Elisabeth E. Schussler - Department of Botany

Elisabeth E. Schussler
Assistant Professor
Ph.D. (1997) Louisiana State University
334 Pearson Hall
(513) 529-4204

E-mail: schusse@muohio.edu

Botany education and undergraduate biology education

It is increasingly important in today’s society to successfully merge the knowledge of science with the knowledge of how we teach and learn science. Having been trained as a research scientist, then spending seven years teaching and developing curriculum, my research attempts to bridge this science-education continuum.

Research Interests:

My main research focus is the investigation of people’s knowledge about plants, where and how this information is acquired, and how this may affect their botanical attitudes. This research is an outgrowth of investigations into why students prefer animals and generally ignore plants, which led to an explanation based on visual perception called “Plant Blindness” (Wandersee and Schussler, 2001).

My other area of research is student learning in first-year introductory biology classes, and how students come to know the nature of science through their undergraduate careers. Recent studies have identified naive understandings of the nature of science in students in introductory biology; I and four colleagues (including Jim Hickey in Botany) recently received a National Science Foundation Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement grant (phase I) to test curriculum modifications that may improve these understandings.

Selected Publications:

Link-Perez, Melanie A., Vanessa H. Dollo, Kirk M. Weber, and Elisabeth E. Schussler. In press. What's in a Name: Differential Labeling of Plant and Animal Photographs in Two Nationally-Syndicated Elementary Science Textbook Series. International Journal of Science Education.

Winslow, Jeffrey and Elisabeth E. Schussler. 2009. The Life Cycle of a Partnership (pp.1-15). In The Art and Science of Partnership (Ed. T. Poetter and Eagle). University Press of America: Lanham, MD.

Schussler, Elisabeth E. 2008. From Flowers to Fruits: How Children’s Books Represent Plant Reproduction. International Journal of Science Education 30(12): 1677-1696.

Schussler, Elisabeth E. and Lynn Olzak. 2008. It’s Not Easy Being Green: Student Recall of Plant and Animal Images. Journal of Biological Education 42(3): 112-118.

Schussler, Elisabeth E., Lisette E. Torres, Stephen Rybczynski, Gary W. Gerald, Emy Monroe, Purbasha Sarkar, Dhan Shahi, and Muna A. Osman. 2008. Transforming the Teaching of Science Graduate Students Through Reflection. Journal of College Science Teaching 38(1): 32-36.

Schussler, Elisabeth and Jeff Winslow. 2007. Drawing on Students' Knowledge. Science and Children 44:40-44.

Wandersee, James H., and Elisabeth Schussler. 2001. Toward a Theory of Plant Blindness. Plant Science Bulletin 47 (1): 2-9.

Schussler, Elisabeth E., and David J. Longstreth. 2000. Changes in Cell Structure During the Formation of Root Aerenchyma in Sagittaria lancifolia (Alismataceae). American Journal of Botany 87(1): 12-19.

Wandersee, James H., and Elisabeth E. Schussler. 1999. Preventing Plant Blindness.
Guest Editorial, The American Biology Teacher 61(2): 82-86.

Schussler, Elisabeth E., and David J. Longstreth. 1996. Aerenchyma Develops By Cell Lysis in Roots and Cell Separation in Petioles of Sagittaria lancifolia (Alismataceae). American Journal of Botany 83(10): 1266-1273.

Eickmeier, William G., and Elisabeth E. Schussler. 1993. Responses of the Spring Ephemeral Claytonia virginica L. to Light and Nutrient Manipulations and Implications for the “Vernal-dam” Hypothesis. The Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 120(2): 157-165.

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