Matt Kloser honored by NARST for research on biology education
By Amy Yuen
Matt Kloser (MS ’10, Biology), a doctoral candidate in the Science Education program, has received the 2011 Outstanding Paper Award from the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST).
Kloser’s paper, titled, “The Implications of a Unique Nature of Biology for Biology Education,” highlights the ways in which biology and the physical sciences differ, why these differences matter for biology education, and the implications that the unique nature of biology has for both teaching and learning in biology classrooms and for science education researchers.
“School science often presents a unitary nature of science in which the unique elements of the nature of biology are ignored,” said Kloser, who taught high school math and science for four years in Birmingham, Alabama and South Bend, Indiana. “In a time when issues related to genetics, stem cells, animal testing, and teaching evolution feature prominently in developing scientifically literate citizens, biology education must help students understand the unique properties of life and its implications for research and our understanding of the biological world.”
Kloser presented his paper at last March’s NARST International Annual Conference in Philadelphia and received the highest ratings from selection committee members. His research focuses on teaching and learning in biology, the impact of alternative texts on science learning, assessment in science classrooms, and undergraduate biology lab redesign. Prior to Stanford, he served as associate director for academics in the M.Ed. program at the University of Notre Dame, where he still serves as an adjunct faculty member teaching science teaching methods and science assessment courses to pre-service teachers.
NARST is a worldwide organization of professionals committed to the improvement of science teaching and learning through research. Since its inception in 1928, NARST has promoted research in science education and the communication of knowledge generated by the research. The ultimate goal of NARST is to help all learners achieve science literacy.
