Melanie Cooper

Michigan State University

Lappan-Phillips Professor

Melanie Cooper is the Lappan-Phillips Professor of Science Education and Professor of Chemistry at Michigan State University. She earned her B.S. M.S. and Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Manchester, England. Her research includes the development and assessment of STEM curricula based on theories of learning and evidence about how people learn, the impact on student learning, and how students perceive these transformed curricula. She has worked to cross disciplinary boundaries to develop coherent approaches to STEM teaching and learning by leading a team of DBER researchers to develop a coherent approach to gateway STEM courses in higher education. She was a member of the leadership team for the development of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and has served as a member on the National Academy of Sciences Board on Science Education (BOSE), and for reports on Discipline Based Education Research (DBER), and Undergraduate Research Experiences (URE). She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the American Chemical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She has received a number of awards including the Royal Society of Chemistry Education Award, the American Chemical Society Award for Achievement in Research on Teaching and Learning in Chemistry, the Norris award for Outstanding Achievement in Teaching of Chemistry, the Outstanding Undergraduate Science Teacher Award from the Society for College Science Teaching, and was awarded an honorary D.Sc. from the University of South Florida