Work on

Undergraduate Education

Culture, Mind, Brain, & Development

I am a co-founder and member of the steering committee of Hampshire's Culture, Brain, & Development Program (CBD), founded in 2003 with a grant from The Foundation for Psychocultural Research. The CBD program received a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a national workshop on Culture, Mind, Brain, & Development, held May 31-June 3, 2007. A description of the workshop is here.

The Cognitive Science of Science Learning

In recent years the NSF has been interested in bringing the cognitive and learning sciences to bear on science teaching and learning. I have been fortunate enough to be a part of these efforts.

In 2008-09 I was a member of an NSF-sponsored working group to develop a Synthesis of Research on Learning & Thinking in the Geosciences.

With Loretta Jones and Ken Jordan I co-organized the 2001 NSF-funded National Workshop on Molecular Visualization in Science Education. The workshop brought together research chemists, leading chemistry educators, and cognitive scientists to discuss the challenges of using visualizations of various kinds to understand phenomena at the molecular level. There is a website for the workshop, and the final report can be found here.

With Cathy Manduca and Dave Mogk I co-organized the 2002 NSF-funded National workshop, Bringing Research on Learning to the Geosciences, which brought together geoscientists and cognitive scientists to discuss the challenges of educating students about the history of the Earth and the complex systems that influence the continuing evolution of the planet and its atmosphere. As can be seen from the website, the workshop spawned many associated and follow-up activities and meetings. The final report of the workshop is here.

NSF Report on Undergraduate
Cognitive Science

In 1993 I organized and chaired a national workshop on undergraduate cognitive science. The workshop was attended by faculty representatives from a broad selection of college and university cognitive science programs and from all cognitive science disciplines. In spite of its age I believe that the final report of the workshop remains an excellent summary of the promise and challenges of undergraduate cognitive science education.

Program Planning Checklist
for Undergraduate Cognitive Science

In consulting with various institutions that were planning or evaluating their cognitive science programs I developed a checklist of issues to consider. The list is based on the NSF workshop above, on my consulting experience, and on experiences at Hampshire. Everything on the list should be recognizable to an experienced faculty member. The list is intended as a useful set of reminders.