Marcia Linn
Encyclopedia
Marcia C. Linn is a professor of development and cognition specializing in education in mathematics, science, and technology in the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Berkeley
. Since 1970 she has made significant contributions to the understanding of how computers and technology can be used to support learning and teaching in mathematics and science. Her CV includes an extensive list of presentations and published books, articles, and peer reviewed papers in science education and education technology.
working under the mentorship of Lee Cronbach
. Her research addresses how technology-enhanced curricula, visualizations, and assessments can deepen student understanding of science.
In 1967-68, Marcia was fortunate to work with Jean Piaget
and other researchers at the Institute Jean Jacques Rousseau
in Geneva
, Switzerland
. In Geneva, listening to researchers probe students' ideas motivated her to listen closely to the ideas that students bring to a learning situation. Marcia spent time in schools interviewing students and learning to conduct interviews using the Piagetian clinical method. In Geneva, and when she returned to California, Marcia conducted many interviews in which she asked students to explore scientific problems. She learned that student ideas about scientific topics are diverse and often well connected. These interviews formed the basis for her perspective on knowledge integration
.
(1970–1987) and led the ACCEL program, a National Science Foundation
-funded research project that investigated the cognitive consequences of computer environments for learning. She won an Apple Wheels for the Mind grant in 1985 for The Computer as Lab Partner, a project to bring Apple computers equipped with sensing probes into schools. With Robert Tinker, she developed the first Microcomputer-based Labs and probeware for middle school science.
In 1983 she was Fulbright Professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science
in Rehovot
, Israel
. In 1983 she won one of two grants awarded by the National Institute of Education
to study the emerging role of technology in education. This project, Assessing the Cognitive Consequences of Computer Environments for Learning, documented the early uses of personal computers in classrooms. In 1986 she received a three year grant from the National Science Foundation
to study Autonomous Learning Materials for Pascal Courses and studied programming instruction as an approach to learning complex problem-solving skills.
Common themes emerging in her research studying how students learn computer science and middle school science led her to describe the knowledge integration
framework (see summary in Linn, 1995 NSF publication).
From 1989 to 1996 Marcia was director of the Instructional Technology Program at the UC Berkeley
. She was responsible for introducing and encouraging innovative university teaching using multimedia and education technologies.
In 1995–1996, 2001–2002, and 2010-2011 Marcia was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences in Stanford, California
. In 2008-2009 she was President of the International Society for the Learning Sciences
http://isls.org.
Marcia is a member of the National Academy of Education and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
, the American Psychological Association
, and the Association for Psychological Science
. She has served as Chair of the AAAS
Education Section and as President of the International Society of the Learning Sciences
.
Board service includes the American Association for the Advancement of Science
board, the Graduate Record Examination Board of the Educational Testing Service
, the James S. McDonnell Foundation Cognitive Studies in Education Practice board, and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources at the National Science Foundation
.
Marcia's books include Computers, Teachers, Peers (2000), Internet Environments for Science Education (2004), Designing Coherent Science Education (2008), WISE Science (2009), and Science Learning and Instruction: Taking Advantage of Technology to Promote Knowledge Integration (2011).
Awards include the National Association for Research in Science Teaching Award for Lifelong Distinguished Contributions to Science Education and the Council of Scientific Society Presidents first award for Excellence in Educational Research.
She currently directs the NSF
-funded Technology-Enhanced Learning in Science (TELS) center and the Web-based Inquiry Science Environment (WISE).
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. Since 1970 she has made significant contributions to the understanding of how computers and technology can be used to support learning and teaching in mathematics and science. Her CV includes an extensive list of presentations and published books, articles, and peer reviewed papers in science education and education technology.
Family
Marcia Linn was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Frances and George Cyrog. Frances became the principal of Sorenson School in Whittier, California. George was a supervisor in the postal service as well as a rockhound who founded the Whittier Gem and Mineral Society. Marcia’s lifelong interest in science learning stems from growing up as the oldest child in a family enthusiastic about learning. Her father, George, believed everyone could learn about all aspects of science and engineering and implemented this in his hobby of collecting rocks and minerals. Her mother, Frances, developed a philosophy for individualized reading instruction starting when she taught elementary school and continuing as she became an elementary school principal.Education
Marcia received a B.A. in psychology and statistics (1965), an M. A. in educational psychology (1967), and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology (1970) from Stanford UniversityStanford 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...
working under the mentorship of Lee Cronbach
Lee Cronbach
Lee Joseph Cronbach was an American educational psychologist who made significant contributions to psychological testing and measurement. Born in Fresno, California, Cronbach was selected as a child to participate in Lewis Terman's long-term study of talented children...
. Her research addresses how technology-enhanced curricula, visualizations, and assessments can deepen student understanding of science.
In 1967-68, Marcia was fortunate to work with Jean Piaget
Jean Piaget
Jean Piaget was a French-speaking Swiss developmental psychologist and philosopher known for his epistemological studies with children. His theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called "genetic epistemology"....
and other researchers at the Institute Jean Jacques Rousseau
Rousseau Institute
Rousseau Institute is a private school in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1912, Édouard Claparède created an institute to turn educational theory into a science...
in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. In Geneva, listening to researchers probe students' ideas motivated her to listen closely to the ideas that students bring to a learning situation. Marcia spent time in schools interviewing students and learning to conduct interviews using the Piagetian clinical method. In Geneva, and when she returned to California, Marcia conducted many interviews in which she asked students to explore scientific problems. She learned that student ideas about scientific topics are diverse and often well connected. These interviews formed the basis for her perspective on knowledge integration
Knowledge integration
Knowledge integration is the process of synthesizing multiple knowledge models into a common model .Compared to information integration, which involves merging information having different schemas and representation models, knowledge integration focuses more on synthesizing the understanding of a...
.
Academic career
Marcia Linn was a Research Psychologist at the Lawrence Hall of ScienceLawrence Hall of Science
The Lawrence Hall of Science is a public science center featuring hands-on exhibits and activities. Located in the hills above the University of California, Berkeley campus, LHS is also a resource center for preschool through high school science and mathematics education.Established in 1968 in...
(1970–1987) and led the ACCEL program, a National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
-funded research project that investigated the cognitive consequences of computer environments for learning. She won an Apple Wheels for the Mind grant in 1985 for The Computer as Lab Partner, a project to bring Apple computers equipped with sensing probes into schools. With Robert Tinker, she developed the first Microcomputer-based Labs and probeware for middle school science.
In 1983 she was Fulbright Professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science
Weizmann Institute of Science
The Weizmann Institute of Science , known as Machon Weizmann, is a university and research institute in Rehovot, Israel. It differs from other Israeli universities in that it offers only graduate and post-graduate studies in the sciences....
in Rehovot
Rehovot
Rehovot is a city in the Center District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , at the end of 2009 the city had a total population of 112,700. Rehovot's official website estimates the population at 114,000.Rehovot was built on the site of Doron,...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. In 1983 she won one of two grants awarded by the National Institute of Education
National Institute of Education
The is an institute of the , Singapore.NIE, Singapore, provides all levels of teacher education, from programmes to for in-service teachers and executive for Principals, Departmental Heads and other school leaders. NIE also administers postgraduate programmes that lead to the award of in...
to study the emerging role of technology in education. This project, Assessing the Cognitive Consequences of Computer Environments for Learning, documented the early uses of personal computers in classrooms. In 1986 she received a three year grant from the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
to study Autonomous Learning Materials for Pascal Courses and studied programming instruction as an approach to learning complex problem-solving skills.
Common themes emerging in her research studying how students learn computer science and middle school science led her to describe the knowledge integration
Knowledge integration
Knowledge integration is the process of synthesizing multiple knowledge models into a common model .Compared to information integration, which involves merging information having different schemas and representation models, knowledge integration focuses more on synthesizing the understanding of a...
framework (see summary in Linn, 1995 NSF publication).
From 1989 to 1996 Marcia was director of the Instructional Technology Program at the UC Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. She was responsible for introducing and encouraging innovative university teaching using multimedia and education technologies.
In 1995–1996, 2001–2002, and 2010-2011 Marcia was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences in Stanford, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. In 2008-2009 she was President of the International Society for the Learning Sciences
International Society of the Learning Sciences
The International Society of the Learning Sciences is a professional society dedicated to the interdisciplinary empirical investigation of learning as it exists in real-world settings and how learning may be facilitated both with and without technology. Learning sciences research explores the...
http://isls.org.
Marcia is a member of the National Academy of Education and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
, the American Psychological Association
American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States. It is the world's largest association of psychologists with around 154,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. The APA...
, and the Association for Psychological Science
Association for Psychological Science
The Association for Psychological Science , previously the American Psychological Society, is a non-profit international organization whose mission is to promote, protect, and advance the interests of scientifically oriented psychology in research, application, teaching, and the improvement of...
. She has served as Chair of the AAAS
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
Education Section and as President of the International Society of the Learning Sciences
International Society of the Learning Sciences
The International Society of the Learning Sciences is a professional society dedicated to the interdisciplinary empirical investigation of learning as it exists in real-world settings and how learning may be facilitated both with and without technology. Learning sciences research explores the...
.
Board service includes the American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
board, the Graduate Record Examination Board of the Educational Testing Service
Educational Testing Service
Educational Testing Service , founded in 1947, is the world's largest private nonprofit educational testing and assessment organization...
, the James S. McDonnell Foundation Cognitive Studies in Education Practice board, and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources at the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
.
Marcia's books include Computers, Teachers, Peers (2000), Internet Environments for Science Education (2004), Designing Coherent Science Education (2008), WISE Science (2009), and Science Learning and Instruction: Taking Advantage of Technology to Promote Knowledge Integration (2011).
Awards include the National Association for Research in Science Teaching Award for Lifelong Distinguished Contributions to Science Education and the Council of Scientific Society Presidents first award for Excellence in Educational Research.
She currently directs the NSF
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
-funded Technology-Enhanced Learning in Science (TELS) center and the Web-based Inquiry Science Environment (WISE).