Roth elected Fellow of AAAS

Lansdowne Professor in Applied Cognitive Science Dr. Wolff-Michael Roth was recently elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the prestigious peer-reviewed journal, Science.

Roth, a professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the Faculty of Education, was honoured by the association for his “distinguished contributions to research in science education, particularly for development of theory and methods, and exemplary empirical research on learning and teaching science.”

“Having Dr. Roth receive this honour is a testament to his impact in the field of science education. We are fortunate to have him researching and teaching as a member of our faculty,” says Dean of Education Ted Riecken.

Being named an AAAS Fellow is definitely a career highlight for this award-winning educator, author/editor of over 30 books, and sought-after expert on teaching innovative science. “This is the foremost organization of support of science in North America,” says Roth. “Members are mostly scientists, and few educators are elected fellows. Although there are numerous Canadian scientists among the fellows, I am not aware of any other educators.”

Election as an AAAS Fellow is an esteemed honour bestowed upon members by their peers for their “scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.” This year the AAAS council elected 486 members to the rank.

A scientist by training (MSc in physics/PhD in science education, College of Science and Technology, University of Southern Mississippi), Roth obtained teaching licensure upon his arrival in Canada from Germany in the late ’70s. Today he strives to make science more exciting, hands-on and relevant to society. “I am interested in what makes us really know, in all of the stuff that science exams don’t test and that science teachers don’t teach you. It is what makes us tick when there is something of interest,” he says.

Over the years Roth has developed several successful science programs at local middle schools. What he enjoys the most is continual learning. “I am in a boat like the early explorers, continually being exposed to the new and novel, having to question the knowledge that they had until today, willing to rid themselves of it when new experiences suggest that the old ways of doing things no longer work.”

Roth joins four other UVic faculty AAAS Fellows: Drs. Harvey Buckmaster (adjunct), J. Anthony Burke (emeritus), and Sidney van denBergh (adjunct), all in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, and Dr. Hari Srivastava (emeritus), Department of Mathematics and Statistics.