Barbara Hug

Barbara Hug is a Teaching Professor at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign with appointments in the Curriculum and Instruction department within the College of Education and the European Union Center. She also serves as an affiliate of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology. Her academic work focuses on science education, curriculum development, and teacher professional development.

Dr. Hug's research centers on developing and implementing curriculum materials that support inquiry learning in science. She investigates how students engage in extended inquiry investigations and what learning occurs through these processes. Her work addresses the need to develop curriculum materials that align with national science education reform documents, allowing both teachers and students to engage in authentic science teaching and learning. She examines the necessary supports for teachers and students as they implement inquiry-based practices in classroom environments.

Her recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on collaborative approaches to science curriculum development, particularly in community-based health justice science education. She has developed materials like the EMPOWER framework to promote student ownership and engagement. Her work spans various educational contexts from elementary science methods courses to professional development programs for teachers.

Dr. Hug teaches courses including CI 450/451 (Teaching Elementary Science I & II), CI 544 (Education Reforms & Inquiry), and CI 548 (Capstone Project). These courses focus on inquiry science teaching, educational reform history, and action research in science education. Her classroom instruction integrates field assignments and emphasizes curriculum materials, literacy instruction in science, children's scientific thinking, differentiated instruction, assessment, and technology integration.

Her collaborative research approach involves working with teachers, scientists, and graduate students to examine both professional development and classroom environments. This collaborative model reflects her commitment to bridging theory and practice in science education.