Mark Handwerker

Dr. Mark J. Handwerker has taught secondary school for more than three decades. As a mentor and instructional support teacher, he has trained scores of new teachers in the "art of teaching science." He is the author/editor of books and articles in a number of scientific fields including the "Science Essentials: Lessons and Activities for Test Preparation" series (Elementary, Middle, and High School Levels)."

Dr. Handwerker impresses upon his students that one of the best ways to learn basic scientific principles is to become familiar with the men and women who first conceived those ideas. His classroom lab activities and demonstrations are modeled on those investigations conducted by history's most innovative scientists. By putting scientific discoveries in the context of the times in which they were made, students may better comprehend history-changing revolutions in modern technology and human thought.

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B.S., City College of the City University of New York Ph.D., University of California at Irvine

Some decades ago, as an undergraduate at the City College of the City University of New York (B.S., Psychology/Biology, 1972), I embarked upon a career as a neuroscientist. At the time, I was primarily interested in studying and researching the neurobiological basis of learning and memory phenomena. I continued that line of research at the Department of Biological Sciences, University of California at Irvine (Ph.D., Biological Sciences, 1976). After teaching and conducting research for several years as a post-graduate, I discovered that I relished being with my students more than I enjoyed being in the laboratory. The prospect of putting what I had learned as a neuroscientist to work in the classroom to enhance my students’ academic achievement, using what other investigators discovered about how the brain works, became a more exciting and fulfilling pursuit. Being a teacher has -- and still is today as an author for www.teacherspayteachers.com -- both fun and rewarding.