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 134 Episodes.
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Episode 117: That's So Extra
November 30th, 2022 | Season 3 | 44 mins 33 secs
In this episode, we discuss the benefits, opportunities, and potential downsides of extracurricular STEM activities.
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Episode 116: Scott McDonald Bingo
November 23rd, 2022 | Season 3 | 53 mins 49 secs
This week we talk about the dimensions of contrast between Ambitious Science Teaching and more traditional status quo teaching.
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Episode 115: There's Something in the Punchbowl
November 16th, 2022 | Season 3 | 51 mins 47 secs
In this episode, we talk about talk. Specifically, we talk about classroom discourse in science class.
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Episode 114: Insert Your Title Here
November 9th, 2022 | Season 3 | 41 mins 30 secs
This week we the 5 why method to answer why we teach science and why students should learn it.
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Episode 113: Avoiding the Land Mines
November 2nd, 2022 | Season 3 | 42 mins 37 secs
In this episode, we discuss how science teachers navigate the teaching of controversial topics.
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Episode 112: Community of Scientist in Schools and Beyond
October 26th, 2022 | Season 3 | 52 mins 27 secs
This week we do another "magic wand" experiment and transform science education (preK to undergrad, but mostly K-12).
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Episode 111: Magic Wands and Teacher Education
October 19th, 2022 | Season 3 | 45 mins 9 secs
In this episode, we wave a magic wand and change teacher education in America.
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Episode 110: Department of Educational Hygiene
October 12th, 2022 | Season 3 | 51 mins 47 secs
This week we talk about research in education and the ethics and complications of doing that work.
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Episode 109: Kidnapped to Paragraph Island
October 5th, 2022 | Season 3 | 42 mins 21 secs
In this episode, we discuss the importance of curricular planning and discuss how big ideas, anchoring events, and storylines can inform the process.
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Episode 108: Semi-Colon Closure Community
September 28th, 2022 | Season 3 | 40 mins 56 secs
This week we talk about closure at the end of lessons and what might be an alternative to closing things down.
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Episode 107: Scientific Literacy and Assorted Stuff
September 21st, 2022 | Season 3 | 47 mins 57 secs
In this episode, we discuss the evolution of the concept of "scientific literacy" over time.
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Episode 106: Prolly an Experiment
September 14th, 2022 | Season 3 | 44 mins 32 secs
This week we talk about how teaching (science) teachers can be like teaching science and how it is different.
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Episode 105: Observing and Questioning
September 7th, 2022 | Season 3 | 53 mins 58 secs
In this episode, we discuss how we frame observations of classrooms.
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Episode 104: Joys to the World, Vol. 2
August 31st, 2022 | Season 2 | 50 mins 53 secs
This week we did only joys. We chose one thing (or sometimes Ollie picked two) that brought us joy from a group of different categories.
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Episode 103: Just Not Right
August 24th, 2022 | Season 2 | 51 mins 8 secs
In this episode, we discuss the role of "correct answers" in science education.
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Episode 102: What We Talk About When We Talk About Informal Science Education
August 17th, 2022 | Season 2 | 44 mins 27 secs
This week we talk about the long overlooked (by us) context of informal science education.