Rebecca E. Dyasi
Associate Professor of Teaching and Learning
B.Sc., University of Sierra Leone (West Africa)M.S., Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
rebecca.dyasi@liu.edu
Description
Rebecca Dyasi, an associate professor in the School of Education at Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus, is a science educator with a strong commitment to inquiry-based science education and to the improvement of school-based science teaching and learning.
Dr. Dyasi, who holds a Ph.D. in science education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, teaches undergraduate and graduate K-8 science, technology and mathematics education, and supervises student teachers. From 1999 to 2009, she served as principal investigator (PI) and director of a science education project: Inquiry Program for Schools in Community School Districts 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 in Brooklyn. the program was funded by the New York State Dwight D. Eisenhower Professional Development Program and the Teacher Leader Quality Partnerships for K-8 Science. This teacher professional development project emphasized the learning of science through inquiry at both the teachers’ and children’s levels and established collaborative co-teaching partnerships between scientists in the chemistry and biology departments, science educators and teachers, and fostered inter-school and university cooperation.
From June 2008 to December 2008, Dr. Dyasi served as co-PI and director of an inquiry-based New York State Summer Science Institute for Middle School Science Teachers. Prior to joining the Long Island University faculty, she conducted overseas science education programs funded by the United States Agency for International Development (U.S. State Department) and National Science Foundation-funded systemic change programs in New York City school districts. Dr. Dyasi also has worked with preservice and inservice teachers in Africa, the United States, Germany and the Netherlands. She has experience as a secondary school biology teacher and as an elementary school science teacher; has taught at teachers’ colleges and universities; and has served as a science education specialist in several U.S. school districts, science centers, zoos, botanical gardens and science museum programs.
Dr. Dyasi conducts professional development workshops at the annual National Science Teachers Association conferences for educators and teachers. In all these programs, strategies were employed for teachers to focus and reflect on children’s learning in science as inquiry rather than just on teaching many topics superficially.
Dr. Dyasi’s areas of academic interest continue to be “scientific inquiry” teaching and learning, and its role in bridging the gap between teacher perception and teacher practice, and in connecting science and literacy in the K-8 classroom. She has made several presentations at national science education conferences, written numerous reports on science education programs and co-authored several book chapters in these areas.
Specialties
Science Teacher Training
Publications
- Author, “Beginning the Journey: Doing Science,” published in the Corlears School Occasional Paper Series (1998)
- Author, “The National Education Goals: The AACTE Member Response,” published by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (1992)
- Author, articles and/or chapters published in The Constructivist (1993), “Designing Professional Development for Teachers of Science and Mathematics (2003), “Crossing Borders in Literacy and Science Instruction: Perspectives on Theory and Practice” (2004) and “Holding Values” (2005)
