Shannon Davidson

Shannon G. Davidson is a Ph.D. candidate in science education at Florida State University. She grew up in Miami, Florida and attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, where she earned degrees in special education (B.A. ’04) and early childhood education (M.Ed. ’05). Shannon’s research interests center around science teaching and learning in elementary (K-5) classrooms, science teacher professional development, and topics in history and philosophy of science. Her dissertation work focuses on elementary teachers’ understanding of the scientific community through firsthand scientific research experiences, and in turn, how this understanding translates to their classroom teaching practice.

Through her time as a graduate student at FSU, Shannon says she has grown as a teacher and researcher in her field. “The faculty at the College of Education and at FSU is incredibly supportive and they respect students as scholars. In course work and research opportunities, the faculty position themselves as mentors, working alongside students as guides. I have had a wonderful experience at FSU and have grown so much, in large part because of the academic support network that FSU and my program has provided.” Shannon is the winner of the 2017 Three Minute Thesis competition at FSU and has been awarded the Drs. Owen F. and Constance B. Gaede Endowment for Science Education for two consecutive years.