CCMS Faculty
Northwestern University (NU) Core Faculty
Daniel C. Edelson, associate professor of education and social policy, and associate professor of computer science, investigates the design of computer-based tools to support learners' investigations of authentic scientific questions. He has developed inquiry-based tools and also designed inquiry curricula for Earth and environmental sciences from middle school through college. Edelson has directed the Learning Sciences Ph.D. Program at NU since 2001, and teaches courses in curriculum/software design. He received his Ph.D. in computer sciences from Northwestern University.
Louis M. Gomez, associate professor of education and social policy and professor of computer science, directs the Center for Learning Technologies in Urban Schools, and has been a leader in creating and studying design partnerships with school districts. Gomez's research concerns systemic school reform in collaborative partnerships, and design of science curricula that connect students and teachers with communities of practice beyond school. Gomez teaches courses in macrocognition, design, and organizational change. He received his Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Brian J. Reiser, professor of education and social policy, focuses on the design and study of investigation environments that support reflective inquiry, and on the teaching practices that support inquiry. Reiser heads the BGuILE project, developing inquiry support tools for students investigating biological phenomena, including topics in ecosystems and selection, behavior ecology, and cell structure and function. Reiser, who previously served as chair of the Learning Sciences Ph.D. program, holds a Ph.D. in psychology from Yale University.
Bruce L. Sherin, associate professor of education and social policy, investigates the conceptual change that occurs in students' science knowledge systems with project-based science curricular instruction. His research has been successfully applied to the systematic evaluation and principled redesign of project-based science curricula. Sherin teaches graduate courses in conceptual change and cognitive models of learning. He holds a Ph.D. in science and mathematics education from the University of California, Berkeley.
Uri Wilensky, associate professor of education and social policy, and associate professor of computer science, designs multi-agent simulation tools and curricula that enable users to simulate, explore and make sense of complex systems in a wide range of content areas including chemical, physical, and biological phenomena, and Participatory Simulation Toolkits that enable students to act out and investigate the elements in a dynamic system. Wilensky teaches courses in design and technological supports for learning, and holds a Ph.D. in media arts and sciences from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Affiliated NU faculty
James P. Spillane, associate professor of education and social policy and faculty fellow at the Institute for Policy Research, investigates the practice of school leadership in urban elementary schools working to improve their science instruction and how local policy-makers, both administrators and lead teachers, construct understandings about reforms in science instruction from state and national reforms, and how these interpretations affect implementation. Spillane teaches courses on educational policy and implementation. He received his Ph.D. in curriculum, teaching, and education policy from Michigan State University.
David E. Kanter, research assistant professor of education and social policy, and research scientist (biomedical engineering), designs and studies the enactment of technology-supported, project-based human biology curricula on topics including organ systems physiology and cellular respiration. His research focuses on design principles for project-based science curricula and student learning of biological concepts in these contexts. He received his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Affiliated NU R&D Staff
Meredith Bruozas, curriculum development specialist, is the curriculum designer for the biology strand of the Investigating and Questioning our World Through Science and Technology (IQWST) project and was the lead designer and professional development facilitator for the Investigations in Environmental Science High School curriculum in the LeTUS project. Currently she is leading and coaching a teacher professional development program in the Chicago Public Schools. She previously worked as a high school earth science, biology, and physical science teacher, and designed and supported K-Adult programming in conservation and marine science at the John J. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago . Her research interests include supporting teachers in enacting classroom discussions around science and supporting data analysis in the classroom using GIS technologies.
Lou-Ellen Finn, teacher development specialist, is the professional development coordinator for the Center for Learning Technologies in Urban Schools (LeTUS), a curriculum writer in the earth science and biology strands of the Investigating and Questioning our World Through Science and Technology (IQWST) project, and an instructor in the Alternative Certification Program (NU-Teach)-all at Northwestern University . She taught middle school science for 35 years in the Chicago Public Schools and holds an M.Ed. in education and supervision from DePaul University .
