Scott McDonald

My research in the area of learning technologies is focused on the impact of emerging technologies on faculty's intellectual workflow. I work with Ellysa Cahoy, an Education Research Librarian here at PSU on this work. We are currently seeking funding from the Mellon Foundation to engage in an ethnographic study of faculty scholarly processes here at PSU. 

One of my research projects in science education focuses on understanding the difference between expert and novice science teachers in terms of their professional pedagogical vision. I make extensive use of the video analysis tool, Studiocode as a part of helping teachers learn to teach as well as to analyze my own data. This work is funded by the Knowles Science Teaching Foundations as part of an Early Career Research Fellowship.

Another research project in science education I am involved in focuses on learning progressions in Plate Tectonics and Astronomy as part of the Middle Grade Earth and Space Science (ESS) Partnership. This is an National Science Foundationhttp://www.personal.psu.edu/esc10/blogs/E-Tech/home.html funded project that seeks to impact ESS teaching through professional development and also improve the status of ESS as a school science subject.

I have a B.S. in Physics from The Colorado College in Colorado Springs, a M.Ed. in Teaching, a M.S. in Science Education, and a Ph.D. in Learning Technologies, all from the University of Michigan. I was a high school Physics teacher for 6 years in the Boston area prior to returning for my Ph.D. degree.