Donna, Joel

Joel Donna

Associate Professor

Start Year: 2015

Teacher Education
Office: 242 Wyman Teacher Education Bldg
Phone: 715-425-4814

Email: joel.donna@uwrf.edu

Education:

Curriculum Vitae

Joel Donna is an Associate Professor of Science Education at the University of Wisconsin – River Falls where he prepares elementary and high school teachers to teach science by having their students do science.

After graduating from UW-River Falls, he began his career as a high school science teacher at Kasson-Mantorville, Minnesota. He then received his Ph.D. in science education from the University of Minnesota. Joel served as the STEM Specialist for the Minnesota Department of Education where he developed a collaborative vision for STEM education in Minnesota and oversaw the federal Math Science Partnership Grants that provided professional development to over 600 teachers annually. He was a Lecturer of Learning Technologies at the University of Minnesota, a Bush Fellow, and an Assistant Professor of Physics at Winona State. Additionally, he founded a non-profit organization that develops curriculum for beginning teachers of science, called 3Ring.

Joel has developed curriculum and taught science from elementary to college-aged learners in formal and informal settings. He consults with schools on science, STEM and engineering education and has served on boards and committees focused on improving science education in Minnesota and Wisconsin. His research explores how curriculum materials can be designed to support teacher learning. He has 5 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. He has developed and implemented over 20 professional development workshops to teachers some of the largest and most diverse school districts throughout Minnesota including Anoka-Hennepin and St. Paul Public Schools and has presented workshops to over 60 international, national and regional K-12 science teacher conferences.