Anna MacPherson

Anna MacPherson, MAT Program adjunct faculty

Associate Director of Research and Evaluation

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Anna MacPherson_CV

Education

  • Stanford University, Ph.D., Science Education, 2015
  • Hunter College, CUNY, M.A., Adolescent Science Education, 2006
  • Stanford University, B.S., Biology, 2003

Professional Interests

Dr. MacPherson is Associate Director of Research and Evaluation at the The American Museum of Natural History.  From 2010-2015, she was a doctoral student in the Curriculum Studies and Teacher Education Program at the Stanford Graduate School of Education. Her research addresses science education, with a particular focus on developing ways of assessing complex scientific thinking. She was a former high school teacher in the New York City public school system who taught biology and chemistry at Millennium High School.  She also has a background in scientific research, and has worked in labs that investigate neurobiology, marine ecophysiology, and forest ecology.

Publications

  • Hammerness, K., MacPherson, A., & Gupta, P. (2016). Developing a research agenda aimed at understanding the teaching and learning of science at a natural history museum. Curator: The Museum Journal, 59(4), 353-367.
  • MacPherson, A., Hammerness, K., & Gupta, P. (2019). Developing a set of guidelines for rigorous evaluations at a natural history museum. Journal of Museum Education, 44(3), 277-285.
  • Tseng, A. S., Bonilla, S., & MacPherson, A. (2021). Fighting “bad science” in the information age: The effects of an intervention to stimulate evaluation and critique of false scientific claims. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 58(8), 1152-1178.
  • Dozier, S. J., MacPherson, A., Morell, L., Gochyyev, P., & Wilson, M. (2023). A Learning Progression for Understanding Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems. Sustainability, 15(19), 14212.
  • Hammerness, K., MacPherson, A., Gupta, P., Wallace, J., Chaffee, R., & Jain, N. (2023). What we've learned: A research agenda for a museum, 7 years later. Curator: The Museum Journal, 66(4), 589-608.

 

Teaching Experience

  • American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, Instructor, Curriculum and Instruction in Earth Science, Fall 2016
  • Stanford University, Stanford, CA, Teaching Assistant, Curriculum and Instruction in Science I, II & III, 2012-2013
  • Stanford University, Stanford, CA, Clinical Supervisor, Secondary Science 2011-2013
  • Millennium High School, New York, NY, Teacher, 2003-2008, Taught science (biology, chemistry, & research) to grades 9-12 at this small, selective public high school in Manhattan Leadership positions: Science Department Facilitator (2007-2008), Cooperating Teacher, Columbia Teachers College (2007-2008), New Teacher Coach (2006-2008)