Amelia Gotwals
What was your M.A. and/or Ph.D. specialty at Michigan?
M.S. Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
M.S. Science Education
PhD. Science Education
What year did you graduate?
2006
What is your present position?
Assistant professor of teacher education (science education), Michigan State University
What is the title of your dissertation?
"The Nature of Students' Science Knowledge Base: Using Assessment to Paint a Picture"
In this dissertation, I examined the multifaceted nature of Detroit Public School students' science knowledge bases after their participation in the 6th grade inquiry-based curricular unit, BioKIDS: Kids' Inquiry of Diverse Species. I utilized principled assessment design techniques, verbal protocol analysis, and item response theory to examine the validity of assessment items and the patterns in students' responses. I found that students have a complex science knowledge base, where the different facets of students' science knowledge are closely intertwined, yet still not fully integrated at the completion of the BioKIDS unit, suggesting the need for further inquiry-based experiences and scaffolding of complex reasoning.
What did you learn in the program? Why was the program of value to you?
I learned quite a bit in the Ph.D. program at the University of Michigan. The program had a sequence of courses for all incoming PhD students and specialized courses for science education students that provided the foundations for my advanced study. These courses gave me the abilities to take more advanced courses in my areas of interest and also work on a research project to carve out a niche for my own studies. The program provided the structure at the beginning to help give me these essential foundations, but provided flexibility in my later years that allowed me to branch out and conduct a dissertation study in a new and exciting area in the field.
Prior to coming to the SOE what did you do?
I graduated from Brown University with a degree in Biology. I then taught middle school and high school biology.
