Larry Flick has served as the Dean of the College of Education at Oregon State University since July 1, 2011. As dean of the OSU College of Education, Flick oversees an academic unit that has more than 14,000 alumni in all 50 states and 35 different countries. His academic and research interests include the psychology of concept formation in science and mathematics and methods of teaching where teachers attend to student thinking, orient students to each other in structured discussion of big scientific and mathematical ideas, and position students for equal access to worthwhile tasks and classroom discourse. Recently, he has been examining the role of context in establishing purpose for learning science and studying the kinds of cognitive and social resources afforded by the setting. His current research uses analysis of classroom teaching, structured interviews, structured observation protocols, and quantitative methods for studying learning environments and professional learning communities.
Dean Flick earned a Ph.D. in Science Education from Indiana University after teaching at the elementary and middle school levels for 12 years, Dr. Flick also holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from Purdue University, an M.A.T. from Northwestern. He holds a Professorship of Science Education in the College of Science. Dr. Flick has been a board member for the Council for Elementary Science International, National Science Teachers Association, and the Association for the Education of Teachers in Science. He has served on the editorial board of Journal for Research in Science Teaching, the Journal for Science Teacher Education, and a co-editor for the journal School Science and Mathematics.
Dr. Flick has been teaching at OSU since 1994. A former electrical engineer from Purdue University turned middle school science teacher in Indianapolis, Flick earned his Ph.D. in science education from Indiana University in 1985. He went on to teach at University of Oregon and Washington State University before joining the faculty at OSU. In 2003, Flick became chair of Science and Mathematics Education, and was appointed part-time associate dean of the College of Education in January 2011. His areas of specialization include the psychology of concept formation in science and methods of teaching which orient students toward big ideas in science and mathematics.
