Milton faculty member Linda “Linde” Eyster, Ph.D. is a new member of the Massachusetts Hall of Fame for Science Educators. Linde has been teaching science at Milton for over 20 years, this year leading Honors Biology and Advanced Biology students. Both current and former students describe classroom experiences with Linde as imaginative, challenging, rewarding, defining—in terms of energizing them about science—and fun. Many Milton alumni pinpoint experiences in her classroom as pivotal in their choice of science careers. In support of Linde’s nomination, one colleague said that in Linde’s classroom, “Curiosity is expected, rewarded and reseeded every day.”
Linde recently published an article in The Science Teacher, a peer-reviewed scholarly journal for secondary school teachers produced by the National Science Teachers Association. Her article, “Encouraging Creativity in the Lab,” appeared in the September, 2010 issue.
Linde’s teaching methods—like all Milton’s faculty—are inquiry-based, relying on open-ended questions that trigger exploration, rather than experimentation based on “recipes” aimed at predetermined outcomes. The exploration students undertake involves testing, debate, design, analysis and expression. Inquiry-based teaching develops capabilities that benefit young people through adulthood, even if that is simply increased confidence in tackling an unfamiliar situation.
The Massachusetts Hall of Fame for Science Educators was founded in 1992 and since then has recognized 98 teachers—each with a long and distinguished career in science education in Massachusetts. The Hall of Fame is permanently housed at Bridgewater State University, and the induction ceremony was sponsored by the Massachusetts Science Education Leadership Association and the Massachusetts Association of Science Teachers. Linde was one of three 2010 inductees.
