Augusto Z. Macalalag , Jr., Ed.D.

Associate Professor and Program Director

PHONE: (215) 572-2147

EMAIL: macalalaga@arcadia.edu

Social

Biography

Education

Rutgers University
2012
Science Education
Doctor of Education

The College of New Jersey
2006
Certificate in Educational Leadership

St. Peter’s University
2001
Education
Master of Arts

St. Peter’s University
1998
Chemistry
Bachelor of Science

Research Interests: STEM education, pre-service and in-service teacher education, pedagogical content knowledge, model-based science inquiry, engineering design practices, socioscientific issues

Languages: English, Filipino

Dr. Augusto Macalalag, Jr., Associate Professor of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education, teaches undergraduate and graduate science methods courses for pre-service and in-service teachers. He is the coordinator of General Science, Biology, Chemistry, and Mathematics teacher certification programs. In 2014, Dr. Macalalag conceptualized and developed the MEd in Integrative STEM Education and Graduate Certificate for in-service elementary and middle school teachers. The certificate program’s goal is to foster teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge in planning, implementing and assessing instructions that incorporate science and engineering practices based on the National Research Council’s Framework for K-12 Science Education. The STEM certificate program has five courses (15 credits) that include an environmental education preview to Sicily, Italy. Dr. Macalalag, who is the former Assistant Director of STEM Education at Stevens Institute of Technology’s Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education (CIESE), has an interest in different aspects of reform-based science teacher education.

His research focuses on courses and professional development programs for teachers that promote socioscientific issues and social justice in grades K-18 classrooms. In addition to teaching, through classroom support visits, Dr. Macalalag helps teachers plan and implement lessons, assess and analyze student thinking, integrate technology, and reflect in their instruction. His dissertation examined the changes in pre-service science teachers’ knowledge of inquiry and practices of lesson design in four methods courses in biological sciences. Throughout the years, Dr. Macalalag has been involved in two Mathematics and Science Partnerships (MSP) programs that received awards including the American Society for Engineering Education’s Best Practices in K-12 Engineering and Pre-college Outreach Program in 2010, Best Zone Paper in 2011, and Best Practices in K-12 Engineering and University Partnerships in 2012. Finally, in November 2013, Dr. Macalalag received the Steve Goldberg Faculty Development Award from the School of Education at Arcadia.

He holds teaching certificates in elementary, middle and high school and school administrator certificates. Dr. Macalalag received his Ed.D. in Science from Rutgers University, and an M.A. in Education and a B.S. in Chemistry from St. Peter’s University. He also holds an Educational Leadership Certificate from the College of New Jersey.

SCHOLARSHIP OF APPLICATION AND DEVELOPMENT (SELECTED GRANTS)

1. Principal Investor. NSF DR-K12 Understanding STEM Teaching through Integrated Contexts in Everyday Life (USTRIVE). National Science Foundation- Discovery Research in K-12 Education. Arcadia University (primary) with Dr. Greer Richardson (co-PI from La Salle University), Dr. Joseph Johnson (co-PI from Mercyhurst University), Dr. Lisa Marco-Bujosa (co-PI from Villanova University), and Dr. Victor Donnay (Senior Personnel and Director of Philadelphia Region Institute for STEM Educators at Saint Joseph’s University). $2,800,000. Funded 2021 - 2025. Award Number: 2101395

2. Institutional Program Director, Arcadia University. The 21st Century Partnership for STEM Education (Lead Institution). STEM Teacher Education and School Strengthening Activity – STESSA. United States Agency for International Development (USAID). $256,608 (Sub-Award). Submitted August 2017. Funded 2018 – 2024.

3. 3. Co-Principal Investigator. St. Joseph’s University (Lead Institution). Philadelphia Regional Noyce Partnership – Scholarship Program. Submitted to the National Science Foundations’ Robert Noyce Scholarship (NSF NOYCE). $171,000 (Sub-Award). Submitted September 2017. Funded 2018 – 2024. Award Number:1758353 https://www.arcadia.edu/noyce

Courses:

Undergraduate

US221.1: We Inquire We Design
ED207: STEAM 1: Design Thinking and Problem-Based Learning
ED307: STEAM 2: Design Thinking and Problem-Based Learning
ED324: Elementary Science Methods
PRV181 Science, Technology, Society, and Culture: Exploring Cities of Philadelphia and Florence
GFS381 Mind the Gap: Understanding Disparities in Health Care from Philly to London

Graduate

ED523 Teacher and the Classroom, Secondary
ED552: Issues and Methods in Elementary School Science
ED553: Issues in Science for Secondary Teachers
ED694: Introduction to STEM Education
ED695: Understanding the Designed World
ED697: STEM and Society, Global Field Study

Publications

(*Graduate student collaborators labeled with an asterisk. **K-12 teacher collaborators labeled with double asterisks)

Macalalag A., Minken, Z, & Varma, C (2023). SSI: Teachers make STEM concepts relevant to their students. The Euroasia Proceedings of Educational and Social Sciences (EPESS), 31, pages 119-126. https://doi.org/10.55549/epess.1381969

Johnson, J., Macalalag, A., *Batkie, R., *Dunphy, J., & **Titus, S. (2022). The Rise of STEM Education: Socioscientific Issues and STEM Learning. In Tierney, R., Rizvi, F., & Ercikan, K. (Editors). International Encyclopedia of Education, 4th edition. Elsevier Science. ISBN: 9780128186305

Macalalag, A. Z., Sahin, I., Johnson, J., & Bicer, A. (Editors.). (2022). Internalization of STEM Education. ISTES Organization. ISBN: 978-1-952092-15-2

Leonidas de Oliveira, A., Macalalag, A. Z., Barbosa de Toledo, M. C., de Godoi dos Santos, M. E., Minken, Z., Varma, C. (2022). Students’ awareness, perceived ability, value, and commitment to science and mathematics: A perspective from high school students in Brazil. In A. Z. Macalalag, I. Sahin, J. Johnson, & A. Bicer (Editors.), Internalization of STEM Education (pp. 189-238). ISTES Organization.

Johnson, J., Zielinski, M., Essary, J. N., Dean, K., Bartynski, K., & Macalalag, A. Z. (2022). Encouraging STEMpathy: A review of literature addressing STEM learning for students with special education services in inclusive learning environments. In A. Z. Macalalag, I. Sahin, J. Johnson, & A. Bicer (Editors.), Internalization of STEM Education (pp. 1-40). ISTES Organization.

Johnson, J., Macalalag, A., Mathers-Lowery, B., and Lalacci, G. (2022). We Strive: Initial Explorations of STEM Teachers’ Successes and Challenges in Implementing Socioscientific Issues. Pennsylvania Teacher Educator, volume 21, number 2, pages 41-58. Fall 2022.

Macalalag, A. & Johnson, J. (Editors, 2021). Special Issue on STEM Education. International Journal of Technology in Education, volume 4, number 2. https://ijte.net/index.php/ijte/issue/view/8

*Minken, Z., Macalalag, A., *Clarke, A., Marco-Bujaso, L., & Rulli, C. (2021). Development of teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge during lesson planning of socioscientific issues. International Journal of Technology in Education (IJTE), 4(2), 113-165. https://doi.org/10.46328/ijte.50

Johnson, J., Macalalag, A., & *Dunphy, J. (2020). Incorporating Socioscientific Issues into a STEM Education Course: Exploring teacher use of argumentation in SSI and plans for classroom implementation. Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Science Education Research. DOI : 10.1186/s43031-020-00026-3

*Minken, Z., Macalalag, A., & Richardson, G. (2020). Developing Teachers’ Intentions of Incorporating Socioscientific Issues in Lesson Design. Pennsylvania Teacher Educator, Fall 2020.

Macalalag, A., Johnson, J., & *Lai, M. (2019). How do we do this: learning how to teach socioscientific issues. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 3(8), pp. 1-25. DOI 10.1007/s11422-019-09944-9

Korucu, D.L., Macalalag, A., Johnson, J. (2019). The Effect of Methods Course on Pre-Service Teachers’ Awareness and Intentions of STEM Subjects. International Journal of Research in Education and Science, Volume 5, Number 1, Pages 22-35. https://www.ijres.net/index.php/ijres/article/view/461

Macalalag, A., **Johnson, B, & Johnson, J. (July 2018). STEM-ify Me: It’s Elementary! Designing Butterfly Wings. Science and Children.

Macalalag, A., Johnson, J., & *Lai, M. (2017). STEM Education Course: Enhancing K-12 Teachers’ Cultural Awareness Through Reflections of Socioscientific Issues. Pennsylvania Teacher Educator, Volume 16, Pages 76 – 92, Fall 2017. https://scholarworks.arcadia.edu/school_edu_faculty_work/4/

Macalalag, A., & **Parker, K. (2016). Graduate Education Course for Elementary School Teachers: Fostering Knowledge of Science and the Engineering Design Process. Pennsylvania Teacher Educator, Volume 15, Pages 109-131, Fall 2016. Available at https://scholarworks.arcadia.edu/school_edu_faculty_work/2/

*Peterson, K., *Crow. M., & Macalalag, A. (2016). Uncovering Elementary Teachers’ Notions of Engineering Design Practices Using Video-Captured Instruction. Pennsylvania Teacher Educator, Volume 15, Pages 133-150, Fall 2016. Available at https://scholarworks.arcadia.edu/school_edu_faculty_work/3/

Professional Experience

Associate Professor of STEM Education, Director of Secondary School Programs
Arcadia University
Glenside, PA

Assistant Director - STEM Education Research
Stevens Institute of Technology
Hoboken, NJ

Curriculum and Professional Development Specialist
Stevens Institute of Technology
Hoboken, NJ

High School Physics and Chemistry Teacher
Robbinsville High School
Robbinsville, NJ

High School Physics and Chemistry Teacher
Holy Family Academy
Bayonne, NJ

Middle School Science and Mathematics Teacher
Saint Aedan School
Jersey City, NJ

Research Summary

My research and courses are focused on teaching and learning of STEM through a hands-on approach to inquiry and design, local and international field experiences in Philadelphia and Sicily, Italy, and transformative leadership that promotes and develops teacher leaders and scholars. In particular, I am delighted to share that the courses in my STEM program have contributed to better understanding on how to cultivate the teachers’ knowledge of science and the engineering design process (Macalalag & Parker, 2016), teachers’ notions of the engineering design process (Peterson, Crow & Macalalag, 2016), and teachers’ cultural awareness of socioscientific issues in an international setting (Macalalag, Johnson & Lai, 2017). Moreover, the STEM education courses also provided a model of how to implement claims, evidence and argumentation in an elementary classroom as key features of hands-on approach to the engineering design process (Macalalag, Johnson & Johnson, 2017), to improve pre-service teachers’ awareness and intentions of teaching STEM subjects (Karisan, Macalalag & Johnson, 2019) to undergraduate students in Turkey, and to develop teachers’ PCK on cultural practices associated with the society’s contribution to carbon footprint (Macalalag, Johnson & Lai, 2019). More recently, my NSF-funded research project focuses on helping middle and high school teachers make STEM subjects relevant to students by utilizing socioscientific issues with social justice focus (Macalalag, Minken, & Varma, 2023; Johnson et al., 2022; Minken et al., 2021).

Media Mentions