Pratchayapong Yasri (Kak)

Contact Details:
School of Education
College of Social Sciences
University of Glasgow
St Andrew's Building, Room 682,
11 Eldon Street, Glasgow, G3 6NH

E-mail  p.yasri.1@research.gla.ac.uk
Tel +44 (0) 777 590 8744

Research Interests

Evolution is an important topic in biology and key to research on many problems in population biology and ecology; however, it is known to be problematic with learners. I am currently working on evolution education, and specifically on identifying different ways in which secondary school students view the relationship between science and religion. We have collected evidence that the perceived relationship can influence students' learning about evolution both positively and negatively. I am focusing on the impacts of views of the relationship on students' understanding, acceptance, epistemological beliefs, learning approaches and motivations to learn about evolutionary biology. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches are adopted in order to reveal their associations. It is hoped that this study will enable us to better find an appropriate approach or approaches for the learning and teaching of evolution, leading to the improvement of evolution education at high school level.

Academic History

  • 2009-Present  PhD in Education (Psychology of Learning) School of Education, College of Social Sciences. University of Glasgow, UK
  • 2008-2009   MSc in Interprofessional Science Education and Communication, School of Education, College of Social Sciences, University of Glasgow, UK
  • 2006-2008   MSc in Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering, Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Mahidol University, Thailand
  • 2002-2006   BSc in Biology (Hons), Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

Previous Research Projects

  1. Perceptions of the relationship between evolutionary theory and biblical explanations of the origins of life and their effects on the learning of evolution among high school students. (MSc dissertation 2009).
  2. Inhibition of Infectious Hypodermal and Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus (IHHNV) replication in shrimp by double-stranded RNA. (MSc Thesis 2008).

Publications

  • Ho, T., Yasri, P., Panyim, S. and Udomkit, A. (2011). Double-stranded RNA confers both preventive and therapeutic effects against Penaeus stylirostris densovirus (PstDNV) in Litopenaeus vannamei. Virus Research, 155(1):131-6.
  • Yasri, P. and Mancy R. (2010). Perceptions of the relationship between evolutionary theory and biblical explanations of the origins of life and their effects on the learning of evolution among high school students. In: International Conference of the Learning Sciences, 29 June - 2 July 2010, Chicago.
  • Yasri, P., Udomkit, A. and Panyim, S. (2007). Inhibition of Infectious Hypodermal and Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus (IHHNV) replication in shrimp by double-stranded RNA”. In: National Graduate Symposium, September 2007, Bangkok, Thailand.
  • Yasri, P., Udomkit, A. and Panyim, S. (2007). Silencing Infectious Hypodermal and Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus (IHHNV) in shrimp by double-stranded RNA. In: World Aquaculture 2007, June 2007, Busan, Korea.
  • Yasri, P. and Denduangboriphant, J. (2006). Molecular genetic relationship of butterfly lizards Leiolepis belliana belliana and L. belliana ocellata in Thailand. In: Science and Technology Annual Symposium of Thailand, March 2006, Bangkok, Thailand.

Scholarships and Awards

  • Strategic Frontier Research Scholarship, The Royal Thai Government, (2008-2013)
  • Postgraduate Excellence Scholarship, University of Glasgow (2008)
  • The Thailand Research Fund, Mahidol University (2007)
  • The Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics Scholarship, Mahidol University (2006)
  • A High Distinction Award, Australian National Chemistry (2000)
  • The Development of Young Thai Scientists Scholarship, Chulalongkorn University (2002-2006)
  • Junior Science Talent Project, National Science and Technology Development Agency (2001)