Asli Sezen-Barrie

Associate Professor of Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction
asli.sezenbarrie@maine.edu
Phone: 207.581.2413

331 Shibles Hall
University of Maine
Orono, Maine 04469-5766

Bio: Dr. Sezen-Barrie is an Associate Professor of Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction at the University of Maine. Currently, her research interests have an overarching goal of improving science teacher education towards ambitious equitable classroom practices. The research program she developed during her early career years has two lines. The first line involves using the discourse analysis method to look at sociocultural dynamics of learning and teaching practice. Drawn from the fields of sociolinguistics, epistemology and climate change education research, Dr. Sezen-Barrie examines students’ and teachers’ construction of and learning from evidence-based explanations on climate change topics. The second line of research lies at the intersection of anthropology and learning progression studies. She uses the concept of “professional vision” while developing a sustainable support system to improve preservice and novice teachers’ teaching of climate science and effectively assess students’ learning in a meaningful progression. Previously, Dr. Sezen-Barrie was involved in projects to develop a framework for analyzing preservice teachers’ learning to teach science and an extensive international review of learning progression studies.

Prior to her career at University of Maine, Dr. Sezen-Barrie was a faculty member at Towson University where she led a middle school science major and a two-state wide NSF project on climate change. She earned her Ph.D. in Science Education at Penn State University where she worked with local middle school teachers in developing a model of informal formative assessments. Asli’s K-12 teaching experience includes teaching science and math at international middle schools (Istanbul, Turkey), coordinating educational activities for secondary schools at a botanic garden (Istanbul, Turkey & Oxford, England) and teaching elementary and middle school students at Science-U summer camp (State College, PA).

Education
Ph.D., 2011, Pennsylvania State University
M.S., 2007, Bogazici University
B.S., 2004, Bogazici University

Courses taught at UMaine

• EHD 204: Teaching and Assessing for Student Learning
• ESC 316: Teaching Science in Elementary School
• ESC 452: Teaching Science in Secondary Schools
• EHD 519: Formative Assessments: Research, Practice, and Policy
• EHD 571: Qualittaive Research: Theory, Design and Practice
• SMT 500: Educational Psychology with Applications to Science and Mathematics Teaching and Learning

Sample publications

• Sezen-Barrie, A., Carter, L., Smith, S., Saber, D., & Wells, M. (2022). Research and Scholarship During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Wicked Problem. Innovative Higher Education.
• Sezen-Barrie, A., & Avraamidou, L. (2022). “‘A Different Kind of Middleman”: Preservice Science Teachers’ Agency for Climate Change Education.” In Justice and Equity in Climate Change Education (pp. 174-197). Routledge.
  
• Sezen-Barrie, A., Henderson, J. A., & Drewes, A. L. (2022). “Spatial and Temporal Dynamics in Climate Change Education Discourse: An Ecolinguistic Perspective.” In Critical Thinking in Biology and Environmental Education (pp. 189-209). Springer: Cambridge.
• Sezen-Barrie, A., Miller-Rushing, A., & Hufnagel, E. (2020). It’s a Gassy World”: Using Students’ Wondering Questions to Inform Climate Change Education. Environmental Education Research.
• Sezen-Barrie, A. (2018). Utilizing Professional Vision in Supporting Preservice Teachers’ Learning About Contextualized Scientific Practices. Science & Education, 27(1-2), 159-182.
• Sezen-Barrie, A., Shea, N., & Borman, J. H. (2017). Probing into the sources of ignorance: science teachers’ practices of constructing arguments or rebuttals to denialism of climate change. Environmental Education Research.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2017.1330949
• Sezen-Barrie, A., & Kelly, G. J. (2017). From the teacher’s eyes: facilitating teachers noticings on informal formative assessments (IFAs) and exploring the challenges to effective implementation. International Journal of Science Education, 39(2), 181-212. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2016.1274921
• Sezen-Barrie, A., Moore, J., & Roig, C. E. (2015). Discovering Plate Boundaries in Data-integrated Environments: Preservice Teachers’ Conceptualization and Implementation of Scientific Practices. International Journal of Science Education, 37(12), 2013-2037.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2015.1061226
• Sezen-Barrie, A., Tran, M. D., McDonald, S. P., & Kelly, G. J. (2014). A cultural historical activity theory perspective to understand preservice science teachers’ reflections on and tensions during a microteaching experience. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 9(3), 675-697. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11422-013-9503-x
• Duschl, R., Maeng, S., & Sezen, A. (2011). Learning progressions and teaching sequences: A review and analysis. Studies in Science Education, 47(2), 123-182. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03057267.2011.604476

Projects

• Maryland and Delaware Climate Change Education Assessment and Research (MADE CLEAR), National Science Foundation. (2013-2018)

Connect with Dr. Sezen-Barrie
ResearchGate
Google Scholar