ASTE Members:

We are excited to announce the call for Thread Coordinators for the 2022 annual conference. Presentations at our annual conference are organized by ‘Threads’ that bring together sessions and topics related to a variety of member interests. Each Thread is led by a team of two coordinators.

Thread coordinators are appointed for a 2-year term. They work with the ASTE Program Coordinator to build the conference program by evaluating proposal reviews for their assigned conference thread and making a final recommendation based on that to accept/reject proposals to the annual meeting. They also suggest ways that accepted proposals might be grouped to create coherent sessions. Most of the Thread Coordinators’ work takes place in late July to mid-August and is conducted remotely.

We hope you will consider volunteering to serve ASTE in this role, and to help contribute to the quality and diversity of our conference offerings! Applications are due Wednesday, March 24, 2021.

If you have any questions about serving as a Thread Coordinator, please contact:  

• Brooke Whitworth, ASTE Conference Program Coordinator, or 
• Andrea Burrows, Chair of the ASTE Conference Planning Committee 

A full list of Conference Threads appears below. Coordinators are needed for all threads, except where chairs are indicated.

·         College and University Science Education: Proposals for this strand will address issues such as conceptual change, content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, etc. that are pertinent to higher education science faculty who work with science teachers or science teacher educators, community, and after-school programs.

·         Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Assessment: Proposals for this strand will be in the form of practice or research pieces that inform science teacher educators about curriculum, pedagogy and assessment for current and future science teachers as used by science teacher educators and in science departments.

·         Educational Technology: Proposals for this strand will be in the form of practice or research pieces that inform science teacher educators about technology use and training for present and future science teachers as used by science teacher educators.
Chairs:Jesse Wilcox and Colby Tofel-Grehl

·         Equity & Diversity: Proposals for this strand will address equity and diversity issues that current and future science teacher educators encounter.

·         Ethnoscience and Environmental Education: Proposals for this strand will be in the form of practice or research pieces that inform science teacher educators about culture, diversity and environmental education for current and future teachers.

·         History, Philosophy, and Nature of Science: Proposals for this strand will be in the form of practice, theory or research pieces that inform science teacher educators about history, philosophy and the nature of science (not limited to science practices) for current and future science teachers.

·         Informal/Out-of-School Science Education: Proposals for this strand will be in the form of practice or research pieces that inform science teacher educators about informal science education for current and future science teachers.

·         Policy, Advocacy and Reform: Proposals for this strand will be in the form of practice, white papers, position statements or research pieces that inform science teacher educators about policy and reform and how each impacts science teacher educators and education.
Chairs: Joanne Olson and Daniel Carpenter

·         Preservice Science Teacher Preparation-ELEMENTARY: Proposals for this strand will be in the form of practice or research pieces that inform science teacher educators about science teacher preparation programs.

·         Preservice Science Teacher Preparation-MIDDLE/SECONDARY: Proposals for this strand will be in the form of practice or research pieces that inform science teacher educators about science teacher preparation programs.

·         Professional Development for Science Teacher Educators (PD Workshops) Proposals for one-hour workshops for science teacher educators can be submitted to this strand. Workshops are currently embedded in the conference schedule, rather than being scheduled pre-conference.
*Chaired by the PD Committee

·         Science Teacher Professional Development-ELEMENTARY: Proposals for this strand will be in the form of practice or research pieces that inform science teacher educators about science teacher professional development.

·         Science Teacher Professional Development-MIDDLE/SECONDARY: Proposals for this strand will be in the form of practice or research pieces that inform science teacher educators about science teacher professional development.

·         STEM Education: Proposals for this strand will be in the form of practice or research pieces that inform science teacher educators about STEM education, our understanding of what STEM means, and the National Standards for STEM for future and current science teachers.

·         Student Learning P-12: Proposals for this strand will be in the form of practice or research pieces that inform science teacher educators about the relationship between student learning and current and future science teachers.

Dr. Andrea C. Burrows
University of Wyoming – College of Education
Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs
Professor – Science Education – School of Teacher Education

Dear ASTE colleagues:
 
It is with a heavy heart that we write to you with the sad news of the passing of ASTE (AETS at the time) past president Norman G. Lederman. Norm passed away on the morning of February 26, 2021 after a brief and unexpected illness. As always, his wife and partner, Judy Lederman was right by his side, as well as his stepchildren Abigail Bernier and Ben Sweeney. He and Judy had recently relocated from Chicago, Illinois to Rhode Island to be closer to family and continue their work in science education. Norm was 69. He embodied in his career the often-sought goal in our community of bridging the worlds of science teachers, science teacher educators, and science education researchers.
 
Over the course of 47 years, Norm led a distinguished and impactful career as a science teacher, science teacher educator, and science education researcher and leader. Shortly after earning his B.S. and M.S. degrees in biology from Bradley University (1971) and New York University (1973), respectively, Norm taught biology for a decade to high school and community college students in Illinois and New York, as well as college students at Syracuse University. During those years, he earned an M.S. in secondary education from Bradley (1977) and Ph.D. in science education from Syracuse University (1983), studying under Dr. Marvin Druger. Norm held assistant professor positions in science education and teacher education at Syracuse University, State University of New York–Albany, and Oregon State University (OSU). At OSU, he was promoted to associate and then full professor. In 2001, he chaired OSU’s Department of Mathematics and Science Education, and left that year to found and chair IIT’s new Mathematics and Science Education Department. In 2011, Norm was named an IIT Distinguished Professor. By the time of his retirement in 2020, his IIT department had become a local, national, and international force in discipline-based mathematics and science education. Along the way, Norm was a Visiting Research Professor at National Changhua University of Education, Taiwan; Fulbright Scholar at the University of Pretoria, South Africa; Honorary Professor at the Hong Kong Institute of Education; Guest Professor at Beijing Normal University, China; and Distinguished Foreign Expert at the State Administration of Foreign Affairs, China. At the time of his passing, Norm was a “virtual” visiting professor at the University of Science and Technology of China.
 
Norm taught and mentored hundreds upon hundreds of science students, preservice and inservice science teachers, and graduate students in science education in the United States and across the globe. He was major professor to 51 doctoral students, mentoring them into successful careers of their own. Norm was an amazing mentor and treated his doctoral students as family, and was considered as family to all his students. For his work, Norm received the Illinois Outstanding Biology Teacher Award from the National Association of Biology Teachers (1979), as well as the Presidential Citation for Distinguished Service (1986) and Outstanding Mentor Award (1998) from the Association for the Education of Teachers in Science (AETS). Additionally, Norm provided significant service and leadership to major national and international organizations across science teaching, science teacher education, and science education research. He was elected president of AETS (1994), member of the board of directors (1994–1998) and director of teacher education (1996–1998) of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), and NARST executive board of directors (1997–2000) and then NARST president (2002). He also served as the North American representative to the International Council of Associations for Science Education (2004–2010). For this extensive service and leadership, NSTA recognized Norm in 2017 with the Distinguished Service to Science Education Award.
 
Norm was an intellectual force and prolific researcher. He studied preservice and inservice science teachers’ knowledge structures of subject matter and pedagogy, pedagogical content knowledge, and teachers’ concerns and beliefs. Norm is best known for his research on teaching and learning about nature of science (NOS), a robust domain of research in science education that is inextricably linked with his name. Norm’s 1992 review of the research literature on NOS published in the Journal of Research in Science Teaching (JRST) continues to be one of the top five most cited papers in our field. This paper has shaped research on NOS in science education for the past 30 years. Over his distinguished career, Norm published more than 200 articles in professional refereed journals and 46 book chapters. He authored or edited 11 books, including an elementary science teaching methods textbook. Norm co-edited with Sandra Abell the Handbook of Research on Science Education: Volume I (2007) and Volume II (2014), and was editing Volume III of the handbook, with Dana Zeidler and Judy Lederman, at the time of his passing. Norm has given more than 1000 presentations, invited talks, and keynote addresses at regional, national and international professional conferences and meetings, as well as universities around the globe. His work has been heavily cited with 38,000+ citations on Google Scholar (h-index = 70; i10-index = 153) and 6,400+ citations on the Web of Science® (h-index = 33; i-10 index = 45).
 
Norm’s research leadership extended to shaping the field through extensive engagement in the editorship of professional journals. He served as co-editor of the School Science and Mathematics Journal, and Journal of Science Teacher Education (JSTE), as well as associate editor for JRST, JSTE, and International Journal of Science Education, among many other journals. Norm served on the editorial boards of some 15 science education journals across the globe.
 
For his scholarship, Norm was elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2009) and American Education Research Association (2010). He was recognized with an honorary doctorate from the University of Stockholm, Sweden (2008). In 2011 NARST honored him with the Distinguished Contributions to Science Education through Research Award for his outstanding and continuing contributions, notable leadership, and substantial impact in the area of science education.
 
The science education community worldwide lost a colleague, relentless advocate, and visionary leader with exceptional passion and dedication to the causes of science education. For those of us who knew Norm as an outstanding teacher, dedicated advisor, supportive mentor, and lifelong friend, our loss is even graver. We will miss him sorely.
 
Judy Lederman can be reached at ledermanj@iit.edu or by mail at 239 Spartina Cove Way, Wakefield, RI 02879, USA.

Dear ASTE Members,

You are invited to submit a proposal  for an ASTE-sponsored session at the upcoming NSTA Engage Spring 2021 Virtual Conference which will take place  over four weeks April 12-May 8.  

• April 12-17 Elementary
• April 19-24 Middle Level
• April 26-May 1 High School
• May 3-8 Postsecondary and Informal (*one day exclusively dedicated to programming for science teacher educators)

As an affiliate of NSTA, ASTE is provided with 5 hours of programming at the upcoming NSTA Engage Conference.  These proposals will undergo a review by ASTE prior to acceptance, and should not be submitted directly to the NSTA conference proposal system. 
Proposals are due Wednesday, February 10^th and will be evaluated on the extent to which they: 

• Support specifically identified parts of the NRC Framework, the NGSS, or state standards.
• Support three-dimensional teaching and learning.
• Are based on current and available research.
• Involve participants through activities or discussion.
• Are grounded in cultural competency (promotes equity, demonstrates the value of diversity, and addresses the impact of bias). 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Debi Hanuscin (hanuscd@wwu.edu). 

Dear ASTE Community,

Your input to the Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE) membership survey is critical to the ongoing improvement of ASTE.

If you haven’t had the opportunity, we encourage you to consider providing input through our ASTE membership survey.

If you have already submitted feedback through the membership survey, thank you so much! You can disregard the remainder of this email.

Three committees (Equity, Membership and Participation, and Professional Development) are responsible for gathering data from ASTE members every three years to provide ASTE with valuable feedback. All the data you provide are anonymous. Responses to the survey will be used to identify areas for improvement in the organization and to guide strategic planning. The survey will close February 26, 2021. 

The Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE) promotes leadership and support for professionals involved in the education and development of teachers of science at all levels. If you have any questions about the survey, please forward them to the ASTE Executive Director:executivedirector@theaste.org

Link to survey: https://forms.gle/UTA7r1G9Y2j2YNHMA

Sincerely,
ASTE Leadership team

Due Date: Monday March 1, 2021

Members of the Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE),

Are you interested in serving on the Editorial Review Board (ERB) for the practitioner journal Innovations in Science Teacher Education (Innovations)?  If so, please apply; we would love to have your expertise on the board.

Innovations is an online practitioner development journal of the Association for Science Teacher Education. It is a place where science teacher educators can share the work they do to prepare preservice and inservice science teachers. We publish four issues per year featuring concrete ideas and strategies that are easily replicable by science educators in their own setting, context, and with their unique student population. The activities, ideas and strategies described in the manuscripts are based on a firm foundation of scholarly work in science education and describe innovative efforts to advance the field and enhance science teacher education. 

We are seeking any (and all) interested ASTE members from different stages in their careers and/or working in a variety of contexts (i.e., university faculty, graduate students, and formal or informal science educators working in private sector or nonprofit centers focused on science teacher professional development).

Qualifications:

• Established record of publishing in, or reviewing for, peer-reviewed science education practitioner and/or research journals.
• Prior experience as a reviewer for grants or other scholarly works.
• Expertise in teacher education (preservice, induction, and inservice). Areas within these domains can focus on curriculum development, technology, or informal settings.

Duties and Responsibilities if Selected:

• Read and evaluate approximately 4-6 manuscripts per year in a timely manner.
• Review manuscripts within four weeks of receipt.
• Maintain membership in the Association for Science Teacher Education.
• Commit to serving on the ERB for three years (ERBs will be reviewed yearly).
• Provide written reports and formative feedback on submitted manuscripts using the criteria and evaluation form provided by the Editors.
• Provide feedback to the editors about the journal direction and review process.
• Help recruit high impact authors for the journal.

To apply, please submit electronically in a SINGLE PDF the following materials to Sarah Boesdorfer at ISTEjournal@ilstu.edu by Monday March 1, 2021

● One-page letter of interest that includes a list of at least three areas of expertise, very specific areas welcome, in science teacher education in which you would be comfortable reviewing manuscripts.

● Two-page vita that emphasizes publications in refereed journals, especially practitioner journals, and includes any previous reviewing or editing experience.

Dear ASTE Members,

The ASTE Awards Committee is now accepting nominations for outstanding papers presented at our 2021 ASTE virtual conference. ASTE members are invited to submit an electronic copy of their manuscript by following the directions available at http://theaste.org/awards.

Award IV – Innovation in Teaching Science Teachers

Award V – Implications of Research for Educational Practice

Awards IV and V include graduate student-only levels. Only graduate students who were the first author on a 2021 ASTE conference presentation are eligible. Submission for a graduate student level award must be accompanied by a letter from any faculty mentor co-authors explaining their involvement. Awardees will receive conference registration for the 2021 ASTE conference in Greenville, NC. Submissions may only be considered for one level of the award. Please see the website for more details.

All submissions must be identifiable as a presentation given at the 2021 ASTE virtual conference and closely resemble the paper distributed at the conference.  Submissions for both Awards IV and V are due March 1^st and must comply with the submission guidelines (e.g. page limits, formatting, etc.). Please see http://theaste.org/awards for more information regarding submission guidelines and requirements.

If you have questions about Awards IV or V, please contact the Awards co-Chairs.

Thank you,

Jennifer Stark (jstark@uwf.edu) & Corinne Lardy (corinne.lardy@csus.edu) 

Awards Committee co-Chairs

Dear ASTE Board & Members, 

I am soliciting contributions for the Winter ASTE Newsletter. If you have a short piece/announcement that would be beneficial to ASTE members you would like included in the newsletter, please send it to newsletter@theaste.org by February 5th so that I can assemble this edition and get it off for review before being shared with the full ASTE community. 

Regional Directors! Don’t forget to share with me what’s going in your region!

I am also looking for some ideas for the Op Ed piece for future issues. IF you have something interesting, thought-provoking or related to any current events, please email me with a short description of your idea. 

Also, if you have any new resources or publications, let me know that too! Send me a short blurb with the appropriate information for how to access it and I will get it published too!

If you have any questions or require guidance regarding the newsletter, please do not hesitate to contact me! 

Please include a head shot with your email so I can include it with your submission. Because I want to continue to connect all ASTE members with each other, I value these photos. Therefore, be warned that if you do not share a photo, I will be pulling images from online (e.g., linkedin, university faculty pages, past newsletters…). 

Sincerely,

Jennifer Oramous, ASTE Newsletter Editor

Dear ASTE Conference Attendees,

Thank you to the over 350 of you who participated in our first ever Virtual Conference! We owe a debt of gratitude to our Thread Coordinators, Proposal Reviewers, Presiders, Zoom Hosts, and all the ASTE staff (Program Coordinator, Brooke Whitworth, Executive Director- Kate Popejoy, and Director of Electronic Services- John Rhea) and the ASTE leadership  who worked behind the scenes to make this happen!  While we weren’t able to be in Salt Lake City with Kathy Trundle and Max Longhurst, we know they are planning to host us in the future!

We are eager to hear your input about this, and future, conferences. Please take the time to share that via our 2021 Annual Conference Survey. We would appreciate your responses no later than February 15th to allow our Conference Planning Committee to take these into consideration.  

CONGRATULATIONS to our Three-Minute Thesis competition winner, Stephanie Stehle from George Mason University who presented High School Students’ Use of Metacognition in Physics Problem Solving. 

On behalf of the  SITE Science Education SIG Chair Joshua Ellis and Co-Chair Dr. Nathan Dolenc, we are pleased to announce this year’s NTLI Fellow as Prof. Kate Walker for her presentation, Undergraduate Utilization of Virtual Reality in Conducting Student Designed Scientific Research. Congratulations!The John C. Park National Technology Leadership Initiative (NTLI) Fellowship, sponsored by Vernier Software & Technology, was established to recognize an exemplary presentation on technology at ASTE’s annual conference. Each year, NTLI Fellows are invited to present at the annual conference of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE). We would like to thank the members of this year’s NTLI Review Panel: Drs. Sumreen Asim, Rich Lamb, Gillian Roehrig, and David Slykhuis. 

Sincerely,

ASTE Conference Planning Committee 

Dear ASTE Conference Proposal Reviewers: 

I want to extend heartfelt thanks to you for serving in this important role. Your work reviewing and providing feedback helps ensure our conference provides attendees with high-quality research that represents the diverse voices in our organization. 

Thank you for the time and effort you put into reading and evaluating session proposals this year. I encourage you to share your feedback via the 2021 Conference Evaluation, but also welcome any feedback you would like to share with me directly about the proposal review process and/or serving as a proposal reviewer. 

Sincerely,

Deborah Hanuscin

ASTE President

Dear ASTE members, 

The ASTE Elections Committee would like to announce the call for nominees for the following elected positions that will be on the 2021 ballot (number of positions in parentheses):

President (1)
At-Large Board Members (2)–NOTE: All At-Large Board Members are appointed to serve as chair/co-chair of an ASTE Committee. Upcoming vacancies include the Publications Committee & Professional Development Committee.
Elections Committee (3)

The deadline for nominations is March 15, 2021.

The following information should be submitted for the nominee:

·        Name of Nominee

·        Position for which the person is being nominated

·        Nominee contact information, including email address

The nominee information should be submitted electronically on the website http://theaste.org/resources/submit-an-elections-nomination/. You will need to log in as an ASTE member to submit your nomination. Receipt of the nomination will be acknowledged via a reply message. 

Once the Elections Committee receives nominations, potential candidates are evaluated based on their service to ASTE through a variety of venues including service on ASTE committees, service at ASTE conferences, and publications in ASTE related journals. The rubric used to evaluate nominated candidates is found on the nominations page. This rubric will be used to evaluate nominees so that there are no more than 3 candidates for President, 4 candidates for At-Large Board Members, and 4 candidates for Elections Committee. Please note that prior service experience to ASTE is what is primarily used to evaluate nominees. We encourage anyone interested in more information to contact the co-chairs of the committee.

For more information about the roles and responsibilities of the ASTE Leadership Team positions, please visit the ASTE website- www.theaste.org. Information about each of the positions may be found on pages 4, 15 of the link “Statement of Operating Procedures” found within the “About” tab. 

We look forward to receiving your nominations.

Amanda Glaze-Crampes and Jeanna Wieselman, Chairs