Betty Zan has a PhD in developmental psychology from the University of Houston. She serves as associate professor at the University of Northern Iowa, where she teaches classes in early childhood education. Dr. Zan is the coauthor of two books with the late Rheta DeVries (Moral Classrooms, Moral Children and Developing Constructivist Curriculum). She served as principal investigator on the Ramps and Pathways project (funded by the National Science Foundation), which serves as the foundation for this book. She has presented on early STEM education nationally and internationally, and is a regular presenter at NAEYC.