David F. Jackson

David is originally from Stamford, CT, where he graduated from Westhill High School. At the undergraduate level he studied paleontology and evolutionary theory at Harvard with Prof. Stephen Jay Gould and served as laboratory research assistant under Dr. Gould, field research assistant under Charles Mitchell, and research fellow under Dr. Niles Eldredge at the American Museum of Natural History. He taught General Science, Earth Science, and Physical Science in grades 5-9 for 4 years in private schools in Minneapolis and suburban Philadelphia, and taught part-time and helped to develop the science-related aspects of the Computer Applications Program curriculum for 4 years in the Detroit Public Schools. His doctoral studies under Dr. Carl Berger at the University of Michigan focused primarily on the role of electronic technologies in science teaching, especially the use of computer-assisted graphical data analyis and the role of educational games and simulations in science learning. He has been a member of the Science Education faculty at UGA for 31 years, served as Graduate Coordinator for Science Education for 13 years, and served as Program Coordinator for Science Education and Associate Department Head for Mathematics and Science Education for 3 years. His primary areas of research presentation and publication have been the use of electronic technologies in science teaching, the teaching of historical geology and evolutionary biology, and all aspects of middle school science teaching and teacher education. Over the past five years his primary focus has been on the development of asynchronous online courses, recently resulting in the launch of the online M.Ed. degree program in Science Education, and of site-based science methods courses, taught in conjunction with practicing middle school teachers in their Clarke County School District classrooms, in the Middle Grades teacher education program.