Debbie French

Debbie French is an associate professor of science education, an associate director of the Graduate Education Program for the Department of Education, and the Bitove Family Faculty Fellow at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She teaches secondary and elementary science education methods courses, a course on instructional design, assessment, and technology, action research courses, and First Year Seminars on climate change. Her research interests include interdisciplinary climate change education, integrated science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, and identifying best practices for incorporating authentic scientific inquiry in science classes. She earned her undergraduate degree at Denison University, her masters degree at Miami University, and her Ph.D. at the University of Wyoming. She was an assistant professor of science education at Wilkes University before joining the faculty at Wake Forest. French is a former high school physics and engineering teacher where she incorporated authentic scientific inquiry and project-based learning throughout her classes. From 2010-2022, she served as co-principal investigator on three National Science Foundation grants for “The STEM Guitar Project” which funded faculty professional development institutes for K-16 STEM teachers on how to construct a guitar and how to use the guitar as an engaging vehicle to teach integrated STEM. She also provides professional development on integrating climate change concepts in core K-12 classes. She is an active member of the Association for Science Teacher Education, the National Association of Geoscience Teachers, and North Carolina Science Teachers Association.