Award I Level 1, the Outstanding Science Teacher Educator of the Year Award, recognizes the individual achievements and contributions of persons having ten or fewer years in their career service. This year’s awardee for Award I Level 1 is Dr. Randy Bell.

Dr. Randy Bell, in addition to being our ASTE President Elect,  is Associate Professor of Science Education in the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education. Randy received his doctoral degree from Oregon State University after teaching middle and high school science for six years in a rural community in eastern Oregon.  

Randy’s research agenda at the University of Virginia focuses on two primary areas: (a) teaching and learning about the nature of science and (b) using digital technologies to facilitate effective science instruction and conceptual change. His research was recognized by the National Association of Research in Science Teaching with the 2005 Early Career Research Award. In 2007, the University of Virginia recognized his commitment to education and the high quality of his instruction by presenting him with its All-University Teaching Award.

Randy has maintained strong ties to the classroom through a variety of collaborative professional development projects. Most recently he served as co-PI on a US Department of Education-funded research project designed to develop models of technology-enhanced inquiry instruction for single-computer classrooms. Randy has just completed a term on the ASTE Board of Directors and is beginning a second term as president-elect. Randy has also served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Research in Science Teaching and School Science and Mathematics. The author of more than 100 articles, chapters and books, he currently is co-authoring a series of elementary science textbooks for National Geographic.  

In honor of this recognition, Dr. Bell receives an inscribed plaque and $1,000 from Carolina Biological Supply.