معرفی
Micha Ummels is an Assistant Professor in Science Education at the Freudenthal Institute, Faculty of Science, Utrecht University. Specializing in biology education and teacher training, Dr. Ummels focuses on developing effective teaching methods that promote conceptual coherence and meaningful learning experiences for students.
With expertise in subject didactics and practical research, Ummels' work centers on higher education research, particularly in biology teacher education. Their research investigates concept-context education approaches that help students recognize the complexity and beauty of biological systems across various levels, from cellular to ecosystem perspectives. A key focus is developing methods to enhance conceptual coherence within biology education, addressing the challenge students face in connecting biological concepts and applying them flexibly across different contexts.
Ummels' publications and conference presentations reveal a strong emphasis on practice-based research in teacher education, with recent work exploring fictional placemaking for causal reasoning in biology education, reading strategies for scientific texts, and the impact of practice-based research on pre-service teachers. Their research often involves collaborative projects with significant funding from NWO and EU grants.
As an educator, Ummels is involved in the Graduate School of Teaching for teacher preparatory higher education in biology (Master's level) and teaches courses including Biology Teaching Methodology, Designing and Redesigning Subject Lessons with Lesson Study, and Interdisciplinary Science Didactics. They serve as a subject matter expert updating exam programs for pre-university biology education (havo/vwo).
- Project Leader & Researcher for Postdoc-vo (NWO grant)
- Researcher for LIFT: Lesson study in future teacher education (EU grant)
- Project Leader for Ontwerponderzoek in de lerarenopleiding (Utrecht University funding)