Speakers

Opening Remarks

Fouad Abd-El-Khalick

Dean, School of Education, UNC–Chapel Hill

Fouad Abd-El-Khalick is Professor and Dean of the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Before coming to Carolina, Abd-El-Khalick was Grace Wicall Gauthier Professor of Education and Associate Dean for Research & Research Education in the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2014 – 2016), where he was a tenured full professor in, and also served as Head of, the Department of Curriculum & Instruction (2011 – 2015). His research focuses on the teaching and learning about nature of science (NOS) in precollege grades, and in preservice and inservice science teacher education settings. He also maintains an active international program of educational research and development in Egypt, Lebanon, and Qatar.

Abd-El-Khalick served as an elected member (2004 – 2007), and currently is ex-officio member (2015 – 2019), of the NARST Executive Board of Directors (previously: National Association for Research in Science Teaching). He also served as associate editor for the Journal of Research in Science Teaching and School Science and Mathematics Journal, and sits on the editorial boards for the International Journal of Science Education, Science & Education, and Journal of Science Education and Technology. Currently, Abd-El-Khalick is Co-Editor of the Journal of Research in Science Teaching (2015 – 2019) and Associate Editor of the Journal of Science Teacher Education (2013 – 2017).

From NARST, he has received the Early Research Career Award (2003), Journal of Research in Science Teaching Award (2001), and Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award (1999). During his tenure at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2000 – 2016) he received the College of Education Distinguished Scholar Award (2005) and Distinguished Senior Scholar Award (2011), and was named University of Illinois Scholar (2006 – 2009). In 2011, Abd-El-Khalick was elected to the rank of Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for, according to the Association, “his outstanding research on teachers’ and students’ conceptions of the nature of science that helped provide a foundation for this field of research.”

View full bio at UNC School of Education »