Anna MacPherson

Anna MacPherson, MAT Program adjunct faculty

Manager of Educational Research and Evaluation

Download Curriculum Vitae

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 Manager of Educational 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

  • MacPherson, A. 2016. A comparison of scientists' arguments and school argumentation tasks. Science Education. doi:10.1002/sce.21246
  • Osborne, J, Henderson, JB, MacPherson, A, Wild, A, Szu, E, & Yao, S-Y. 2016. The development and validation of a learning progression for argumentation in science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 53: 821-846. doi:10.1002/tea.21316
  • Osborne, J, Donovan, B, Henderson, JB, MacPherson, A, & Wild, A . 2016. Arguing from Evidence in Middle School Science: 24 Activities for Productive Talk and Deeper Learning, Corwin, Thousand Oaks, CA.
  • Henderson, JB,  MacPherson, A, Osborne, J, & Wild, A. 2015. Beyond construction: Five arguments for the role and value of critique in learning science. International Journal of Science Education, 37(10): 1668–1697.
  • Osborne, J, MacPherson, A, Patterson, A & Szu, E. 2011. Introduction. In MS Khine (2012) Perspectives on Scientific Argumentation, Springer.

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)