Narrating International and National Trends in US Science Education: An Autobiographical Approach Showcasing Dr. Robert Yager

Geeta Verma,Lisa Martin-Hansen

doi:10.12973/ejmste/75269

Abstract

This biographical piece is based on a conversation involving Bob Yager, Geeta Verma, and Lisa Martin-Hansen which took place at the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) conference in March, 2008. The unique aspect of this autobiographical piece is that it highlights Dr. Yager’s account about the emergence of the science education field of study and his engagement with the field over a period of more than 50 years. The piece is organized using conversation topics through a biographical narrative format that starts at the beginning of Dr. Yager’s career, establishing science education at The University of Iowa, the emergence of Science, Technology, and Society (STS) ideas, existing intersections between STS and Socioscientific Issues (SSI) ideas, his reflections on work with doctoral students, and a consideration of the goals and aims for future directions in the field.

Highlights

We recently published an article, “A conversation between Dana Zeidler, and Geeta Verma and Lisa MartinHansen; Exploring further possibilities in science education” in EURASIA Journal of Mathematics, Science & TechnologyEducation to document Dr Dana Zeidler’s professional career and contributions
published pieces contribute to scholarly chronicling of prominent science educators and researchers
A Conversation with Robert Yager number of scholars that were impacted by being a member of the academic lineage of Dr Yager

Summary

INTRODUCTION

We recently published an article, “A conversation between Dana Zeidler, and Geeta Verma and Lisa Martin. Education to document Dr Dana Zeidler’s professional career and contributions. Such published pieces contribute to scholarly chronicling of prominent science educators and researchers. We felt that it would be of immense value to document and narrate Dr Yager’s personal and professional career and to note his contributions to the science education field. We used the following biographical topics to illustrate the highlights of Dr Yager’s professional career. These topics emerged out of our audio- taped structured conversation with Dr Yager. The biographical narrative includes our elucidation and construction of his professional events supported by verbatim quotations from Dr Yager.

Considerations of the goals and aims for future directions for the field

Concluding thoughts