Dr. James A. Shymansky is the holder of the E. Desmond Lee Family Professor of Science Education II endowed professorship. He received his BS in Education from Bloomsburg State College, his MS in Physics from Indiana State University and his Ph.D. in Science Education from the Florida State University. Before joining the UM-St. Louis faculty in 1997, he taught for 5 years in elementary, middle and high school in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Indiana and Florida and for 25 years at the University of Iowa.

He continues to direct the "Just ASK Project," a professional development project originally funded by the National Science Foundation in which elementary school teachers from rural school districts in Missouri and Iowa are helping to study the effect of "adapting science kits" (ASK) to teach and reinforce student skills in reading and writing while learning science through hands-on inquiry. The Just ASK project website, opened in January 2013, allows teachers nationally and internationally to share lesson plans and video recordings of ASK lessons. The website has had over 60,000 teacher visits since opening.

His research has focused on factors influencing student performance in inquiry classrooms and on how professional development activities for teachers translate into enhanced student attitudes and achievement. He has authored or co-authored 16 book chapters, 14 textbook series and over 70 research articles. One of his co-authored research articles, The effects of new science curricula on student performance was selected in 2003 as one of most influential publications for the 40th anniversary edition of the Journal of Research in Science Teaching. Dr. Shymansky helped found the International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, published by Springer Publishing Company of the Netherlands for which he has served as Senior Editor since 2002. He is currently working on a set of online student materials that focus on the Next Generation Science Standards, a program consisting of a web-based, dual language interactive science modules for elementary and middle school children that can be accessed in English, Spanish, Mandarin and Arabic.

His recent publications include: 1). Shymansky, J.A., Wang, T.L., Annetta, L.A., Yore, L.D., & Everett, S.A. (2011). How much professional development is needed to effect positive gains in K-6 students’ achievement on high stakes science tests? International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 12(1), 1-19; 2). Shymansky, J.A, Wang, T.L., Annetta, L.A., Yore, L.D., & Everett, S.A. (2013). The impact of a multi-year, multi-school district K-6 professional development programme designed to integrate science inquiry and language arts on students’ high stakes test scores. International Journal of Science Education, 35, 956-979; and 3). Shymansky, J.A., Annetta, L.A., Yore, L.D., Wang, T.L., & Everett, S.A. (2013). The impact of a multi-year systemic reform effort on elementary school students’ achievement in science. School Science and Mathematics, 113(2), 69-79.