Frank Ventura : reaching for the stars with a passion for science and education

Abstract

This book is a tribute to Frank Ventura: our teacher, mentor and colleague. It includes a selected collection of his writings that illustrate some of the major contributions that he has made in his work as a scientist, as an academic, and as a researcher. The idea for the book originated during one of the first departmental meetings of the newly set up Department of Mathematics and Science Education within the Faculty of Education, University of Malta. All members of the department had in some way been taught, supervised and mentored by Frank Ventura. We therefore agreed that putting together a selected collection of his writings would be a fitting celebration of someone who had inspired and motivated us and played an important role in our professional lives. Since this was a job that could not be carried out by all members of the department, the three of us (Deborah, Michael and Martin) were given the task to work with Frank Ventura, gather together a collection of his papers, select the texts and produce a publication that would acknowledge the major impact of Frank Ventura in the fields of science and education.