Senetta Bancroft | SIU

Early Childhood, Elementary Education

Dr. Bancroft has expertise in science teacher professional development, qualitative research methods, and the use of critical theories to inform science education research and practice. Her research currently focuses on teacher beliefs about science instruction and the impacts of sociocultural environments on traditionally underserved doctoral student communities’ persistence in STEM. Her teaching includes secondary science methods and introductory chemistry.

Dr. Bancroft serves on the Equity and Ethics Committee for the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST). She is also the program coordinator for the Science with a designation in the biological sciences specialty area.

In addition to her doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from The University of Akron, Dr. Bancroft earned a B.S. in Chemistry from The University of Akron and a M.S. in Secondary Education from Fort Hays State University. She was also an IGERT fellow in Chemistry at Duke University and has taught Chemistry and Physics at Derby High School, Derby Kansas and Queen’s College, Georgetown Guyana.