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 176: Stars of Many Colors
January 17th, 2024 | Season 4 | 46 mins 24 secs
This week we talk about perfectionism, grades, and systems of evaluation and how they impact learners and us as humans.
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Episode 175: Not Scott's Bucket List
January 10th, 2024 | Season 4 | 47 mins 37 secs
In this episode, we discuss a recent Adam Grant podcast and the role that the arts play in education.
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Episode 174: Outgroup Bucket List
January 3rd, 2024 | Season 4 | 53 mins 52 secs
This week we talk outgroup dehumanization and how we put people in buckets of us and them.
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Episode 173: The Show Before the Show
December 27th, 2023 | Season 4 | 39 mins 21 secs
In this special holiday edition, Scott and Ollie record their pointless banter before the show.
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Episode 172: Not Just Nonsense
December 20th, 2023 | Season 4 | 51 mins 31 secs
This week we talk about the research that we do when we are not talking to each other on the podcast.
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Episode 171: A Simulating Conversation
December 13th, 2023 | Season 4 | 48 mins 52 secs
In this episode, we discuss the role of computer simulations in science education.
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Episode 170: Uncomfortable Transitions
December 6th, 2023 | Season 4 | 40 mins 35 secs
This week we talk about the importance of discomfort in learning.
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Episode 169: Add It Up
November 29th, 2023 | Season 4 | 40 mins 16 secs
In this episode, we discuss the NCTM standards and teaching practices and how they compare to the NGSS standards.
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Episode 168: The Holiday Uncle Test
November 22nd, 2023 | Season 4 | 35 mins 29 secs
This week we talk about The School of Thought, in particular the new Conspiracy Test that asks people to examine their own thinking.
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Episode 167: One Query, Two Query, Red Query, Blue Query
November 15th, 2023 | Season 4 | 47 mins 54 secs
In this episode, we discuss different ethical scenarios that relate to the use of generative AI in academic situations.
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Episode 166: Fidelity Landmines
November 8th, 2023 | Season 4 | 43 mins 54 secs
This week we talk about the complexity of "scaling up," or how we try and spread innovations in practice.
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Episode 165: Fallacious Beasts and Where to Find Them
November 1st, 2023 | Season 4 | 42 mins 49 secs
In this episode, we discuss logical fallacies and how they apply to science education reform efforts.
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Episode 164: Old and Regular Practices
October 25th, 2023 | Season 4 | 43 mins 35 secs
This week we talk about the engineering practices, which were added to the science practices as part of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
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Episode 163: Caught in Charlotte's Web
October 18th, 2023 | Season 4 | 47 mins 52 secs
In this episode, we attempt to do a cross-walk between Charlotte Danielson's Framework for Teaching and the Next Generation Science Standards and Ambitious Science Teaching.
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Episode 162: Your Cultural Cookies
October 11th, 2023 | Season 4 | 44 mins 32 secs
This week we talk about how we talk about the social and political consequences of science as part of what we do in Ambitious Science Teaching classrooms.
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Episode 161: A Nobel Aspiration
October 4th, 2023 | Season 4 | 45 mins 46 secs
In this episode, we discuss who would qualify for a Nobel Prize in Education, if one existed.