry teaching in New Zealand and has been involved in the development of curriculum and assessment nationally. Bev is involved in several large scale research and project teams including the NZ curriculum stock-take, the Laptops for Teachers: TELA evaluation project, the Ministry of Research Science and Technology Science Learning Hub development team (http://www.sciencelearn.org.nz), the Solomon Islands School of Education Project, the Ministry of Education funded Curriculum Implementation Exploratory Studies project and a national Teaching Learning Research Initiative, a longitudinal study to research assessment capabilities of teacher education students.

Robin Groves

School of Education, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia

"Assessment for Learning: A top priority for helping students to learn."

Dr Robin Groves is a Senior Lecturer in Teaching, Learning and Assessment and Science Education at the School of Education, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia, where he teaches in Master’s, Graduate Diploma of Education and Bachelor of Education programs. His research interests include best practice science teaching and assessment and science teachers’ professional learning. He has also had extensive experience in secondary teaching, educational administration and project management in Australia and overseas.  Robin is an Honorary Life Member of the Australian Science Teachers Association and a Past President of the International Council of Associations for Science Education (ICASE).  He was Co-Convenor of the 2007 World Conference on Science and Technology Education and is currently the Chair of the ICASE World Conference Standing Committee.

Alberto J. Cañas

Institute for Human & Machine Cognition, USA

"Concept mapping - an innovative method for learning science" 

Alberto J. Cañas is Co-Founder and an Associate Director of the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition.

He received a M. Math Degree in Computer Science and a Ph.D. in Management Science, both from the University of Waterloo, Canada.

For many years, Prof. Cañas has been involved in the use of technology in education, specifically in the K-12 area. Before going to University of West-Florida, Prof. Cañas was the Director of IBM's Latin American Education Research Center in Costa Rica. Prof. Cañas is interested in understanding the pedagogical aspects of using technology, and taking advantage of his Computer Science background to come up with innovative solutions. He is interested not only in the theoretical aspects, but also in the implementation details and scalability of the use of computers in education. His research include: uses of computers in education, knowledge management, knowledge acquisition, information retrieval, and human-machine interface. He is currently involved in research projects at IHMC in: Knowledge Modeling and Sharing, Performance Support Systems with Embedded Training, Collaborative Tools for Education and for Research, Multimedia-based Knowledge Construction and Browsing Tools, Distance Education, and Corporate Memory. Prof. Cañas has published extensively and has lectured throughout many countries in North and Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

Teresa Kennedy, USA

Dr. Teresa Kennedy is the Director of the International Division of The GLOBE Program located at the University of Texas at Tyler, USA, where she is a Professor of Bilingual/ELL/STEM Education.  She is a member of the GLOBE Program Office management team and is responsible for ensuring that the development and ongoing support of 111 GLOBE counties are fully integrated with GLOBE science and education activities, also responsible for managing the International Help Desk serving the worldwide GLOBE community and the North America Regional Office serving Canada as well as 140 U.S. Partners through her role as the GLOBE U.S. Country Coordinator.  Dr. Kennedy has been involved with GLOBE since 1996.
Dr. Kennedy has a Ph.D. in Education, with a concentration on bilingual science education, content-based foreign language, ESL/ELL education, and also has a M.A. degree in the Spanish language.  Her K-12 teaching experience includes 8 years at the secondary level, 7 years at the elementary/middle school level, and over 15 years teaching in higher education. She has visited over 70 countries around the world through her work and educational experiences, and has published over 30 journal articles and 6 book chapters.

Tony Majoram

CPEng, FIEAust, UNESCO

"Innovation in Science and Technology Education for Innovation in Science and Technology"

Tony Marjoram is responsible for engineering in the Division of Basic and Engineering Sciences at UNESCO. He been with UNESCO for 15 years, and has 35 years experience in engineering, S&T policy, planning and management for development. He has worked at the Universities of Melbourne, the South Pacific and Manchester, has published over 50 papers, books, articles and reports, and is a board member of several international journals. He is an Honourary Visiting Fellow of the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research, member of the Advisory Board of the “Social, Technological and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability” Centre at the University of Sussex, and was a member of the UN Millennium Project Task Force on Science, Technology and Innovation.

Stuart Naylor, New Zealand

Stuart Naylor started his career as a secondary teacher.  He worked briefly as a lab technician and advisory teacher, and has extensive experience as a teacher educator, researcher, writer, publisher, consultant and INSET provider.  Now working with Brenda Keogh as Millgate House Education, they have a reputation for innovative publications, thought-provoking professional development and creative ways of enhancing teaching, learning and assessment.  Their recent and current projects include developing active approaches to assessment and the use of puppets to promote talk in the classroom.

Jack Holbrook

ICASE, Professor at the University of Tartu, Estonia

"Promoting Competencies in Science Education"

Jack Holbrook is a visiting professor in science education at the University of Tartu, mainly pioneering, together with professor Miia Rannikmae, the development of PhD studies in the field of science education; an innovation for post-Soviet countries. Together with Priit Reiska (Tallinn University) and Paul Ilsley (USA) they have edited a book on ‘The need for a Paradigm Shift in Science Education for post-soviet societies’ as a step towards gaining recognition for a more interdisciplinary approach to science teaching for Eastern European countries.

Jack Holbrook is the current President of ICASE, although his association with ICASE goes back to 1981 when he was elected as Vice-president only later in 1985 to become the Executive Secretary, a position he held for 12 years. In that time under an ICASE banner he compiled, the quarterly newsletter, edited a range of books from ICASE yearbooks, commemorative teaching materials to research in science education publications, all on a shoe-string budget.

Dr Holbrook began his career as a science teacher before moving into teacher education, first in the UK, then in Africa (Tanzania) and for there to Asia (Hong Kong), mainly training Chemistry teachers. He left Hong Kong at the end of 1992 to be more involved in international consultancy in the educational fields of assessment, curriculum and teacher education and has been extensively involved in assignments in countries such as Bangladesh, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan and Nigeria. He is a fellow and chartered chemist of the Royal Society of Chemistry UK (CChem FRSC).
 

Luo Xingkai

Guangxi Normal University, China

"Support to Inquiry-based Science Teaching in China’s New National Curriculum: Chance for Bridging Gaps between Academics & Practices"

Dr. LUO Xingkai is a professor at the Faculty of Physics and director at Research Institution of Science Education in Guangxi Normal University where he has worked for pre-service and in-service teacher education since 1988. His research interests include scientific inquiry and promoting inquiry-based science learning by improving assessment and teacher education, developing innovative learning resources for science learning and teaching.
Because of his long time effective innovations in science teacher education program, Prof. Luo has received many awards including “Special Award to Outstanding Academic Experts” by State Council of the P. R. China in 1995, “National Model Teacher”, awarded by the MOE and Ministry of Human Resources in 2001, and the latest “National Famous Professors Award” by MOE in 2009.
Prof Luo served as a member of ICPE (the International Commission on Physics Education) from 2002 to 2008 and he is curently the vice standing president of the newly established National Association for Science Education in China. In 2008, his university and ICASE established jiontly an teacher training center at his institute located in beautiful Guilin.