Mei-Hung Chiu is a Professor of Science Education at the Graduate Institute of Science Education (GISE) of the National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU). Her research areas include conceptual change on students' understanding of scientific phenomena as well as alternative assessment in science teaching and learning. In extending the research on conceptual change, she investigated how to promote students' perceptions of scientific models and to develop modeling-based inquiry and modelling competency in learning science. Another work explores whether changes in facial micro-expressions can be used to identify moments of conceptual conflict, one of the pathways to conceptual change. More recently, she adopted mobile technology and augmented reality techniques to design instructional materials for high school students' learning in science. Dr. Chiu published over 100 peer reviewed international and national journal articles and supervised close to 90 advisees in master and doctoral programsin science education. Currently, Dr. Chiu is elected as the President-Elect (2015-2016) of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) based in the United States of America and will serve as President of the organization from April 2016 to April 2017. She has also served as the international coordinator for International Committee of NARST from 2008 to 2010 and as the chair for Committee on Chemistry Education of International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) from 2011 to 2015. She was a recipient of the Distinguished Contribution to Chemical Education Award from the Federation of Asian Chemical Societies (FACS) in 2009.

A starting point to better understand the current state of science education in Asia

1 Introduction.- Section One: Overview of Science Education in Asia.- 2 Science Education Research in Chinese Mainland.- 3 Science Education Research and Practice in Lebanon: Current Status, Challenges, and Future Prospects.- 4 School Science Teaching and Learning in Macau: Problems and Challenges.- 5 Science Education Research and Practice in Malaysia.- 6 Historical Overview of Mongolian Science Education Development.- 7 Commentary: Developments and Reforms in Science Education for improving the quality of teaching and research.- 8 Science Education Research in Oman: Opportunities, Trends and Challenges.- 9 Singapore Science Education.- 10 Opportunities and Challenges for Science Education in Asia: Perspectives based on the Taiwan Experience.- 11 Science Education in Thailand: Moving through crisis to opportunity.- 12 Commentary: What we can learn from Science Education in Asian countries? Opportunities and Challenges for: Perspectives based on the Experience.- Section Two: Content Analysis of Science Education Research.- 13 Impacts of Citations on Conceptual Change Articles between 1982 and 2011: From International and Regional Perspectives.- 14 Overview of Science Education Research and Practice in Korea.- 15 Trends in Science Education Research in Turkey: A Content Analysis of Key International Journals from 1998-2012.- 16 Development of Chemistry Education Research (CER) in Turkey: A Comparison of CER Papers with International Research.- 17 Commentary: Who sets trends in Science Education? I comment on four exemplary book chapters.- Section Three: Assessment and Curriculum.- 18 School-based Assessment of Science Students' Practical Skills in Hong Kong.- 19 Assessing Israeli Students' Knowledge in Science - Policy and Practice.- 20 Didactics of Chemistry as a Science - History in Russia.- 21 Commentary: Assessment: The Pros and Cons of this Necessary "Evil".- Section Four: Innovative Technology in Science Education.- 22 Innovative Lesson Plans in Chemistry Education for Broadening Sustainable Society.- 23 Role of Open Educational Resources to support School Science Education in India.- 24 Adapting and Customizing Web-based Inquiry Science Environments to promote Taiwanese Students' learning of Science.- 25 Technology-enhanced Science Teaching and Learning: Issues and Trends.- 26 Commentary: Innovative Curriculum Materials: Development, Pilot-testing, and Scaling-up.- Section Five: Teacher Professional Development and Informal Science Learning in Science Education.- 27 Professional Development of Science High School Teachers in Israel.- 28 How have Japanese Rika (school science) teachers traditionally formed their own cultures and improved their teaching competencies through research and practice?.- 29 From Schools to Nature: Bridging Learning Environments in Israel.- 30 Using Community Resources as Fund of Knowledge to promote Science Learning in Thailand.- 31 Commentary: Transforming Science Education in cultural-historical context and the role of teacher professional development.

This book discusses the scope of science education research and practice in Asia. It is divided into five sections: the first consists of nine chapters providing overviews of science education in Asia (China, Lebanon, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Oman, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand). The second section offers chapters on content analysis of research articles, while the third includes three chapters on assessment and curriculum. The fourth section includes four chapters on innovative technology in science education; and the fifth section consists of four chapters on professional development, and informal learning. Each section also has additional chapters providing specific comments on the content. This collection of works provides readers with a starting point to better understand the current state of science education in Asia.