Rate My Professor Frederick Fifer

Frederick Fifer, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Science and Mathematics Education at The University of Texas at Dallas, dedicated over 30 years to advancing science education. Joining the university in 1974 as a professor of science education, he helped found the department and served as its head for many years. He retired in 2000 with emeritus status but continued as a part-time professor. Fifer earned his B.S. from Stephen F. Austin State University in 1960, M.S. from East Texas State University in 1970, and Ph.D. from George Peabody College for Teachers in 1973.

His research interests encompassed the physical structure and arrangement of secondary science classrooms and their effects on classroom teaching, discipline, and safety; the effects of teacher mobility on student-teacher interactions and discipline; and levels-of-questioning used as formative evaluation. He authored a step-by-step book for collecting systematic information from classroom observations. Fifer also pursued science problem-solving and open-ended activities with minimal materials, co-authoring four books featuring over 75 lab activities in life, earth, and physical sciences, aligned to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills. Overall, he authored or co-authored more than 20 books on science teaching, including "Penny Ante Science" with Cynthia Ledbetter and "Maximizing Opportunities for All Children." He conducted hundreds of workshops training science teachers and significantly influenced the Master of Arts in Teaching program.

Fifer received the Skoog Cup in 2003 from the Science Teachers Association of Texas for career-long contributions to science education, the first recipient from any University of Texas System school. He also earned the UT System Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Teacher and was elected a Fellow of the Texas Academy of Science. His curiosity, creativity, enthusiasm, and ability to explain complex concepts simply enabled him to train generations of outstanding science educators, impacting the field locally, statewide, and nationally.