Daniel Pimentel
Assistant Professor of Science Education, Curriculum & Instruction- drpimentel@ua.edu
- 205-348-9756
- 3405, Science and Engineering Complex

| Degree | Area of Study | University |
|---|---|---|
| Ph.D. | Science Education; Education Data Science; Learning Sciences and Technology Design | Stanford University |
| M.Ed. | Secondary Science Education | Boston College |
| B.S. | Biology, Music minor | Boston College |

| Certificate Name | University |
|---|---|
| Graduate Certificate, Science, Technology, and Society (STS) | Stanford University |
| Advanced Certification, Special Education | Relay Graduate School of Education |

| Year | Award |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Research Worth Reading Award for Learning to evaluate sources of science (mis) information on the internet: Assessing students’ scientific online reasoning, National Science Teaching Association and National Association for Research in Science Teaching |
| 2025 | Outstanding Doctoral Research Award, National Association for Research in Science Teaching |
| 2023 | Best Paper in Strand 8: Scientific Literacy and Socio-scientific Issues, European Science Education Research Association Conference |
| 2023 | Doctoral Student Award: Research and Academic Excellence, Stanford Graduate School of Education |





Dr. Daniel Pimentel‘s research focuses on how science teaching and learning can prepare students to find and use science information effectively in everyday life, especially when making decisions about health, the environment, and other issues that matter to them. He is particularly interested in how young people reason about science-related information they encounter online, in the media, and through AI tools. He studies how students learn to obtain, evaluate, and communicate science information and how teachers learn to integrate media, information, and digital literacies into science instruction.
Dr. Pimentel earned his PhD in the Science Education and Learning Sciences & Technology Design (LSTD) programs at Stanford University, along with a Graduate Certificate in Science, Technology & Society (STS) with a specialization in Data & Society. He holds a B.S. in Biology and an M.Ed. in Secondary Education from Boston College, as well as an Advanced Certificate in Special Education from the Relay Graduate School of Education. He was previously a middle and high school science teacher in Brooklyn, NY.