Dr. Scott McDonald is a Professor of Science Education at The Pennsylvania State University and Director of the Krause Studios for Innovation in the PSU College of Education. He received his undergraduate degree in Physics. He was high school Physics teacher for six years before returning for a Ph.D. in Learning Technologies and Science Education at the University of Michigan. Dr. McDonald takes a design-based approach to research focuses on science teacher learning and student learning in the geosciences. He researches teacher learning, framed as professional pedagogical vision for ambitious and equitable science teaching practices. His current projects, in collabortion with Amy Pallant and Hee-Sun Lee at the Concord Consortium include The Geological Models for Explorations of Dynamic Earth (GEODE), GeoHazard: Modeling Natural Hazards and Assessing Risks project, and Geological Construction of Rock Arrangements from Tectonics: Systems Modeling Across Scales (GeoCRAFT).
Scott McDonald has hosted 299 Episodes.
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Episode 298: Dewey Have to Joke?
May 27th, 2026 | Season 6 | 46 mins 5 secs
This week we talk about the surprisingly prescient article from John Dewey in Science Education from 1916. Why did we not listen to him?
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Episode 297: Commencing to Speak
May 20th, 2026 | Season 6 | 44 mins 2 secs
In this episode, we discuss what makes a good commencement speech.
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Episode 296: Flexible Fairness
May 13th, 2026 | Season 6 | 46 mins 20 secs
This week we talk about the tension between fairness and flexibility when deciding about what kind of work people do and how we count it.
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Episode 295: Centering Humans with Technology
May 6th, 2026 | Season 6 | 40 mins 17 secs
In this episode, we discuss an article that outlines a framework for examining human-centered technology.
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Episode 294: Badgeless in Seattle
April 29th, 2026 | Season 6 | 41 mins 41 secs
This week we talk about deficit framing that researchers and teachers often take when doing their work.
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Episode 293: Professional Noticing
April 22nd, 2026 | Season 6 | 50 mins 49 secs
In this episode, we meet with Dr. Brett Criswell from West Chester University to discuss "professional noticing."
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Episode 292: Not Flying In
April 15th, 2026 | Season 6 | 47 mins 48 secs
The week we talk about scaling/impact, in other words how we think about innovation moving across educational systems.
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Episode 291: Pedgagogical Offloading
April 8th, 2026 | Season 6 | 43 mins 37 secs
In this episode, we discuss the pedagogical implications of AI use.
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Episode 290: Partner Play
April 1st, 2026 | Season 6 | 41 mins 57 secs
This week we talk about doing partnership work with schools.
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Episode 289: Thoreau Corollary
March 25th, 2026 | Season 6 | 48 mins 29 secs
In this episode, we discuss technology, pedagogy, and what our future classrooms could look like.
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Episode 288: Can You Accommodate Us?
March 18th, 2026 | Season 6 | 44 mins 5 secs
This week we talk about accommodations for students who need them and their increasing number in higher education.
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Episode 287: AI Very Special Episode
March 11th, 2026 | Season 6 | 52 mins 49 secs
In this episode, we discuss how qualitative researchers are using AI with Dr. Elizabeth Langran, Dr. Paula Cristina Azevdo, and Dr. Shernette Dunn.
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Episode 286: How Competent Are We?
March 4th, 2026 | Season 6 | 50 mins 59 secs
This week we discuss teacher education competencies and how they are used to structure requirements and thus courses at universities.
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Episode 285: Take Me to Your Leader
February 25th, 2026 | Season 6 | 41 mins 23 secs
In this episode, we discuss the role of the Science Content Advisor for the Department of Education.
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Episode 284: Brains are Messy
February 18th, 2026 | Season 6 | 41 mins 9 secs
This week we talk about the difference between knowing and understanding and maybe how comparing to AI neural networks can help clarify the difference.
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Episode 283: Games People Play
February 11th, 2026 | Season 6 | 46 mins 30 secs
In this episode, we discuss card games, especially ones for learning.