Professor of Education
Ph.D. University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Concentration: Education Psychology
Expertise: Learning Theory, Knowledge Construction, Conceptual Change Learning, Literacy Acquisition, Assessment, and Comprehension...additional information
Email: gsinatra@usc.edu
Phone: (213) 740-1622
Curriculum Vitae & Publications
Dr. Gale Sinatra is a Professor of Education at Rossier. Her areas of expertise include climate science education, evolution education, learning theory, knowledge construction, conceptual change learning, literacy acquisition, assessment, public understanding of science and illiteracy.
Her recent research focuses on understanding the cognitive and motivational processes that lead to successful learning in science. Specifically, Sinatra focuses on the role of motivation and emotion in teaching and learning about controversial topics, such as biological evolution and climate change. Sinatra developed a model of conceptual change learning, which describes how motivational factors contribute to the likelihood that individuals will change their thinking about a scientific topic. She recently served as Co-PI on National Science Foundation grant, which resulted in a co-edited volume published by Oxford University Press entitled, Evolution Challenges: Integrating research and practice in teaching and learning about evolution.
She comes from her previous appointment as Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she served on the faculty since 2000. Sinatra received her B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Sinatra is the past Editor of the American Psychological Association (APA) Division 15 journal, Educational Psychologist. She recently served as Vice President of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Division C, Learning and Instruction, and a Fellow of both APA and AERA.