Sandra K. Abell is Professor of science education and Director of the Science Education Center at the University of Missouri-Columbia. A former elementary school science teacher, Abell has conducted numerous teaching and research projects in elementary and middle level science classrooms in collaboration with classroom teachers. She is the author of numerous articles for teachers and researchers, coeditor of the forthcoming Handbook of Research on Science Education, and past president of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST).
Mark J. Volkmann is Associate Professor of science education at the University of Missouri-Columbia. A former junior high and high school science teacher, Volkmann has collaborated with teachers and scientists on numerous projects in middle level science classrooms and in science teacher education. His science teaching ideas have appeared in Science and Children, The Science Teacher, and School Science and Mathematics, and his research on science teacher identity and teaching science through inquiry has been published in Science Education and the Journal of Research in Science Teaching.