Welcome to my website.  I want to share two of my passions: science education and scientific research on this site.  After engaging in scientific research (comparative immunology and genomics) for many years, I have now moved into science teaching and learning.  I taught courses in immunology, and introductory cell and molecular biology at University. Currently, I teach science in high school. I have seen science at many levels and through many eyes in my life. I have published more than 50 peer-reviewed manuscripts in science journals (mainly in comparative immunology and genomics). When I began to teach science at University, I saw the disjunct between the practice of science and science education. Indeed, my mental conceptions of scientific ideas differed from those in my students’ minds. Those worlds appeared so different that I felt that science was being spoken in many alien tongues. I worked with leading researchers in science education (e.g. the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative). There is a transformation in science teaching and learning all over the world. Undergraduates’ grasp of science concepts was tenuous at best, with many misconceptions clouding their understanding of scientific knowledge.  To understand this deeper, I ventured further – into the classrooms of high schools.  This has transformed my ideas about how students learn science in schools.  This website is an aggregation of ideas and concepts in science education.  Once again, welcome.

shamnair@gmail.com