About Me
Hi there, I’m Stephanie Chasteen. I’m a geek of many flavors. I’ve got a PhD in physics and I’m a science educator and communicator, plus I’m an audiogeek (think podcasts and radio).
I’m a PhD physicist and a science education and communication consultant. I’m a writer, blogger and podcaster, and a heckuva researcher and reporter. I work with professional organizations and museums to provide:
- public speaking
- freelance writing
- science education & outreach
- K-16 teacher professional development workshops
- use of peer response systems (“clickers”)
- inquiry learning
- education research and program assessment
Here is my Professional Services Brochure.
Please see my resume for more information about me.
You can contact me here as well.
Visit me on LinkedIn - Twitter – Facebook
I am currently a Senior Teaching Fellow at the University of Colorado at Boulder, through their Science Education Initiative, transforming upper-division physics courses to increase student engagement and assessing the results. I’m here to learn how people learn, so I can do more effective science education and outreach. I also run my own consulting business, which I will be doing full time in 2011.
My coolest job was as a postdoctoral fellow at the Exploratorium Teacher Institute, where I ran hands-on workshops for high-school science teachers., and the next-coolest was as an intern at the science desk at National Public Radio. I’ve done some freelance science journalism (see publications below), have several podcast series, and was on the air on NPR. I get to have a lot of fun.
If you want to know more about science education and communication, and my weird career path, here are two articles: Speaking of Physics… The Art of Science Communication (in APS Forum on Education; about the similar lessons learned in science communication and education) and How a Scientist Becomes a Freelance Science Writer (National Association of Science Writers website; about the path I took to get to where I am now).
The posts on this blog represent my personal opinions and are not endorsed or supported in any way by the University of Colorado or the Exploratorium. This is my own blog, but heavily influenced by my employment experiences, past and present!
About this blog
This blog is a place where I can post interesting science tidbits or musings about science, science education, and science communication. I have a lot here for K-12 science educators, including hands-on activities and pedagogical tips. I also have a quite a few posts about how people learn, drawn from science education research. One of the most popular parts of the blogs are my science myths and bad science sections. Use the categories and tags to navigate among the different portions of the blog, as there is a wide variety of topics.
You can subscribe to this blog here.
My Publications and Podcasts
Since my internship at National Public Radio’s science desk, I’ve loved using audio as a medium to communicate science. It’s intimate, appeals to younger people, and is just plain fun. Below are some of the podcasts I’ve created.
You can also visit my print publications list (including MP3′s from ye olde NPR days) and the live webcasts I did at the Exploratorium.
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Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears Podcast. A collaborative project with the National Science Digital Library. This podcast is geared towards elementary educators to help them use polar science to address common student misconceptions about science. |
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SmallTalk A monthly variety show about nanotechnology created for the Nanotechnology and Informal Science Education (NISE) Network. |
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Science Teaching Tips. A series of podcasts created by, and for, science teachers. Includes science facts, history, and hands-on activities. |
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The Classic Summer Institute. A series of podcasts about our Summer Institute for teachers at the Exploratorium. |
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Why do they use the term “fellow” like that? Do you think it’s sexist?
Perhaps “fella” would be cuter.
yay for reforming college physics classes! i’ll admit that the freshman engineering physics classes required for my major almost made me drop out because they absolutely SUCKED! now, years later, i’m realizing that condensed matter is super important in my field and is also really cool.
I like your moniker, “psi*psi”. It reminded me of a great moment from my young adulthood. My father is a physical chemist. Whenever I was exasperated at something as a child, I would say “sigh” (not actually sigh, but say the word “sigh.”) He would always reply “star sigh”. I never understood what the heck he was talking about. Years later, in my late twenties, when I was finishing quantum mechanics, I suddenly remembered these exchanges. I called up Dad and asked him, “Was that a reference to the probability density of the wavefunction?” “Yes,” he told me, “you have arrived.”
Your father sounds like an awesome person!