Ella Yonai, Ph.D. profile and information
Learn more about Ella Yonai, Ph.D.
- Visiting Assistant Professor
- AUTeach, Curriculum and Teaching
Short Bio
Dr. Ella Yonai is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Science Education at Auburn University. She is a science teacher educator and mixed-methods researcher whose work examines social and emotional engagement in science teaching and learning, with particular attention to teacher resilience, burnout, and authentic STEM learning environments. Her scholarship bridges student learning experiences, teacher professional learning, and contemporary STEM curriculum design.
More bio information
Professional Experience
Before joining Auburn, Dr Yonai was a postdoctoral associate in science education at the University of Georgia, where she worked across multiple NSF-funded projects involving teacher learning, resilience, and instructional leadership. Her professional experience also includes teaching undergraduate and graduate science education courses, leading professional development for in-service teachers, directing the Weizmann Educational Scanning Electron Microscope outreach initiative, teaching secondary physics, mathematics, and engineering in public schools, and teaching undergraduate engineering and physics courses.
Innovation
Dr. Yonai’s research focuses on the emotional, social, and instructional dimensions of science education. She studies how teachers and students experience authentic and practice-centered science learning, how emotions shape teaching and curriculum enactment, and how resilience and burnout develop across teachers’ careers. Her work also explores contemporary STEM knowledge and the design of professional learning environments that support science teachers in navigating the intellectual and emotional demands of teaching. Methodologically, her scholarship is grounded in mixed methods design and includes rigorous statistical modeling, longitudinal analysis, and epistemic and social network analysis to examine patterns of interaction, sensemaking, and development across time.
