Research

SEPAL: The Science Education Partnership and Assessment Laboratory is interested in how people learn science, especially biology, and how teachers and scientists can collaborate to make science teaching and learning in schools and universities more like scientists practice science in their laboratories. Just like other science research groups, we ask questions about what we’re interested in, design ways to collect evidence to address our questions, and analyze and share the data that we collect with other researchers in our field.

The overarching goals of SEPAL are to 1) conduct research on conceptual difficulties, alternative conceptions, and conceptual change in biology education specifically and science education more generally, 2) develop a cadre of biologists with the experience, skills, and commitment to act as pedagogical change agents throughout their careers, 3) transform undergraduate courses to engage students in habits of mind and practices of biological professionals, and 4) center inclusion, equity, and diversity as key to all our scholarly efforts.

To learn more about the research at SEPAL, you can explore…

– Profiles of current and former SEPAL researchers

– Previous and ongoing research shared in publications

– Grants awarded to SEPAL that fund the science education research

– Additional affiliated projects that SEPAL is involved in