Going Back for Our Future

Carrying Forward the Spirit of Pioneers of Science Education

Edited by:
Jon Pedersen, University of South Carolina
Kevin D. Finson, Bradley University
Barbara S. Spector, University of South Florida
Paul Jablon, Lesley University

A volume in the series: Pioneers of Science Education. Editor(s): Jon Pedersen, University of South Carolina.

Published 2013

This book is the first volume of an attempt to capture and record some of the answers to these questions—either from the pioneers themselves or from those persons who worked most closely with them. We know there are many pioneers and early trailblazers who are not included in this volume, but there are other volumes to follow. As we have posed questions, rummaged through files and oft-neglected books, and probed the memories of many individuals, we have come to realize our list of true pioneers is ever growing. There are names on the list that most of us readily recognize, and there are names of whom few of us have heard—yet who were significant in their roles as mentors or idea development and teaching. We quickly discovered that the “family tree” showing connections between these people is not a neat, clean simple branching tree, but is more like spaghetti. The connections are many, are intertwined, and all have their significance. The stories in this volume demonstrate how vital this network was in supporting the individual pioneers during their journey in difficult times and continues to be for those of us today in our own enterprise.

CONTENTS
Introduction, Why I Became a Teacher, J. Myron Atkin. A Career of Opportunities, Rodger W. Bybee. Pioneers in Science Education: Marvin Druger, Marvin Druger. Willard J. Jacobson: 20th Century Visionary in Science Education, Rodney L. Doran and Abby B. Bergman. Robert Karplus (1927–1990): Science Education Pioneer, Robert G. Fuller and Beverly Karplus Hartline. The Nature and Development of Scientific Reasoning: My Career in Science Education, Anton E. Lawson. Susan Loucks-Horsley, PhD: Transformational Leader and Spark for Educational Change, Susan Mundry. Don McCurdy: The “Overachiever”, Peggy Tilgner. A Half-Century Effort to Create a Theory of Education to Guide the Improvement of Teaching and Learning, Joseph K. Novak. Luck—A Defining Element of Success: Or, How a Few Borrowed Innovations, Time, Effort, and Money Combined with Opportunity and Support, Are Creating Success for Some Professors and Many Students, John E. Penick. Senta Raizen: A Pioneer, Senta Raizen and Trude Raizen. Mary Budd Rowe: What a Researcher Can Say to Science Teachers, Julie A. Bianchini and Nicole I. Holthuis. F. James Rutherford: An All Star Hall of Fame Science Educator, Catherine Lange. Shifting Paradigms in Science Education: A Change Agent’s Life on the Edge, Barbara Spector. Fletcher Guard Watson: Setting an Agenda for Science Education, Paul Jablon. Pinchas (Pini) Tamir: A Long-Distance Runner Across and Beyond Science Education, Avi Hofstein, Hanna J. Arzi, and Anat Zohar. Joseph E. Piel: Pioneering Technology in Science Education, Barbara S. Spector and Rene Goytia. Paul DeHart Hurd (1905–2002): Science Educator with a Social Vision, Barbara S. Spector. Epilogue. About the Editors. About the Contributors.