Assistant
Professor of Science Education
Science Center 161
Phone: (319) 352-8380
Fax: (319) 352-8606
Email: mark.mcdermott@wartburg.edu
Mail
address
Biology Department
Wartburg College
100 Wartburg Blvd.
Waverly, Iowa, USA 50677
Classes Taught
BI 470, CHE 470, PHY 470 Secondary Science Methods
SCI 385 Elementary Science Methods
PHY 130 Physics of Ordinary Things
BI 131 Biology of Ordinary Things
BI 120 / PHY 120 Science of Water
Personal Interests
College Football, Sports, Reading, Spending time with my wife and two kids |
Research Interests
My overall research interest is to explore and help develop more effective approaches for all science learners to improve their conceptual understanding and to increase their science literacy. Specifically, I am involved in the following areas of ongoing research:
- Writing-to-Learn in Science: Non-traditional writing tasks can be utilized to improve student understanding of science concepts, of the nature of science, and of their own learning processes. I have been involved in research designed to clarify appropriate characteristics of these tasks, including the types of writing, the audience written to, and the method of evaluation by the instructor, as well as research aimed at identifying student perceptions of these tasks. One emerging area I have been involved with is exploration of writing tasks in which students create written products combining modes such as diagrams, pictures, graphs, or mathematical expressions with text. Current focus is on how to encourage students to integrate these modes in order to create an effective written product and to improve the learning of the author.
- Science Learning Approaches: I have also studied more broad based learning approaches to science, including an approach based on negotiation and student argument known as the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH). Interest in this area involves both how it helps students and how to encourage teachers to utilize the approach.
- Neuroscience and Student Learning: Emerging techniques in neuroscience are impacting the way the learning of science and the methods applied to develop science learning are studied. I am interested in exploring these techniques and applying them to my other research interests.
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