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Office Number:
Education 3206
Phone Number:
(805) 893-8091
E-mail:
education.ucsb.edu sjohnson
Susan Johnson
Lecturer w/ Potential Security of Employment, Ph.D. (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Emphasis:
Science/Math Initiative, Teaching & Learning
Research Interests:
Teacher education; Conceptual models; Nature of science
; Science math initiatives
Biography:
I am an Academic Coordinator/Lecturer for the Science and Math Initiative. The position involves the recruitment and mentoring of undergraduates interested in secondary school teaching, teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses for pre-service teachers, and collaborating with education, science and mathematics faculty at UCSB.
My career as an educator has included teaching science for several years at a middle school and at a high school for thirty-one years. I also taught secondary science methods at University of Wisconsin, Madison. For five years I was fortunate to be able to teach part time while working at the National Center for Improving Student Learning and Achievement in Mathematics and Science at the Wisconsin Center for Educational Research. I was a part of a research team that included teachers, graduate students, and science education faculty. We developed and implemented curricula for my classroom and then conducted research on the student learning that occurred. Some of the results of that collaborative effort are described in How Students Learn: Science in the Classroom.
While in graduate school I was able to conduct research in a molecular genetics lab. It changed the way I thought about my classroom. I now wanted students to be involved in the process of science, not solely learning the products of that process. My classroom practice also benefited from collaborations with STEM faculty, who were experts in their fields and also interested in K-12 public education.
Throughout my 38 years in education I have found that collaboration has been key to my classroom practice. My intention is to continue that collaboration, which will now include faculty, staff and students here at UCSB.
Recent Publications:
Johnson, S. Reflections on Variation, in Life Science for Elementary Educators. Rudge, D.W., Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company. 2005. [Book Chapter]
Johnson, S. & Stewart, J. Revising and assessing explanatory models in a high school genetics class: A comparison of unsuccessful and successful performance. Science Education, 86, pp 463-480. 2002. [Journal Article]
Johnson, S. Student understanding in a high school genetics class. In Principled Practice, (I), 1-7. 1997. [Journal Article]
Johnson, S. Food for thought: The cookie analogy. In Sanders, L. (Ed.), Favorite labs from outstanding teachers, (II), Lancaster, Pennsylvania: Lancaster Press. 1993. [Journal Article]
Stewart, J., Hafner, R., Johnson, S., & Finkel, E. Science as model building: Computers and high-school genetics. Educational Psychologist, 27 (3), 317-336. 1992. [Journal Article]
Affiliations:
National Educators Association
National Science Teachers Association
