Sophia Jeong, PhD
Assistant Professor of Science Education
The Ohio State University
Q&A
Who have you admired in your path into the sciences and what qualities did you see in them that you embody in your own path?
My parents were educators. My dad was a science educator whose scholarship focused on earth sciences. His qualities included persistence and diligence. He is deaf in one of his ears and overcame his hearing disability to obtain his Ph.D. in Science Education at the University of Georgia. I entered the same program more than 30 years later and followed in his steps. He taught me to never assume who is already “smart” in my science classroom when I was a former high school biology and chemistry teacher. He reminded me to be open to the possibilities of who could become “smart” and I should be doing my best to facilitate the learning environment for those possibilities to materialize. I weave his advice daily into my teaching and research which is informed from posthuman, material-discursive lens.
Can you tell us about a memorable moment in your career—a time when you knew you were working in your purpose?
Every day is a memorable moment in my career, whether that is working with my preservice or in-service teachers, or with their K-12 students. Dalai Lama once said in his interview that education today is the only place left that can be used to teach our youth about morals, ethics with science. I long for a more just world for our future generations and I hope I am doing my part being an inclusive and thoughtful science educator.
What is one book or film you would recommend to a young person interested in a career in sciences?
I would recommend Particle Fever; it’s a fascinating documentary. Everything after all is an arrangement or re-arrangement of atoms and they found “Higgs” particle.
Career Highlights
- Foster youth advocacy and activism though science teaching and learning
- Work with preservice science teachers to re-imagine science teaching and learning by supporting students’ diverse sense-making repertories
- Work as Secondary Science Faculty Lead in collaboration between Columbus City School district and OSU to work with in-service STEAM teachers and their professional development
- Recruit and retain minoritized students into the teaching profession as Key Personnel for project The U.S. Dept. of Education
- Received multiple Dean’s Emerging Seed Grants
Biography
Sophia Jeong is an Assistant Professor of Science Education in the Department of Teaching and Learning at The Ohio State University. Her scholarly work draws on theories of new materialisms to examine ontological complexities of subjectivities and socio-material relations in the science classrooms. Broadly speaking, her research interests focus on equity issues in science education through the lens of rhizomatic, nonlinear analysis of K-16 science classrooms. As a science teacher educator, Jeong is passionate about fostering creativity, encouraging inquisitive minds, and developing socio-political consciousness through science education.
