Nominations must be submitted online.
See below for the specific information required for an Award Nomination.
Previous Award Winners
Awards Program Sponsors
Carolina Biological Supply – sponsor for Award I, II, IV, & Award V
Science Education Career Awards (Awards I, II, and III)
ASTE makes available three Science Education Career Awards, Award I for Outstanding Science Teacher Educator of the Year, Award II for Outstanding Mentor, and Award III for Outstanding Longtime Service to ASTE, outlined below that recognize the personal achievements and professional contributions of its members. An ASTE member, who is cognizant of the qualifications of an ASTE member nominee, must submit the nomination. The nominee should be informed about the award nomination and nominators must follow guidelines in preparing nomination materials. The responsibility for the preparation of documentary evidence rests with the nominator.
The purpose of each award, the recognition provided, and details of eligibility and judging criteria are highlighted below with the description of each award. For each of the awards, selection is based on an overall and categorical point system. Nominations must be submitted online.
The Awards Committee will contact nominees for Awards I, II, and III after the June 1 due date to confirm receipt of the nomination. If you do not receive an email by early June, contact the Awards Chair. If you have questions about Awards I, II, or III, please contact the Awards Chair, Dr. Jennifer Stark, jstark@uwf.edu.
Nomination Requirements
Materials are due by June 1 in the year prior to the ASTE national conference.
Award I: Outstanding Science Teacher Educator of the Year
Award II: Outstanding Mentor
Award III: Outstanding Longtime Service to ASTE
ASTE Manuscript Awards (Awards IV and V)
ASTE offers two manuscript awards, ASTE Award IV for Innovation in Teaching Science Teachers, and Award V for Implications of Research for Educational Practice, to recognize excellence in manuscripts presented at the previous ASTE Annual Meeting. ASTE members are invited to submit an electronic copy of any manuscript presented at the last ASTE conference. The submission should be identifiable to the presentation given and closely resemble the paper distributed at the conference.
Both of these awards include graduate student-only levels. Graduate students who were the first author on a conference presentation may apply for this award. Please note that papers may not be considered for both levels of the award simultaneously, but graduate students may choose to submit to either level.
The purpose of each award, the recognition provided, and details of eligibility and scoring criteria are highlighted below. For each award, the ASTE Awards Committee bases its selection on an overall and categorical point system. Nominations are completed electronically through the ASTE website. Please make sure to review the submission checklist for each award description before uploading your manuscript.
The Awards Committee will contact nominees for Awards IV and V after the March 1 due date to confirm receipt of the nomination. If you do not receive an email by early March, contact the Awards Chair. If you have questions about Awards IV or V, please contact the Awards Chair, Dr. Jennifer Stark, jstark@uwf.edu.
Nomination Requirements
Materials are due by March 1 in the year prior to the ASTE national conference.
Awards IV: Innovation in Teaching Science Teachers
Award V: Implications of Research for Educational Practice
John C. Park National Technology Leadership Initiative Fellowship
The National Technology Leadership Initiative (NTLI) Fellowship was established to recognize an exemplary presentation on technology at the annual conferences for social studies, English, mathematics and science education. The purpose of the NTLI Fellowship is to encourage further dialog among professional associations regarding appropriate technology use in teacher education. Each year NTLI Fellows from ASTE are invited to present at the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE) conference where they receive an award plaque, complementary conference registration, and funds up to $1200 provided by Vernier Software and Technology to help defray travel expenses. This award is overseen by the SITE Science Coordinators.
In 2015, the award was renamed the John C. Park National Technology Leadership Initiative Fellowship to honor the late Dr. Park who was a leader in the application of technology in science education. He was instrumental in the establishment of the award, building the relationship between ASTE and SITE, and a multiple NTLI award winner.
Detailed Award Descriptions
Award I (Two Levels) – Outstanding Science Teacher Educator of the Year. The purpose of these two awards (Level One: Ten or Fewer Years in Science Education, and Level Two: 10+ Years of Career) is to recognize the individual achievements and contributions of ASTE members in their first ten years of career (i.e., Level one) and those beyond ten years (i.e., Level Two). Each Award I recipient receives a plaque, a cash award from Carolina Biological Supply Company and a tribute in the awards issue of the ASTE Newsletter.
Documentation for Award I – Nominations are completed electronically through the ASTE website under the Member Resources link. Note: all files must be in pdf format and each file must be less than 1Mb in file size.
Required Documentation – Materials are due by June 1, in the year prior to the next ASTE national conference.
- Both Nominator and Nominee are ASTE members
- Nominee’s Name, Institution and Email
- Nomination cover letter
- Nominee’s curriculum vita
- 1-page personal statement from the nominee
- Letters of support from three colleagues or students
Score sheet criteria for Award I, Level I
Score sheet criteria for Award I, Level II
Award II – Outstanding Mentor Award. This award honors and encourages ASTE members who support and encourage pre-service and in-service science teachers and/or new science teacher educators entering the profession. It also seeks to recognize the valuable contributions of mentors to the profession of science teacher education. Recognition comes in the form of a plaque, a cash award from Carolina Biological Supply and a tribute in the awards issue of the ASTE Newsletter.
Outstanding mentor’s accomplishments in contributing to the professional development of science teachers and teacher educators are evidenced by:
- Assisting in the application of research to practice in science teaching
- Encouraging participation in professional associations related to science teaching
- Encouraging contributions to the knowledge base of science teacher educators
- Providing opportunities for their professional growth
Documentation for Award II – Nominations are completed electronically through the ASTE website under theMember Resources link. Note: all files must be in pdf format and each file must be less than 1Mb in file size.
Required Documentation – Materials are due June 1, in the year prior to the next ASTE national conference.
- Both Nominator and Nominee are ASTE members
- Nominee’s Name, Institution and Email
- Nomination cover letter
- Nominee’s curriculum vita
- 1-page personal statement from the nominee
- Letters of support from three colleagues or students
Score sheet criteria for Award II
Award III – Outstanding Longtime Service to ASTE. This award provides recognition for outstanding service by a senior member of ASTE. For the purpose of this award, service is defined as work accomplished over 15 consecutive or nonconsecutive years by a committed ASTE member in an effort to address issues, goals, and actions that have intellectual merit and broader impact on science teacher education, while simultaneously serving the needs of ASTE members. ASTE service-related activities may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- participation in and/or volunteer efforts at regional and national ASTE meetings
- Examples: Conference Chair or Co-Chair, Workshop organizer, Thread coordinator, Proposal Reviewer, Paper presenter, Registration desk worker, Session presider, Forum Chair
- membership on ASTE committees and/or the ASTE Board
- Examples: Chair of elections committee, member of Elections Committee, Member at Large for ASTE Board, Regional Representative, Member of Other committees
- service to ASTE-affiliated journal publications
- Examples: Editor of an ASTE Journal, Editorial Review Board member, Author of papers published in ASTE, Reviewer for ASTE Journal(s)
Any ASTE science educator who has demonstrated distinguished service to ASTE during his/her career in science teacher education is eligible for this award. Award III can be received posthumously.
Documentation for Award III – Nominations are submitted electronically through the ASTE website under the Member Resources link. Note: All files must be in PDF format and each file must be less than 1Mb in file size.
Required Documentation – Materials are due by June 1, in the year prior to the next ASTE national conference.
- The Nominee has been an active ASTE/AETS member for at least 15 consecutive or nonconsecutive years
- Nominee’s Name, Email, and Institution of current appointment or from which he/she retired
- Nomination cover letter will include:
- Number of years the nominee has been a member of ASTE
- List of any offices the nominee has held at the regional and/or national level(s) of ASTE
- List of service contributions the nominee has made to ASTE both at the regional and national levels (committees, etc.)
- List of presentations the nominee has made at regional and/or national ASTE conferences
- Evidence of the Nominees’ distinguished service to the field of science teacher education and to ASTE including impact of his/her service on ASTE and/or ASTE membership
- Nominee’s curriculum vita
- 1-page personal statement from the nominee
- Letters of support from five past or present members of ASTE
Upon recommendation of the Awards Committee, the Co-Chair will forward the results to the Board of Directors. Nominees, upon receiving endorsement of three-fourths of the Board of Directors voting, shall be declared elected. In recognition of this honor, the dues of ASTE Award III recipients shall be waived. All rights and privileges of an active member shall be maintained. Additionally, the recipient will receive a free electronic copy of JSTE/JESE, a plaque will be presented at the Annual ASTE Meeting, and a tribute will be printed in the awards issue of the ASTE Newsletter.
Score sheet criteria for Award III
Award IV – Innovation in Teaching Science Teachers.
This award seeks to encourage the development and dissemination of new designs for courses and curricula, new instructional methods or approaches, and other types of innovations in the pre- or in-service education of teachers of science. Manuscripts may deal with practices for the preparation of elementary, middle school, or secondary teachers. Papers in this category would be suitable for the ASTE journal, Innovations in Science Teacher Education.
Awardees of Award IV will receive a cash award sponsored by Carolina Biological Supply Company and a tribute in the awards issue of the ASTE Newsletter. Awardees of the Award IV – Graduate Student level will receive conference registration for the conference year in which the award is presented; this award will only be granted to the first author.
The ASTE Awards Committee bases its selection of the award-winning manuscript on the novelty of the innovation, evidence of effectiveness, clarity of communication, research/theory base, possibility for replication/expansion, and response to recognized weaknesses. The submitted manuscript must be blind with respect to the author(s) or affiliation(s). Author(s) should not be identified by name within the manuscript. No headers with the authors’ names or affiliations should appear nor any references to authors or affiliations in the manuscript. If one wishes to list to a reference from one of the authors, list simply as Author 1 (2003), for instance.
ASTE Award IV Submission Checklist– Materials are due March 1 in the year prior to the ASTE national conference.
Before submitting your manuscript, ensure that:
- You, the nominator, are an ASTE member
- You, the nominator, are the first author on the manuscript
- All authors are current ASTE members [if any authors on your paper are not ASTE members, please provide an explanation and/or justification for their non-membership]. Non-members are encouraged, and will be provided time, to join ASTE. Plaques will only be provided to ASTE members.
- The manuscript was presented at the previous ASTE International Conference
- The manuscript focuses on the development and dissemination of new designs for courses and curricula, new instructional methods or approaches, and other types of innovations in the pre- or in-service education of teachers of science
- The manuscript submitted for review is blind: All author names and affiliations, including those from headers and references are removed from the manuscript
- The manuscript submitted is in pdf format and less than 1Mb in file size
- You have read the judging criteria for the award
- The manuscript conforms to the submission criteria of the Innovations in Science Teacher Education (manuscripts are no longer than 15 pages long (excluding tables, figures, abstract, & references), the format of manuscripts must be in full compliance with format guidelines presented in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th Edition, and are double-spaced with one-inch margins using 12-point font on standard 8.5 x 11” paper)
- Graduate student authors seeking the graduate student-only level award must upload a letter from any faculty mentor who appears as author to indicate their involvement in the work, which should be kept to a minimum.
Score sheet criteria for Award IV
Award V – Implications of Research for Educational Practice.
Manuscripts submitted for this award should identify a persistent and recurring problem in the practice of science teacher education. The manuscript should clearly articulate a philosophical point or position to resolve the problem based upon a comprehensive synthesis of relevant research that interprets theoretical and empirical research for practice. Alternatively, the manuscript may discuss a research study and its implications for science teaching and learning. Papers in this category would be suitable for the ASTE journal, Journal of Science Teacher Education.
Awardees of Award V will receive a cash award sponsored by Carolina Biological Supply Company and a tribute in the awards issue of the ASTE Newsletter. Awardees of the Award V – Graduate Student level will receive conference registration for the conference year in which the award is presented; this award will only be granted to the first author.
Manuscripts will be judged on the problem, rationale, literature review, research synthesis or methodology, implications, and quality of writing.
ASTE Award V Submission Checklist– Materials are due March 1 in the year prior to the ASTE national conference.
Before submitting your manuscript, ensure that:
- You, the nominator, are an ASTE member
- You, the nominator, are the first author on the manuscript
- All authors are current ASTE members [if any authors on your paper are not ASTE members, please provide an explanation and/or justification for their non-membership]. Non-members are encouraged, and will be provided time, to join ASTE. Plaques will only be provided to ASTE members.
- The manuscript was presented at the previous ASTE International Conference
- The manuscript should clearly articulate a philosophical point or position to resolve the problem based upon a comprehensive synthesis of relevant research that interprets theoretical and empirical research for practice OR
- The manuscript may discuss a research study and its implications for science teaching and learning
- The manuscript identifies a persistent and recurring problem in the practice of science teacher education.
- The manuscript should develop strategies to resolve the problem based upon a comprehensive synthesis of relevant research that interprets theory and research for practice.
- The manuscript submitted for review is blind: All author names and affiliations, including those from headers and references are removed from the manuscript
- The manuscript submitted is in pdf format and less than 1Mb in file size
- You have read the judging criteria for the award
- The manuscript conforms to the submission criteria of the JSTE (manuscripts are no longer than 25 pages long, the format of manuscripts must be in full compliance with format guidelines presented in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th Edition, and are double-spaced with one-inch margins using 12-point font on standard 8.5 x 11” paper)
- Graduate student authors seeking the graduate student-only level award must upload a letter from any faculty mentor who appears as author to indicate their involvement in the work, which should be kept to a minimum.