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Learning Science Through Computer Games and Simulations (2011)

Chapter: Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2011. Learning Science Through Computer Games and Simulations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13078.
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C
Biographical Sketches of Committee Members

Margaret A. Honey (Chair) is president and chief executive officer of the New York Hall of Science, a hands-on science and technology center. Her extensive work in the field of education technology includes serving as senior vice president for strategic initiatives and research at Wireless Generation, vice president of the Education Development Center, and director of its Center for Children and Technology. She codirected the Northeast and Islands Regional Education Laboratory, which helps educators, policy makers, and communities access and leverage the most current research about learning and K-12 education. She has directed numerous research projects, including efforts to identify teaching practices and assessments for 21st century skills; new approaches to teaching computational science in high schools; collaborations with the Public Broadcasting Service, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and some of the nation’s largest public television stations; and investigations of data-driven decision-making tools and practices. With Bank Street College of Education faculty, she created one of the first Internet-based professional development programs. At the National Research Council, she chaired the Committee on IT Fluency and High School Graduation Outcomes: A Workshop. She has a B.A. in social theory from Hampshire College and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in developmental psychology from Columbia University.


William B. Bonvillian is director of the Washington, DC, office of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He works to support the university’s strong and historic relations with federal research and development (R&D) agencies and its role on national science policy. Prior to that position, he served for 17 years as a senior policy adviser in the U.S. Senate, working on science and technology policies and innovation issues. He worked extensively on legislation creating the U.S. Department of Homeland

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2011. Learning Science Through Computer Games and Simulations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13078.
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Security, on intelligence reform, on defense and life science R&D, and on national competitiveness and innovation legislation. He has lectured and given speeches before numerous organizations on science, technology, and innovation questions, is on the adjunct faculty at Georgetown University, and has taught in this area at Georgetown, MIT, and George Washington University. He was the recipient of the IEEE Distinguished Public Service Award in 2007. At the National Research Council (NRC), he is a member of the Board on Science Education and served on the Committee on Modernizing the Infrastructure of the National Science Foundation’s Federal Funds (R&D) Survey and the NRC’s Exploring the Intersection of Science Education and the Development of 21st Century Skills. He has a B.A. in history from Columbia University, an M.A.R. in religion from Yale University, and a J.D. from the Columbia School of Law.


Janis Cannon-Bowers is associate professor of digital media at the University of Central Florida, a senior research scientist at its Institute for Simulation and Training, and founding director of its new Center for Research in Education, Art, Technology and Entertainment. She previously held the position of senior scientist for training systems for the U.S. Navy and has more than 17 years of experience conducting research on learning and performance in complex systems. She is an active researcher, with numerous scholarly publications and presentations, and serves on the editorial boards of several research journals. She is currently principal investigator on several efforts aimed at applying technology to K-12 education and workforce development, including grants from the National Science Foundation to investigate the development of synthetic learning environments and educational games for science education. She has a B.A. in psychology from Eckerd College and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in industrial/organizational psychology from the University of South Florida.


Eric Klopfer is associate professor of science education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and director of its Scheller Teacher Education Program, with a joint appointment at the MIT Media Lab. He is codirector of the MIT Education Arcade Initiative and the Scheller career development professor of science education and educational technology. His research focuses on the development and use of computer games and simulations for building understanding of science and complex systems. He created StarLogo TNG, a new platform for helping children create 3D simulations and games using a graphical programming language. On handheld computers, Klopfer’s work includes participatory simulations, which embed users inside complex systems, and augmented reality simulations, which create a hybrid virtual/real space for exploring intricate scenarios in real time. He currently runs the StarLogo project, a desktop platform that enables students and teachers

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2011. Learning Science Through Computer Games and Simulations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13078.
×

to create computer simulations of complex systems. He has a B.S. in biology from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.


James W. Pellegrino is liberal arts and sciences distinguished professor of cognitive psychology and distinguished professor of education at the University of Illinois, Chicago (UIC). He is codirector of UIC’s Learning Sciences Research Institute. His current work is focused on analyses of complex learning and instructional environments, including those incorporating powerful information technology tools, with the goal of better understanding the nature of student learning and the conditions that enhance deep understanding. A special concern of his research is the incorporation of effective formative assessment practices, assisted by technology, to maximize student learning and understanding. At the National Research Council, Pellegrino has served on the Board on Testing and Assessment and cochaired the Committee on the Cognitive Science Foundations for Assessment, which issued the report Knowing What Students Know: The Science and Design of Educational Assessment. He recently helped The College Board build frameworks for curriculum, assessment, and professional development in advanced placement biology, chemistry, physics, and environmental science. He has a B.A. in psychology from Colgate University and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Colorado.


Ray Perez oversees the Training & Education Technology Program and the Applied Instructional Research programs at the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR). At ONR, he manages a range of learning technology projects that include gaming, training, and simulations for military and educational purposes. The training projects are research based and include extensive use of computer technology, such as virtual reality, to provide realistic simulations and scenarios for U.S. naval forces. He has also been involved in the research, development, and implementation of specialized artificial intelligence techniques to emulate idealized instructors and tutors, or teammates and opponents. Some of his ONR work has involved collaborating with U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity schools. One recent program direction involves research on coaching strategies for fast-moving, dynamically evolving military tasks. He has a B.A. in psychology and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in educational psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles.


Nichole Pinkard is visiting associate professor in the College of Computing and Digital Media at DePaul University. Previously, she was director of innovation for the University of Chicago’s Urban Education Institute, where she played a leading role in creating optimal learning environments that

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2011. Learning Science Through Computer Games and Simulations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13078.
×

span school, home, and community. She has led efforts to implement 1:1 computing in urban schools, to integrate new media into core instruction, and to create new media learning opportunities outside the school day. She is a recipient of the Jan Hawkins Award for Early Career Contributions to Humanistic Research and Scholarship in Learning Technologies and a National Science Foundation Early CAREER Fellowship. She serves on the Advisory Board of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center and on the National Advisory Committee for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Health Games Research Program. Her current scholarly interests include the design and use of pedagogical-based social networks, new media literacy learning outcomes, and ecological models of learning. She has a B.S. in computer science from Stanford University and an M.S. in computer science and a Ph.D. in learning sciences from Northwestern University.


Daniel Schwartz is professor of education at Stanford University’s School of Education. A member of the faculty there since 2000, he studies student understanding and representation and the ways that technology can facilitate learning. His work is at the intersection of cognitive science, computer science, and education, examining cognition and instruction in individual, cross-cultural, and technological settings. A theme throughout his research is how people’s facility for spatial thinking can inform and influence processes of learning, instruction, assessment, and problem solving. He finds that new media make it possible to exploit spatial representations and activities in fundamentally new ways, offering an exciting complement to the verbal approaches that dominate educational research and practice. His current interest is in the creation and use of web-based tools for instruction. His current research focuses on mental models, instructional methods, transfer, child development, teachable agents, imagery and action, collaborative learning, and cognition. He has a teaching certificate from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a B.A. in philosophy and anthropology from Swarthmore College. He has an M.A. in computers and education and a Ph.D. in human cognition and learning from Columbia University.


Constance Steinkuehler is assistant professor in the Educational Communication and Technology Program of the curriculum and instruction department, School of Education, at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her research is on cognition, learning, and literacy in massively multiplayer online games. Current interests include “pop-cosmopolitanism” in online worlds and the intellectual practices that underwrite such a disposition, including informal scientific reasoning, collaborative problem solving, media literacy (as production, not just consumption), computational literacy, and the social learning mechanisms that support the development of such expertise (e.g., reciprocal apprenticeship, collective intelligence). She has B.A. degrees in

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2011. Learning Science Through Computer Games and Simulations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13078.
×

mathematics, English, and religious studies from the University of Missouri, Columbia, and an M.A. in educational psychology and a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from the University of Wisconsin, Madision.


Carl E. Wieman (until March 2010) is distinguished professor of physics and winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in physics for studies of the Bose-Einstein condensate. Currently he divides his time between the University of British Columbia, where he leads the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative, and the University of Colorado, Boulder. The majority of his work is currently dedicated to reforming science teaching. He has been a member of the National Academy of Sciences since 1995. He is also a 2001 recipient of the National Science Foundation Director’s Award for Distinguished Teaching Scholars as well as an award for distinguished teaching from the Carnegie Foundation. His research has involved the use of lasers and atoms to explore fundamental problems in physics. His physics research group at the University of Colorado, Boulder, has carried out a variety of precise laser spectroscopy measurements, including the most accurate measurements of parity nonconservation in atoms and the discovery of the anapole moment. He has also worked extensively on using laser light and magnetic fields to cool and trap atoms and investigating the physics of ultracold atoms. Since 2000, he has served on the National Task Force for Undergraduate Physics, which emphasizes improving undergraduate physics programs as a whole: introductory and advanced courses for all students, preparation of K-12 teachers, undergraduate research opportunities, and the recruitment and mentoring of students for diverse careers. At the National Research Council, he is the chair of the Board on Science Education and was a member of the study committee addressing the state of high school science laboratories. He has a Ph.D. from Stanford University.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2011. Learning Science Through Computer Games and Simulations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13078.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2011. Learning Science Through Computer Games and Simulations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13078.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2011. Learning Science Through Computer Games and Simulations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13078.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2011. Learning Science Through Computer Games and Simulations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13078.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2011. Learning Science Through Computer Games and Simulations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13078.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2011. Learning Science Through Computer Games and Simulations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13078.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." National Research Council. 2011. Learning Science Through Computer Games and Simulations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13078.
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At a time when scientific and technological competence is vital to the nation's future, the weak performance of U.S. students in science reflects the uneven quality of current science education. Although young children come to school with innate curiosity and intuitive ideas about the world around them, science classes rarely tap this potential. Many experts have called for a new approach to science education, based on recent and ongoing research on teaching and learning. In this approach, simulations and games could play a significant role by addressing many goals and mechanisms for learning science: the motivation to learn science, conceptual understanding, science process skills, understanding of the nature of science, scientific discourse and argumentation, and identification with science and science learning.

To explore this potential, Learning Science: Computer Games, Simulations, and Education, reviews the available research on learning science through interaction with digital simulations and games. It considers the potential of digital games and simulations to contribute to learning science in schools, in informal out-of-school settings, and everyday life. The book also identifies the areas in which more research and research-based development is needed to fully capitalize on this potential.

Learning Science will guide academic researchers; developers, publishers, and entrepreneurs from the digital simulation and gaming community; and education practitioners and policy makers toward the formation of research and development partnerships that will facilitate rich intellectual collaboration. Industry, government agencies and foundations will play a significant role through start-up and ongoing support to ensure that digital games and simulations will not only excite and entertain, but also motivate and educate.

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