Gayle Buck

Science is an increasingly significant part of our society. It is a critical component of a student’s educational experience and essential for understanding and addressing many of society’s most pressing challenges. Unfortunately, many students continue to be under-served by science education, jeopardizing their ability to attain their career goals and become active citizens. This ultimately costs the nation the contributions they might have made. This is why science education reform initiatives promote a vision of science education for all students.

At the core of my teaching is a belief that teaching in authentic, increasingly diverse social contexts has little resemblance to the objective and unproblematic teaching strategies often given to future/current educators. There is no universal remedy for the achievement gaps in science education. Different prior understandings, learning styles, school environments, communities, and attitudes toward learning require different instructional approaches. Science educators need a sense of their students, content, context, and the strengths and weaknesses of a myriad of instructional strategies. Educators must be prepared to engage in the informed, systematic inquiry of their practice in a manner that will lead to enhanced learning experiences for all of their students. To this end, my scholarship both guides and informs my teaching.

My research continually confronts the intersecting forces that shape students' actual experiences. My research objective is to enhance further our understanding of the complexity of teaching science to an increasingly diverse group of students. My scholarship focuses on (1) students under-served by science education and (2) neglected epistemological assumptions in science teaching. My methodological approaches are pragmatic, participatory, and mixed.