Scott McDonald
Co-Host of Science In-Between
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 225 Episodes.
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Episode 64: Surrounded by Smarter Friends
November 17th, 2021 | Season 2 | 54 mins 11 secs
We talk about how to change schools, or at least begin to try to talk about it.
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Episode 63: Total Dumbness and Horoscopes
November 10th, 2021 | Season 2 | 52 mins 5 secs
In this episode, Scott and Ollie discuss the standardization movement and why schools and disciplines have content standards.
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Episode 62: Free as in Beer (not as in Speech)
November 3rd, 2021 | Season 2 | 52 mins 46 secs
This episode we talk about Open Education Resources (OER) as a tool for teachers and teacher educators to use when supporting student learning.
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Episode 61: From Curb Cuts to Classrooms
October 27th, 2021 | Season 2 | 43 mins 2 secs
In this episode, Scott and Ollie discuss Universal Design for Learning and how it can help to make learning more inclusive.
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Episode 60: This IS What The People Come For
October 20th, 2021 | Season 2 | 48 mins 23 secs
Ollie went to his first conference since the pandemic started and he wants to debrief.
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Episode 59: Pocket Full of Questions
October 13th, 2021 | Season 2 | 47 mins 31 secs
In this episode, Scott and Ollie discuss the final practice in their Ambitious Science Teaching series: Pressing for evidence-based explanations.
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Episode 58: Not The Nonsense You Came For
October 6th, 2021 | Season 2 | 44 mins 30 secs
This week we talk about the second AST practice, supporting students' on-going thinking.
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Episode 57: Not Scott's Age. Or Episode 56
September 29th, 2021 | Season 2 | 44 mins 29 secs
In this episode, we dig into the second phase of Ambitious Science Teaching: Eliciting students' ideas.
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Episode 56: The Big Umbrella
September 22nd, 2021 | Season 2 | 42 mins 10 secs
This week we begin a conversation about equity and inclusive and responsive practices for engaging all students in school in productive ways, sometimes described as inclusion.
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Episode 55: Good Things Come in Threes
September 15th, 2021 | Season 2 | 47 mins 22 secs
In this final episode in our "teacher education trilogy," Scott and Ollie discuss the current preparation programs at their institutions and how their design was informed by research.
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Episode 54: My Minion, Not My Lackey
September 8th, 2021 | Season 2 | 42 mins 36 secs
We continue our conversation around science teacher preparation, specifically our own experience with being prepared to teach science.
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Episode 53: Ten Thousand Hours Ago
September 2nd, 2021 | Season 2 | 51 mins 25 secs
In this episode, Scott and Ollie share their experiences with their teacher education programs.
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Episode 52: Joy to the World
August 25th, 2021 | Season 1 | 57 mins 1 sec
For this last episode of season one we just talk joys.
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Episode 51: Harumph!
August 17th, 2021 | Season 1 | 52 mins 14 secs
In this episode, we dig deeper into phenomenon-based teaching and what it would look like in a classroom setting.
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Episode 50: Mahna Mahna Do Do Do Do Do
August 13th, 2021 | Season 1 | 56 mins 11 secs
This episode we talk about the difference between a phenomenon and a science topic and why people should care about it.
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Episode 49: Not about Pornography, Eugenics or Psychopathy
August 4th, 2021 | Season 1 | 52 mins 9 secs
In this episode, we finish up our discussion of pedagogical content knowledge and examine the larger impacts (and unintended consequences) of measuring things.