Degree: PhD

Lisa Jo Baer entered the C&I Ph.D. program for Science Education at Indiana University in 2006, while teaching Clinical Laboratory Science at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana. Her previous experience in instruction included teaching elementary school, and middle school general science. Mrs. Baer also has ten years’ experience as a Medical Technologist in a hospital laboratory, and eleven years’ experience as an assistant to a forensic pathologist. Her principal research interest concerns the transition from traditional teacher-centered pedagogy to problem-based or project-based learning (PBL). Her current focus is the development of effective collaborative groups: an essential part of PBL.

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Degree: PhD

Kristin Cook is a senior doctoral candidate in the Curriculum & Instruction department with a focus in Science Education. Kristin spent several years as a high school biology teacher before returning to Indiana University to pursue her passion of inspiring other learners to inquire about the natural world. Kristin enjoys hiking with her husband, Dan, young son, Liam, and dog, Maya on the beautiful trails in Bloomington.

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Degree: PhD

Khadija Fouad entered the doctoral program in Curriculum and Instruction for Science Education in the fall of 2010. She taught science in rural and urban public high schools for ten years, then worked in private Islamic schools teaching elementary and middle school science for three years. Her research interests lie in using the history of science to teach the nature of science.

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Degree: PhD

Christina Melki is from Arizona and loves the heat! She received her bachelor’s degree in biology from Anderson University in Anderson, Indiana, and her master’s degree in biology from IU-Bloomington before beginning work on her doctorate in science education here at IU. Along the way, she has taught at Ivy Tech Community College and gained much experience at her goal job of teaching at the college level. Her research interests include the use of technology in the classroom, including clickers and animations.

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Degree: PhD

Vanashri Nargund-Joshi is doctoral student in Science Education. She received MS in Zoology at University of Pune, India. Her research focuses on teacher education and more specifically on teachers' orientations towards science teaching. She is interested in understanding how teachers' orientations get shaped with different factors and how teacher training programs can be designed to shift these orientations. Her research interest lies within Indian educational system as well as Intentional educational systems.

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Degree: PhD

Amy Trauth-Nare grew up in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area and attended Northern Kentucky University where she received her B.S. in Biological Sciences. In 1997, she moved to Tempe, Arizona where she attended Arizona State University, which led to an M.S. degree in Plant Biology. After working in a non-profit setting, she left botanical research behind to begin in earnest her teaching career. While living in Fort Worth, Texas, she was a literacy tutor in a Title I school, taught middle school life science, as well as high school biology and chemistry.

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Degree: PhD

Heidi Wiebke is from southeastern Minnesota. While living in Minnesota Heidi received her Bachelor’s of Science and Masters of Education from the University of Minnesota. Heidi then moved to Ogden, Utah where she taught fifth and sixth grade science for three years. During this teaching opportunity, Heidi realized there was a need for other teachers to feel comfortable and confident in teaching science. Therefore, in the fall of 2010 Heidi entered the doctoral program in Science Education.

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Degree: PhD

Xinying Yin is from China and she is a doctoral student in Science Education. Before coming to IU, she received her bachelor’s degree in Chemistry Education in Beijing Normal University, had one-year graduate study in Analytical Chemistry in Fudan University and taught 3 years’ high school chemistry in China. Her interest is in science teacher education and in teaching high school chemistry. She wants to facilitate more teachers to create science classrooms where students see learning science as meaningful for their life.

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