William F. McComas, Ph.D.
Parks Family Professor of Science and Technology Education
Curriculum and Instruction
Peabody Hall 127
Phone: (479) 575-7525
FAX: (479) 575-6676
mccomas@uark.edu
Professional Biography:
William McComas founded and directed the Program to Advance Science Education at the University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education, where he also served as the vice chair and chair of the Division of Learning and Instruction. He developed a master's program in science education along with science education concentrations within the doctor of philosophy and doctor of education degrees supported by seven new science education courses. He completed his doctorate in science education at the University of Iowa in 1991 following 13 years as a middle and secondary science teacher in suburban Philadelphia.
His research and publications focus on biology and evolution education, the philosophy of science in science teaching, the elements of effective laboratory, and informal science learning in museums and field settings. His most recent book is The Nature of Science in Science Education: Rationales and Strategies. McComas was named the Outstanding Science Teacher Educator by the Association for the Education of Teachers in Science and received the 1998 Distinguished Achievement Award from the Educational Press Association for his article "The Discovery and Nature of Evolution by Natural Selection: Misconceptions and Lessons Learned from the History of Science" and the 2001 Ohaus award for curriculum innovation. He has served on the Board of Directors of the National Science Teachers Association and was elected a fellow of the USC Center for Excellence in Teaching.
Personal Information:
McComas has earned a private pilot's license to add to other interests including photography and skiing as well as music composition and piano and guitar performance. He has traveled throughout the United States and Canada, in addition to trips in over 50 countries in Europe, the Middle and Near East, North Africa, Central and South America, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean. His professional interest in photography has resulted in development of photo-based instructional and resource units, a major museum exhibition titled "The Galápagos Islands: Evolution's Showcase," and a number of assignments to ecology research sites in Central America, New England and Colorado. More than 30 of his photographs have appeared on the covers of journals such as the American Biology Teacher and the Journal of College Science Teaching and Science Scope.
He hosts annual tours to ecologically significant areas worldwide including Indonesia, Malaysia, East Africa, the Galápagos Islands, Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. He is married to Kim Krusen McComas, a mathematics educator and geometry teacher. They live in Fayetteville, Ark.; along with son Will and daughter Emily, both of whom, for some reason, are developing a keen interest in science, math and travel.
Download resume (PDF)