Assistant Professor, Education
School of Education

Community-Based Science, Curriculum Design, Research-Practice Partnerships, Teacher Education, Social and Environmental Justice, Culture and Equity in Science Learning

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Postdoc
School of Educational Studies, University of Washington, Bothell
PIs: Carrie Tzou and Megan Bang

Dr. Gyles' research investigates the co-design and impact of community-based and culturally responsive features of equity and justice-oriented science curriculum and instruction. Informed by her experiences as a marine scientist and middle school science teacher, her research seeks to contextualize learning in the local community, and position student, family, and community cultural ways of being, knowing and doing as valid sources of knowledge and data in science classrooms. Generally, Dr. Gyles' work seeks to re-define power and expertise in science by re-framing ideas of who holds scientific knowledge, where scientific knowledge is derived from, and who is seen as a science expert.

Dr. Symone Gyles is a former marine scientist and 7th grade life science teacher. She has a passion for imagining and developing transformative science learning experiences for Black and Brown youth through community-based, equity and justice-oriented curriculum and instruction.

Gyles, S. & Clark, H. (2024). Re(defining) expert in science instruction: a community-based science approach to teaching. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-023-10202-2.

Clark, H., Gyles, S., Tieu, D., Venkatesh, D., & Sandoval, W. (2024). Exploring Science Teachers efforts to frame phenomenon in the community. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 1-29. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21945

Tzou, C., McGowan, V. C., Gyles, S., White, B., Starks, E., & Bang, M. (2023). White Faculty Learning Through Co-Design: Building Racial Equity-Centered STEM Courses for Preservice Elementary Teachers. In Blikstein, P., Van Aalst, J., Kizito, R., & Brennan, K. (Eds.) Proceedings of the 17th International Conference of the Learning Sciences - ICLS 2023, (pp. 1142-1145). International Society of the Learning Sciences.

Clark, H. F., Gyles, S. A., & Nava Landeros, I. (2023). Teacher Candidates’ Conceptions and Practices of Computational Thinking for Equity. Journal of Computer Science Integration, 6(1): 6, 1–16. https://jcsi.redlands.edu/articles/10.26716/jcsi.2023.10.17.40

French, R., Gyles, S., Kushon, S., & Quartz, H. (2022). Community Teacher Learning and Development: The Promise of University-Assisted Community Schools. In J. Ferrara, J. Nath & R. Beebe (Eds.) Professional Development Schools and Community Schools: The Nexus of Practice (p. 91-110). Information Age Publishing, Inc.

Clark, H. Gyles, S., Tieu, D., & Venkatesh, S. (2022). Community Science Teaching at Mann UCLA Community School. Community Schooling, Issue 2, Spring 2022. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Center for Community Schooling.

National Science Foundation CS For All Grant, "Deepening Computational Thinking for English Learners by Integrating Community-Based Environmental Literacy". 2023-2027. (Award Amount: $2,000,000, PI: Mark Warschauer, Co-PI: Symone Gyles)

National Science Foundation DRK-12 Grant, "Fostering Systems Thinking in High School Environmental Engineering through Engagement of Coastal Communities". 2023-2026. (Award Amount: $1,291,591, PI: Rossella Santagata, Co-I: Symone Gyles)

American Educational Research Association (AERA)

National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST)

International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS)

Associate Faculty Director, Orange County Educational Advancement Network (OCEAN), UCI School of Education

Faculty Member, Center for Research on Teacher Development and Professional Practice

Link to this profile
https://faculty.uci.edu/profile/?facultyId=7237

Last updated
05/01/2024