Maria Varelas
Chair and professor of science education; co-coordinator of MEd science education
Biography
Maria Varelas is professor of science education at UIC’s department of curriculum and instruction, and an Honors College Faculty Fellow. She was also the inaugural director of the UIC Center for the Advancement of Teaching-Learning Communities. With a BSc in physics and Ph.D. in education, she co-directs the Ph.D. in Mathematics and Science Education and MEd in Science Education programs.
Her research has focused on exploring possibilities and challenges related to student learning when practicing and preservice K-12 teachers consider and practice science education in urban schools aiming at equity and social justice.
With multi-year and multi-collaborator NSF grants totaling over $9 million, Varelas has been working towards changing the master narrative of how students of color in urban schools engage with science and what understandings they could help generate for science education practice and research.
Areas of Expertise
Additional Information
In the News
UIC project helps CPS kids learn science through art, movement
June 17, 2019
Grant to train black, Latino science teachers for Chicago
December 9, 2014