Peter C. Cormas
Office: Harkins Halls, Room 324
Email: pcormas@providence.edu
Phone: (401) 865-1262
Peter C. Cormas joined the Elementary and Special Education faculty in 2009. He earned his Ph.D. in science education from The University of Texas at Austin in 2006, and his M.S. in geological sciences from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte and Yale University in 2005.
Dr. Cormas teaches Teaching Science and Mathematics in the Elementary School and Physical Geology at Providence College and employs problem-solving instruction when appropriate. Problem-solving is the cognitive tool that is central to the basic questions science and mathematics ask and it is important for college students to experience problem-solving instruction in order to make important social and political decisions. Dr. Cormas has published problem-solving lessons in Science Scope, Middle Level Learning, and Mathematics Teaching.
Dr. Cormas studies the National Science Foundation’s GK-12 Program: a program which supports fellowships that enable graduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to serve in partnership with teachers in K-12 schools. Results from these studies have been published in Science and the Journal of Science Teacher Education and presented at the Association for Science Teacher Education, American Educational Research Association, The Geological Society of America, and National Association for Research in Science Teaching annuals meetings.
In his free time, Dr. Cormas enjoys playing bass guitar and soccer, listening to indie/modern rock, and following Pittsburgh sports teams.
Recent Publications
Cormas, P. C. (2011). Empirical Tests for NSF Classroom Programs. Science, 334 (6055), 453
Cormas, P. C., & Barufaldi, J. B., (2011). The Effective Research-Based Characteristics of Professional Development of the National Science Foundation's GK-12 Program. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 22(3), 255-272
Anderson, L., Nobile, N., & Cormas, P. C., (2011). Tried and True: Teaching the Combined Gas Law. Science Scope, 35(1), 60-63
Murphy, A., Terrizzi, M., Cormas, & P. C. (2011). Getting Beyond the Guess. Mathematics Teaching (In press)
Cormas, P. C., (2009) An Introduction to Water Pressure. Science Scope, 32(9), 42-44
Cormas, P. C., (2009) Maps, Representations of the Earth, and Biases. Middle Level Learning, 36, 8-11