IU science education program ranked high on productivity

IU’s science education program has been rated one of the most productive in the country.

According to a press release from April 3, the Journal of Education and Learning ranked IU’s program second most productive in research, based on articles published in the first decade of the 21st century, from years 2000 to 2009.  

“The rating means, research-wise, which university puts out and publishes the most research articles,” said Valarie Akerson, program coordinator of the science education program.

The study drew from four top science education research journals to identify the leading educational programs, all of them focusing on research of science teaching and learning.

The rankings were decided by calculating a raw count of institutional authors, combined with a weighted count, giving more credit for faculty who are senior authors on the article, according to the release. 

“There was a variety of research that went into it,” Akerson said. “All was from faculty, some that are even retired. Each faculty member has their own research, and they build on it.”

Akerson said that the research that was done varied greatly. The research wasn’t just limited to those studying elementary science teaching but also included university science teaching and all other levels and grades of science education. 

The study that decided the ranking was completed by the faculty at the University of Missouri, Akerson said. 

“They studied Big Ten universities and others with high productivity that have published in journals,” she said. 

The study examined 1,109 publications, according to the press release, and IU fell second only to the University of Michigan. 

Although the science education ranking is very helpful, Akerson says that there aren’t any other rankings that study any of the other teaching departments, such as English education or social studies education. 

Though this is the most recent, this isn’t the only award that the IU School of Education has received lately. 

“The early career research award was awarded to new professor Allen Oliveira,” Akerson said. “And Robert Sherwood is receiving Distinguished Science Alumni Award from Purdue University on April 12 because of his work.”

Not only are individual faculty and departments getting recognized, but the school as a whole is as well. According to the press release, IU was also ranked last month by the U.S. News and World Report as one of the highest for its graduate programs. In addition, IU is ranked 10th among education schools at universities and 25th for its specialty programs.  

— Laura Schulte