Curriculum & Instruction

Iowa—The International Center for Science Education

Over the past four decades, The University of Iowa College of Education has drawn more than 50 professional educators from virtually every corner of the world to spend time on campus as visiting scholars. The scholars have come to campus to learn how Americans educate their children. Once they return to their homelands, they apply those educational principles, threading ties to the College that have withstood time and distance.

This year alone, Professor Robert Yager has hosted four such educators from Estonia, Egypt, Taiwan, and the Philippines, including three Fulbright scholars.

"Iowa is an international center for science education," Yager says, who maintains professional ties with many visiting scholars years after they have returned to their own countries. "Teachers are not islands unto themselves, and it's exciting to learn from educators from around the world. Sometimes what we learn is what can go wrong with education in other settings."

Yager met Estonian Miia Rannikmae at a 1997 conference in Seoul, South Korea. Rannikmae recently earned the first doctorate in education from a 300-year-old university in her country, and Yager served on her dissertation committee. She is a senior researcher at the University of Tartum, where she teaches science education. Yager says she is interested in broadening people's view of science beyond just a recitation of what scientists do to an understanding of how all of us use scientific evidence to interpret and live in our world.

"It has been my dream to come work with Professor Yager," Rannikmae said. "I have learned much about how to organize research teams and how much to demand from students."

Rannikmae believes her presence has helped people in the University community better comprehend the diversity within European and former Soviet-block nations. She notes that the United States is "the place to learn tolerance and to restructure attitudes and opinions about science education."

Azza Elmaghawry, another international scholar working with Yager, is an assistant lecturer in science education at Tanta University (Egypt) who learned about Iowa's College of Education through Yager's journal articles.
"I knew that Professor Yager was a big name in the science education field," said Elmaghawry, who will spend a year working with her Iowa mentor and collecting data for her doctorate. "After reading his work, I learned about the University through the Internet. It's a big and famous center for science education."

While in Iowa, the scholars not only learn about Yager's research but also sit in on classes, visit public schools and community colleges, attend conferences, and publish scholarly articles. In addition, they have worked with the Area Education Agencies and applied an in-service model developed by Yager to improve teachers' science education goals, curricula, and teaching strategies.