departments & programs academic departments mathematics, science & technology education faculty & staffFaculty & Staff
John E. Penick, PhD
|
|
John Penick began his teaching career as a biology and chemistry teacher in an inner city high school in Miami, Florida. As science department chairman in this large high school, Penick instituted a variety of weekend experiences for students, began a science club and was actively involved in a number of curriculum development efforts. While teaching there he completed a master's degree with specialization in teaching biology at the community college level and taught briefly at Miami-Dade Community College. Current Vitae.
• Later, after completing a Ph.D. in science education at Florida State University, he began his teacher education career at Loyola University of Chicago where he was director of teacher education and taught both elementary and secondary science methods. Penick presented his first professional paper at a meeting of the Southeastern Association for The Education of Teachers of Science (AETS) in Jacksonville, Florida in 1971. Since then, he has been active in a variety of professional associations.
• After moving to the University of Iowa in 1975, Penick was the first chair of the nationwide NSTA Search for Excellence in Science Education, a major research effort identifying more than 200 exemplary science programs during a five-year effort. He edited fourteen of seventeen volumes detailing specifics of these exemplary programs that achieved widespread use under the title Focus On Excellence. Penick has been a member of the board of directors of the National Science Teachers Association, the North American representative to the International Council of Associations for Science Education and a member of the executive committee of ICASE since 1986. He also served three terms as chair of the International Committee of NSTA and is active in the National Association for Research in Science Teaching and the Association for the Education of Teachers in Science. The 1989 President of the National Association of Biology Teachers, he completed two terms as Secretary of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents and now serves CSSP as a senior associate. In 1998 he moved to his current position as Professor of Science Education and Head of the Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.
• He has received several awards, including the AETS Outstanding Paper Which Interprets Theory for Practice (with James A. Shymansky in 1978) and the AETS Outstanding Science Educator of the Year (1987). In 1997 his colleagues in AETS awarded him their Outstanding Mentor award. He has also received two NSTA Ohaus Award for Innovations in College Science Teaching (With William C. Kyle, Biology, 1981 and with Vincent N. Lunetta, Physics, 1986), The Florida State University Distinguished Educator Award (1987), and The University of Iowa Burlington Northern Faculty Achievement Award, the highest offered by the University of Iowa (1992).
• As a Senior Fulbright Fellow in Portugal during 1985, Penick lectured at the University of Lisbon, the University of Coimbra and The Technion in Israel and designed a series of research projects for students and faculty at the University of Lisbon. Later Penick was invited by the Luso-American Foundation in Lisbon to conduct an outside evaluation of a series of workshops held by various universities in several cities in Portugal. In 1991 he was program chair for the first Soviet-American Science Education Conference held in Moscow. He was a member of the steering committee for the 1993 UNESCO/ICASE Conference 2000+, focusing on scientific and technological literacy.
• A former associate editor of the Journal of Research in Science Teaching and editor for the Focus On Excellence series, Penick has authored or co-authored 33 books and major monographs and more than 200 articles and reviews in many journals including Science Education, The Journal of Science Teacher Education, The Journal of Research in Science Teaching (JRST), each of the NSTA journals and 59 other journals. He has also made more than 400 presentations to schools and professional associations and has conducted more than 400 days of workshops throughout the United States, Indonesia, Portugal, Spain, Russia, Israel, Taiwan, Jamaica, Trinidad, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Brazil, New Zealand, Japan and Australia.
• His research interest continues to focus on the role of the teacher in the classroom, analysis of teaching and design and implementation of teacher education programs. Many of his 26 Ph.D. graduates (who were largely responsible for the Outstanding Mentor Award) are themselves outstanding teacher educators at universities in the United States, Taiwan, Nigeria, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Teaching Experience
• 1998-Present North Carolina State University
Head, Mathematics, Science and Technology Education Department
• 1975-97 University of Iowa
Professor, Science Education
• 1973-75 Loyal University of Chicago
Director of Teacher Education
• 1970-73 Florida State University
Teaching Assistant
• 1967-70 Miami (FL) Jackson High School
Head, Science Department
Honors and Recent Service
• 2002-03 President, National Science Teachers Association
• 2002 President, Association for the Education of Teachers in Science
• 1997 Outstanding Mentor Award, Association for the Education of Teachers in Science
• 1990-91 Board of Directors, Council of Scientific Society Presidents
• 1992 Burlington Northern Career Award
• 1992 University of Iowa Achievement Award
• 1987 Distinguished Alumni Award, Florida State University
• 1989 President, National Association of Biology Teachers
• 1987 Outstanding Science Educator, Association for the Education of Teachers in Science
• 1986-88 Board of Directors, National Science Teachers Association
• 1985 Senior Fulbright Fellow, Portugal, Universidad de Lisboa
• 1983-98 Board of Directors, International Council of Associations for Science Education
• 1980-84 Associate Editor, Journal of Research in Science Teaching
• 1982-87 Editor, Focus on Excellence
Publications
More than 250 monographs, chapters and articles in the Journal of Research in Science Teaching. The Journal of College Science Teaching, Science Education, Science and Children, School Science and Mathematics, Journal of Classroom Interaction, The Teacher Educator, Journal of Teacher Education, Journal of Experimental Education, Phi Delta Kappan, Learning, Education Leadership, The Science Teacher and 50 other journals.
Selected Publications
• Penick, J. E., and Shymansky, J.A. (1977). The effects of teacher behavior on student behavior in fifth grade science; A replication study. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 14(5), 427-432.
• Shymansky, J. A., and Penick, J. E. (1979). The use of systematic observations to improve college science laboratory instruction. Science Education, 63(2), 195-203.
• Shymansky, J. A., Penick, J. E., and Kyle, W. C., Jr. (September, 1979). How do science laboratory assistants teach? Journal of College Science Teaching, 9(1), 24-27.
• Kyle, W. C., Jr., Penick, J. E., and Shymansky, J. A. (1979). Assessing and analyzing the performance of students in college science laboratories. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 16(6), 545-551.
• Shymansky, J. A., and Penick, J. E. (1981). Teacher behavior does make a difference in hands-on science classrooms. School Science and Mathematics, 81(5), 412-422.
• Penick, J.E., and Yager, R. E. (May, 1983). The search for excellence in science education. Phi Delta Kappan, 64(9), 621-623.
• Penick, J. E. (January/February, 1986). Science education research: Why don't we Believe It? Curriculum Review.
• Penick, J. E., Yager, R. E., and Bonnstetter, R. (October, 1986). Teachers make exemplary programs. Educational Leadership, 44(2), 14-20.
• Penick, J.E., and Yager, R. E. (November-December, 1988). Science teacher eduation: A program with a theoretical and pragmatic rationale. Journal of Teacher Education, 39(6), 59-64.
• Penick, J.E. (May, 1991). Where's the science? The Science Teacher, 58(5), 26-29. Reprinted in Chemistry in Action.
• Penick, J. E. (1993). Scientific Literacy: An Annotated Bibliography. ICASE/UNESCO. Paris, 245 pages.
• Penick, J. E., and Bonnstetter, R. (June, 1993). Classroom climate and instruction: New goals demand new approaches. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 2(2), 389-395.
• Penick, J. E. (1994). Some thoughts on science teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 19 (6), 659-662.
• Penick, J. E. (1995). New Goals for Biology Education. BioScience, 45:5, 52-57, May.
• Penick, J. E., Crow, L. W., and Bonnstetter, R. J. (1996). Question are the Answer. The Science Teacher. 63(1), 27-29.
• Leonard, W. H., and Penick, J. E. (1997). Biology: A Community Context. Thomson Science, Cincinnati, 576 pages.
• Speziale, B., Leonard, W. H., and Penick, J. E. (1999). Student Resource for Biology: A Community Context. Thomson Science, Cincinnati, 210 pages.
• Leonard, W. H., Speziale, B., and Penick, J.E. (2001). Performance assesstment of a Standards based high school biology curriculum. American Biology Teacher, 63 (s), 310-316.
