John Staver is a professor in the Departments of Curriculum and Instruction and Chemistry.  He also served as interim director of the Indiana Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (I-STEM) Resource Center.  Presently his research focuses on constructivist epistemology and its implications for improving science teaching and learning.  He is also examining the interface between science and religion within a constructivist perspective, with a focus on the nature of each discipline and perceived conflicts between them.  In 1994, he was elected a Fellow in the American Assoication for the Advancement of Science for his work on behalf of a national reform agenda in science education.

CONTACT

Co-director
765-494-2781

Eric Riggs is an associate professor in the Departments of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and Curriculum and Instruction.  He serves on the executive committee of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers and is a member of the Earth System Science Education research group at Purdue University.  Riggs and his graduate students study aspects of field-based teaching and learning in the geosciences, focusing on issues of geoscience knowledge construction, spatial cognition related to geoscience expertise, and cross-cultural education.  Riggs is the co-founder of the Indigenous Earth Sciences Project, based at Purdue, which is a research and outreach effort working to make geoscience education accessible and useful to Native Americans across North America.

CONTACT

Eric Riggs
Co-director
765-496-1974