Noemi Waight (she, her, hers)

Noemi Waight is an Associate Professor of Science Education in the Department of Learning and Instruction in the Graduate School of Education at the University at Buffalo. Dr. Waight earned her PhD in Science Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Dr. Waight’s research examines the design, development, implementation, adoption, and enactment of technological tools (e.g., computer-based models, bioinformatics tools, databases) in the context of central, reform-based, K-12 science teaching approaches. Two complimentary perspectives guide this research: First, she examines the enactment of technological tools by documenting the full cycle from design and development to actual implementation in science classrooms. Second, to fully understand the implications of the above cycle, her research seeks to elucidate the theoretical underpinnings of the Nature of Technology (NoT) as it pertains to K-12 science education, and empirically examine the factors, conditions, and agencies that impact and mediate enactment of technology in science education. More recently, Dr. Waight’s work has evolved to examine the role of school leadership and STEM implementation in high needs schools locally and internationally. Finally, she is also examining how Computer Science can be used as a tool to facilitate scientific understanding for young women at the high school level.

Dr. Waight has served as Co-PI of a National Science Foundation grant: Connected Chemistry as Formative Assessment. She currently serves as an Associate Editor for Journal of Research in Science Teaching and has served as proposal reviewer for the National Science Foundation. In addition to her research projects in the US context, Dr. Waight has embarked on collaborative research in Belize and Japan.

• PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Curriculum & Instruction (Science Education) (2008)
• MSc, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Curriculum & Instruction (Science Education) (2004)
• BSc, University of Belize, Biology (1998)

• Neumann, K. & Waight, N. (2020). The digitization of science education: Déjà all over again? Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 57, 1519-1528.
• Waight, N. & Neumann, K. (2020). 21st century science education digital ecologies: Technology, technique, shoelaces, promise and pitfalls? Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 57, 1313-1321.

• Waight, N., Liu, X., & Whitford, M. (2023). “Like they are everyday substances, you like see them, hold them, use them every day”: Students’ Understanding of Big Ideas and Macro and Submicro Chemistry Phenomena in the Context of Computer-based Models. Research in Science Education. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11165-023-10114-9

• Chisolm, L., Waight, N. & Jacobson, S. (2019). School leadership for social justice and STEM: Findings from a high need secondary school in Belize. In E. Murakami, D. Gurr & R. Notman, (Eds.), Leadership, Culture and School Success in High-Need Schools. Information Age Publishing.

• Waight, N. (2019). How Understandings of the Nature of Technology Explain Change and Constancy of Technology Implementation and Adoption (The Flight of a Butterfly or the Path of a Bullet? Using Technology to Transform Teaching and Learning). Science Education, 103, 1309-1313.

• Waight, N. (2022, October). Dismantling the Status Quo, “black box” of Technological Implementation in Science Classrooms and Re-envisioning Equitable, Transparent Pathways for the Future of Science-Technology Education. Talk presented in the School of Education Seminar Series, University of Southampton.;

• Park, W., Yacoubian, H., Cullimane, A., Gandolfi, H., Waight, N., Kayumova, S., Tripp, J., Achilova, F., Guerra, A. & Moura, C. (2023, April). The role of nature of science in tackling societal emergencies: An International perspective. Symposium presented at the annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Chicago, Illinois.;
• Waight, N., Roberts, S., Tripp, J., Rish, R., Ramdath, K., & Miles, M. (2023, April). Biking to Uncover Science in Urban Communities: Pre-service Science Teachers' Critical Conscientization of Science-Community. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Chicago, Illinois.;
• Waight, N., Tripp, J., & Chisolm, L. (2022, March). “It’s really important to me for kids to get interested in and become aware of the options that are available to them in the STEM”: Culturally responsive school leadership. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching.;
• Tripp, J. & Waight, N. (2021, April). Defining the future and standing apart: Opportunity structures at an Urban, Inclusive stem-focused high school. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching.;

• STEMcyclists: Black and Brown Youth Transforming Science and Engineering via Bikes; Federal; National Science Foundation; Awarded; (01/01/2024-12/31/2026)
• Culturally Responsive, Community-based Science Teaching and Learning: Transforming the Next Generation of Science Teachers in Belize; Foundation and Research Organization; Linking Science Educators Program, NARST; Awarded; (08/01/2023-07/31/2024)
• RAPID: Co-Developing a Community-Based Science Education Curriculum Framework for Disaster Justice and Resilience: A Response to the 2022 Buffalo Blizzard; Federal; National Science Foundation; Awarded; (06/01/2023-05/31/2024)

• Reviewer for the following journals: Science Education, International Journal of Science Education, Journal of Science Education and Technology, Research in Science Education, International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education, F1000Research, Educational Policy, Chemistry Education Research and Practice, Science Activities
  08/31/2021-05/31/2022
• Editorial Board Member, Journal of Science Teacher Education, 2021-2024
  05/31/2021-04/30/2024
• Editorial Board Member, Journal of Science Teacher Education
  01/01/2021-01/01/2024

• Proposal Reviewer for the National Association of Research in Science Teaching
  08/01/2021-11/01/2021
• Williamsville Teacher Center Policy Board, Board Member, 2020-2023
  08/01/2020-06/30/2023

• Guest Editor; Special Issue: "Science Teaching, Learning, Assessment with 21st Century, Cutting-edge Digital Ecologies" Journal of Research in Science Teaching
  01/31/2019-11/30/2020