John D. Bransford
Encyclopedia
Dr. John D. Bransford holds the Shauna C. LarsonUniversity Professor of Education and Psychology at the University of Washington
in Seattle. Dr. Bransford is also Co-Principal Investigator and Director of The Learning in Informal and Formal Environments (LIFE) Center, an National Science Foundation (NSF) Science of Learning Center.
The University of Washington
, Stanford University
, and SRI International
received funding from the NSF for a five-year research center on the science of learning. The LIFE Center seeks to understand and advance human learning through a simultaneous focus on implicit, informal, and formal learning, thus cultivating generalizable interdisciplinary theories that can guide the design of effective new technologies and learning environments.
Previously, Dr. Bransford was Centennial Professor of Psychology and Education and Co-Director of the Learning Technology Center at Vanderbilt University. Early works by Bransford and his colleagues in the 1970s included research in the areas of human learning, memory and problem solving, which helped shape the "cognitive revolution" in psychology. Author of seven books and hundreds of articles and presentations, Bransford is an internationally renowned scholar in cognition and technology.
In 1984 Bransford was asked by the Dean of Peabody College at Vanderbilt to help begin a Learning Technology Center that would focus on education. The Center grew from 7 people in 1984 to approximately 100 by 1999. During that time, Bransford and his colleagues developed and tested a number of innovative computer, videodisc, CD-Rom, and Internet programs for mathematics, science, and literacy. Examples include the Jasper Woodbury Problem Solving Series in Mathematics, the Scientists in Action Series, and the Little Planet Literacy Series. Many of these programs are being used in schools throughout the world. Bransford's dissertation won honorable mention in the national "Creative Talent Awards" contest; several of his published articles (co-authored with colleagues) have won "article of the year" in the areas of science education, technology, design, and theories of transfer. The Little Planet Literacy Series, has won major awards including the 1996 Technology and Learning Award and the 1997 Cody award for Best Elementary Curriculum from the Software Publishers Association. Bransford received the Sutherland Prize for Research at Vanderbilt, was elected to the National Academy of Education, and was awarded the Thorndike award in 2001. In 2003, Bransford received the highest honor within the Teaching of Physiology section of the American Physiological Society: he was selected to present the Claude Bernard Lecture during the Experimental Biology Meeting.
Bransford served as Co-Chair of several National Academy of Science committees. These committees wrote How Students Learn: History, Mathematics, and Science in the Classroom (2005), How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience and School (2000), and How People Learn: Bridging Research and Practice (1999). Recently, he co-edited, with Linda Darling-Hammond, Preparing Teachers for a Changing World: What Teachers Should Learn and Be Able to Do (2005). He is on the International and United States Board of Advisors for Microsoft's Partners in Learning program, and he has worked with the Gates Foundation to develop technology-enhanced workshops that link learning and leadership.
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
in Seattle. Dr. Bransford is also Co-Principal Investigator and Director of The Learning in Informal and Formal Environments (LIFE) Center, an National Science Foundation (NSF) Science of Learning Center.
The University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
, Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, and SRI International
SRI International
SRI International , founded as Stanford Research Institute, is one of the world's largest contract research institutes. Based in Menlo Park, California, the trustees of Stanford University established it in 1946 as a center of innovation to support economic development in the region. It was later...
received funding from the NSF for a five-year research center on the science of learning. The LIFE Center seeks to understand and advance human learning through a simultaneous focus on implicit, informal, and formal learning, thus cultivating generalizable interdisciplinary theories that can guide the design of effective new technologies and learning environments.
Previously, Dr. Bransford was Centennial Professor of Psychology and Education and Co-Director of the Learning Technology Center at Vanderbilt University. Early works by Bransford and his colleagues in the 1970s included research in the areas of human learning, memory and problem solving, which helped shape the "cognitive revolution" in psychology. Author of seven books and hundreds of articles and presentations, Bransford is an internationally renowned scholar in cognition and technology.
In 1984 Bransford was asked by the Dean of Peabody College at Vanderbilt to help begin a Learning Technology Center that would focus on education. The Center grew from 7 people in 1984 to approximately 100 by 1999. During that time, Bransford and his colleagues developed and tested a number of innovative computer, videodisc, CD-Rom, and Internet programs for mathematics, science, and literacy. Examples include the Jasper Woodbury Problem Solving Series in Mathematics, the Scientists in Action Series, and the Little Planet Literacy Series. Many of these programs are being used in schools throughout the world. Bransford's dissertation won honorable mention in the national "Creative Talent Awards" contest; several of his published articles (co-authored with colleagues) have won "article of the year" in the areas of science education, technology, design, and theories of transfer. The Little Planet Literacy Series, has won major awards including the 1996 Technology and Learning Award and the 1997 Cody award for Best Elementary Curriculum from the Software Publishers Association. Bransford received the Sutherland Prize for Research at Vanderbilt, was elected to the National Academy of Education, and was awarded the Thorndike award in 2001. In 2003, Bransford received the highest honor within the Teaching of Physiology section of the American Physiological Society: he was selected to present the Claude Bernard Lecture during the Experimental Biology Meeting.
Bransford served as Co-Chair of several National Academy of Science committees. These committees wrote How Students Learn: History, Mathematics, and Science in the Classroom (2005), How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience and School (2000), and How People Learn: Bridging Research and Practice (1999). Recently, he co-edited, with Linda Darling-Hammond, Preparing Teachers for a Changing World: What Teachers Should Learn and Be Able to Do (2005). He is on the International and United States Board of Advisors for Microsoft's Partners in Learning program, and he has worked with the Gates Foundation to develop technology-enhanced workshops that link learning and leadership.
See also
- Adaptive expertiseAdaptive expertiseAdaptive expertise is a broad construct that encompasses a range of cognitive, motivational, and personality-related components, as well as habits of mind and dispositions. Generally, problem-solvers demonstrate adaptive expertise when they are able to efficiently solve previously encountered tasks...
- Expertise
- Preparation for Future Learning (PFL)
- Transfer of LearningTransfer of learningTransfer of learning is the study of the dependency of human conduct, learning, or performance on prior experience. The notion was originally introduced as transfer of practice by Edward Thorndike and Robert S. Woodworth...
External links
- John Bransford at the University of Washington 's College of Education
- Cognitive Studies in Education at the University of Washington 's College of Education
- Learning in Informal and Formal Environments (LIFE) Science of Learning Center (SLC) John is the director of this National Science Foundation (NSF) funded center
- UW's College of Education faculty spotlight at the University of Washington 's College of Education
- How People Learn at National Academy Press PDF pages of book available online
- Little Planet Literacy Series