Professional Title
Director, Board on Science Education
Organization/Institution
About Me (Bio)
Heidi Schweingruber, Ph.D., is the director of the Board on Science Education at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. In that role, she oversees a portfolio of work that includes K-12 science education, informal science education and higher education. Dr. Schweingruber joined the staff of the board in 2004 starting in the role of a senior program officer. In this role, she directed or co-directed several projects including the study that resulted in the report "A Framework for K-12 Science Education" (2011) which served as the blueprint for the Next Generation Science Standards. She also directed a review of NASA’s pre-college education programs completed in 2008 and co-directed the study that produced the 2007 report "Taking Science to School: Learning and Teaching Science in Grades K-8". In addition, she contributed to the reports "Science Teachers’ Learning" (2015), "STEM Integration in K-12 Education" (2014) and "Mathematics Learning in Early Childhood" (2009).
Dr. Schweingruber is a nationally recognized leader in leveraging research findings to catalyze improvements in science and STEM education policy and practice. She presents widely on the work of the board and she co- authored two award-winning books for practitioners that translate findings of National Academies reports for a broader audience: "Ready, Set, Science! Putting Research to Work in K-8 Science Classrooms" (2008), "Surrounded by Science" (2010) and "Seeing Students Learn Science" (2017).
Prior to joining the NRC, Dr. Schweingruber worked as a senior research associate at the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education where she administered the preschool curriculum evaluation program and a grant program in mathematics education. Previously, she was the director of research for the Rice University School Mathematics Project an outreach program in K-12 mathematics education, and taught in the psychology and education departments at Rice University. Dr. Schweingruber holds a Ph.D. in psychology (developmental) and anthropology, and a certificate in culture and cognition from the University of Michigan.
Dr. Schweingruber is a nationally recognized leader in leveraging research findings to catalyze improvements in science and STEM education policy and practice. She presents widely on the work of the board and she co- authored two award-winning books for practitioners that translate findings of National Academies reports for a broader audience: "Ready, Set, Science! Putting Research to Work in K-8 Science Classrooms" (2008), "Surrounded by Science" (2010) and "Seeing Students Learn Science" (2017).
Prior to joining the NRC, Dr. Schweingruber worked as a senior research associate at the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education where she administered the preschool curriculum evaluation program and a grant program in mathematics education. Previously, she was the director of research for the Rice University School Mathematics Project an outreach program in K-12 mathematics education, and taught in the psychology and education departments at Rice University. Dr. Schweingruber holds a Ph.D. in psychology (developmental) and anthropology, and a certificate in culture and cognition from the University of Michigan.
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