Karen Sullenger

Karen Sullenger is a science educator interested in increasing the number of students and adults who are comfortable and confident in their understanding of science. My current research is focused on understanding the ways learners’ understanding of and attitudes towards/interest in science is changes when they participate in informal science learning experiences. The program she has created offers learners a new approach to learning science that considers the four potential barriers that can make science seem nonsensical, shift the goal of understanding science from accumulating knowledge to determining who science are, how they work, what they are interested in, what they learned from their research, and how they defend and communicate their ideas.

I have an undergraduate and master’s degrees in science education with concentrations in biology and ecology. I am also a graduate of the school of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Duke University and completed a doctorate in science education from the University of Georgia. My research interests also include the role of language, especially, writing in teaching and learning science. As Director of CRYSTAL Atlantique, I have been able to put into practice and study still another area of research interest -- collaborations and what makes effective collaborations. Finally, as a science educator in the Faculty of Education at the University of New Brunswick, creating and providing effective learning experience for prospective teachers is central to my work.

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