Science in Education

Mike Thibodeau teaches in the M.Ed. in Science in Education online program. He has been a science educator at the middle school, high school, and college levels for many years. In 1991, he was selected to participate in the Teacher Research Associates Program and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, working on the Hayward Fault Trench Project, and later mentored other teachers in the program.

He has also been coordinator of the Academies Creating Teacher Scientists Program, a research program for in-service teachers supported by the US Department of Energy's Office of Science. He was honored by that department in 2004 with an "Outstanding Service as Master Teacher with the Pre-Service Teacher Program at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory" award, and has also received the Tandy Technology Scholars Award for Excellence in Science Teaching.

Mike is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Massachusetts Association of Science Teachers, the National Science Teachers Association, and the National Earth Science Teachers Association.

Education

BA in Secondary Education, University of Maine Presque Isle
MS in Natural Science with an Earth Science concentration, University of Oklahoma 

Susan has a strong background in science, education, administration, and teacher professional development through her work in informal STEM learning with Earthwatch Institute and the Massachusetts Audubon Society. Her teaching-research method involves all students in hands-on explorations that invite learners to become critical thinkers and reflective practitioners.

In partnership with Nicole Weber, Susan is co-director of the EcoNet lab, an incubator for innovative STEAM programs that provide authentic learning programs focused on conservation and sustainability programs, including WonderLab, an afterschool and homeschool program. She is the Educator in Residence for the Mt. Auburn Citizen Science project, provides support for STEAM Beans, and has developed and delivered public programs that include Restoring Urban Environments  the Climate Café and STEAM Exploration Party. 

In collaboration with non-profit organizations in Ethiopia, teacher candidates in Dr. Rauchwerk’s science methods classes have been supporting science literacy development in Ethiopia through the creation of culturally relevant, scientifically accurate lesson plans and science stories. Thanks to a generous grant from Lesley University, she traveled to Ethiopia in 2016 to train Ethiopian educators and librarians in Addis Ababa and Awasa. She is working with her classes to produce ten science stories  for WEEMA that will be translated into three languages and distributed through WEEMA and Ethiopia Reads libraries. She is a member of the Book Centered Learning Committee of Ethiopia Reads and has authored a pedagogical review and published a paper about her work with Luminos Fund’s Ethiopia Speeds School. She will return to conduct training for Ethiopia Reads in November 2018.

An avid gardener and environmental/sustainability activist, Susan helped Lesley students establish an organic garden, and continues to engage her students and WonderLab in using the garden to learn more about sustainability through growing organic food.

Read" A Conversation with Educator-in Residence Susan Rauchwerk" on the Mount Auburn Cemetery website.
More about the Mount Auburn partnership.

Read about Susan's elementary education course Ethiopia partnership, wherein Lesley University students are researching and building culturally relevant lessons, and thinking more broadly about how poverty affects learning. Read more about the work..

Education

BS in Ecology, Rutgers
M.Ed. and Ed.D., Harvard University 

Bill teaches physics and mathematics in the Natural Sciences and Mathematics Division.

He believes that learning is an ecological process, occurring between the ears, eyes, fingers and toes and among people, mediated by cultural and semiotic resources. A child reading a science book by herself is not learning alone. Over many years, scientists created the words and grammar that make up her book. The book itself is the product of print innovations. Chances are that many others have helped the child to the point where she can read the book. Should this child become a scientist, she too will contribute to advancing the field. Should she become an innovative teacher, she will improve how we teach science. In these ways, effective learning reshapes the cultural contexts that give rise to it.

Education: PhD, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; MS, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; BS, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Suzanne Flynn teaches in the M.Ed. in Science in Education program. She has been a K-6 teacher for 34 years, hand a graduate school adjunct professor since 2002. As a member of the National Science Teachers Association, she was Lead Book Reviewer and Field Editor for NSTA Recommends, a database with 9000+ resources for teachers, parents, and students. Suzanne also served as the NSTA Liaison with the Children’s Book Council and works with the NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book selections.

Working with The Concord Consortium, she has co-written and facilitates Innovative Technology in Science Inquiry (ITSI) courses for science teachers in Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, and Virginia through an NSF grant. This program engages students in STEM activities with modeling, computational thinking, and real-time data acquisition. After training at Lawrence Hall of Science, she is also a GEMS Associate for Great Explorations in Math and Science. Besides designing and teaching graduate science courses for JASON Academy, Suzanne trained teachers in the JASON Project. Presenting science workshops at MAST and NSELA, she has also presented for the New England Gifted and Talented Conference. Suzanne was chosen to be in the Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers 2004.

Education

BS (Elementary Education), Creighton University
MS (Curriculum, with emphasis on improvement of instruction), University of Nebraska