Wolff-Michael Roth
Encyclopedia
Wolff-Michael Roth is a learning scientist
at the University of Victoria
conducting research on how people across the life span know and learn mathematics and science. He has contributed to numerous fields of research: learning science in learning communities, coteaching, authentic school science education
, cultural-historical activity theory
, social studies of science, gesture
studies, qualitative research
methods, embodied cognition
, situated cognition
, and the role of language in learning science and mathematics.
) with concentrations in cognition, statistics, and physical chemistry. He began to establish himself as a researcher while teaching at Appleby College
(Oakville
, Ontario
). There, he did the research for what became one of the first research articles on the social construction of knowledge in science classrooms: "The social construction of scientific concepts or The concept map as conscription device and tool for social thinking in high school science." There he also conducted the work that would lead to Authentic School Science, in which he provides evidence for how high school students learn science when provided with opportunities to frame their own research questions, which they then answer by designing and conducting experiments. They write up their results, which they have to be able to defend within their learning community
. In 1992, he joined Simon Fraser University
(Burnaby, British Columbia
), where he was mainly responsible for teaching statistics in the Faculty of Education. In his research, he initially focused on learning in science classrooms, but soon expanded his work to learning mathematics and science among future teachers, research scientists, and designers of computer software. In 1997, he was appointed Lansdowne Professor of Applied Cognitive Science at the University of Victoria
. There he further expanded his research on the learning of mathematics and science, for example, on the use of graphs in scientific research and in technical professions.
s constitute an integral aspect of knowing and learning. Arising from his studies of learning in high school science laboratories and hands-on elementary school activities, Roth showed how students' scientific knowledge arises from what initially are simply manipulative movements and hand movements to explore and learn about the natural world. These movements later become symbolic movements, that is, gestures, which encode the earliest forms of knowing that can be observed prior to verbal forms. In the main review journal of educational research he published a summary of the work in psychology, anthropology, and linguistics.
, which is in fact a misnomer, for all cognition inherently is embodied. Following the French philosophers Maine de Biran
and Michel Henry
he conceives of the emergence of signification from the auto-affection of the flesh. All perception, all knowing, all communication therefore arises from forms of movement. In a number of publications, he develops this way of understanding knowing with data from geometry in second-grade classrooms.
Learning sciences
The term Learning Sciences refers to an interdisciplinary field that works to further scientific understanding of learning as well as to engage in the design and implementation of learning innovations, and improvement of instructional methodologies...
at the University of Victoria
University of Victoria
The University of Victoria, often referred to as UVic, is the second oldest public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It is a research intensive university located in Saanich and Oak Bay, about northeast of downtown Victoria. The University's annual enrollment is about 20,000 students...
conducting research on how people across the life span know and learn mathematics and science. He has contributed to numerous fields of research: learning science in learning communities, coteaching, authentic school science education
Science education
Science education is the field concerned with sharing science content and process with individuals not traditionally considered part of the scientific community. The target individuals may be children, college students, or adults within the general public. The field of science education comprises...
, cultural-historical activity theory
Activity theory
Activity theory is a psychological meta-theory, paradigm, or theoretical framework, with its roots in Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky's cultural-historical psychology. Its founders were Alexei N...
, social studies of science, gesture
Gesture
A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of speech or together and in parallel with spoken words. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or other parts of the body...
studies, qualitative research
Qualitative research
Qualitative research is a method of inquiry employed in many different academic disciplines, traditionally in the social sciences, but also in market research and further contexts. Qualitative researchers aim to gather an in-depth understanding of human behavior and the reasons that govern such...
methods, embodied cognition
Embodied cognition
Philosophers, psychologists, cognitive scientists and artificial intelligence researchers who study embodied cognition and the embodied mind believe that the nature of the human mind is largely determined by the form of the human body. They argue that all aspects of cognition, such as ideas,...
, situated cognition
Situated cognition
Situated cognition poses that knowing is inseparable from doing by arguing that all knowledge is situated in activity bound to social, cultural and physical contexts....
, and the role of language in learning science and mathematics.
Career
Roth received a Masters degree of physics from the University of Wuerzburg and completed a doctorate in the College of Science and Technology at the University of Southern Mississippi (Hattiesburg, MississippiMississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
) with concentrations in cognition, statistics, and physical chemistry. He began to establish himself as a researcher while teaching at Appleby College
Appleby College
Appleby College is an international independent school located in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, founded in 1911 by John Guest, a former Headmaster of the Preparatory School at Upper Canada College...
(Oakville
Oakville, Ontario
Oakville is a town in Halton Region, on Lake Ontario in Southern Ontario, Canada, and is part of the Greater Toronto Area. As of the 2006 census the population was 165,613.-History:In 1793, Dundas Street was surveyed for a military road...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
). There, he did the research for what became one of the first research articles on the social construction of knowledge in science classrooms: "The social construction of scientific concepts or The concept map as conscription device and tool for social thinking in high school science." There he also conducted the work that would lead to Authentic School Science, in which he provides evidence for how high school students learn science when provided with opportunities to frame their own research questions, which they then answer by designing and conducting experiments. They write up their results, which they have to be able to defend within their learning community
Learning community
A learning community is a group of people who share common emotions, values or beliefs, are actively engaged in learning together from each other, and by habituation. Such communities have become the template for a cohort-based, interdisciplinary approach to higher education...
. In 1992, he joined Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...
(Burnaby, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
), where he was mainly responsible for teaching statistics in the Faculty of Education. In his research, he initially focused on learning in science classrooms, but soon expanded his work to learning mathematics and science among future teachers, research scientists, and designers of computer software. In 1997, he was appointed Lansdowne Professor of Applied Cognitive Science at the University of Victoria
University of Victoria
The University of Victoria, often referred to as UVic, is the second oldest public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It is a research intensive university located in Saanich and Oak Bay, about northeast of downtown Victoria. The University's annual enrollment is about 20,000 students...
. There he further expanded his research on the learning of mathematics and science, for example, on the use of graphs in scientific research and in technical professions.
Main Contributions
Although he worked within a neo-Piagetian (information processing oriented) paradigm during his doctoral research, using statistical methods, his subsequent work was initially based in school science classrooms and later extended to mathematics and science in fish hatcheries, environmental activism, field ecology, scientific laboratories, dental practice, water technicians, construction sites, and in local communities.Graphing as Social Practice
Psychologist tend to theorize graphing, as all other forms of representing activity, as a faculty of the mind. Based on his ethnographic studies of mathematics among scientists, Roth proposes to view graphing as a social practice that humans learn in relation with others; the relation is what we subsequently attribute to the mind. Because graphing is a social fact, it can be studied using anthropological methods, which is precisely what Roth proposes in Towards an Anthropology of Graphing and in a comprehensive review of the literature.Gesture Studies
GestureGesture
A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of speech or together and in parallel with spoken words. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or other parts of the body...
s constitute an integral aspect of knowing and learning. Arising from his studies of learning in high school science laboratories and hands-on elementary school activities, Roth showed how students' scientific knowledge arises from what initially are simply manipulative movements and hand movements to explore and learn about the natural world. These movements later become symbolic movements, that is, gestures, which encode the earliest forms of knowing that can be observed prior to verbal forms. In the main review journal of educational research he published a summary of the work in psychology, anthropology, and linguistics.
Coteaching
Whereas in many professions, practitioner learn while working with others, teachers have to figure out much of their knowledge on their own. Using it initially as a form of staff development, Roth, subsequently working with Ken Tobin, developed coteaching as a form learning to teach while teaching. Together they published At the Elbow of Another, in which they lay out the foundation of this approach. In this model, supervision and evaluation of teaching and research on teaching have to be conducted by teaching together with the resident teachers.Cultural-Historical Activity Theory
Roth has contributed to this field especially by theorizing school-related processes in terms of a version of this theory that was popularized in the Center for Activity Theory and Developmental Work Research. He proposed a fourth generation of this theory, which takes into account emotion. Together with Yew Jin Lee, he wrote a review of the literature on this "neglected legacy" of the work of Lev S. Vygotsky.Knowing in the Flesh
Most recently, Roth has been working on questions of embodied cognitionEmbodied cognition
Philosophers, psychologists, cognitive scientists and artificial intelligence researchers who study embodied cognition and the embodied mind believe that the nature of the human mind is largely determined by the form of the human body. They argue that all aspects of cognition, such as ideas,...
, which is in fact a misnomer, for all cognition inherently is embodied. Following the French philosophers Maine de Biran
Maine de Biran
François-Pierre-Gonthier Maine de Biran , usually known simply as Maine de Biran, was a French philosopher.- Life :...
and Michel Henry
Michel Henry
Michel Henry was a French philosopher and novelist. He wrote five novels and numerous philosophical works. He also lectured at universities in France, Belgium, the United States of America, and Japan.- Biography :...
he conceives of the emergence of signification from the auto-affection of the flesh. All perception, all knowing, all communication therefore arises from forms of movement. In a number of publications, he develops this way of understanding knowing with data from geometry in second-grade classrooms.
Academic Honors and Service
- Honorary Doctorate from the University of IoanninaUniversity of IoanninaThe University of Ioannina is a university lying in the plains 5 km southwest of Ioannina, Greece. The campus is linked to the town by Greek National Road 5. It now hosts over 20,000 students in 17 faculties...
(IoanninaIoanninaIoannina , often called Jannena within Greece, is the largest city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of 70,203 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500 meters above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis . It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the...
, GreeceGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
), 2011. - Significant Contribution to Educational Measurement and Research Methodology, AERA Div K
- American Educational Research AssociationAmerican Educational Research AssociationThe American Educational Research Association, or AERA, was founded in 1916 as a professional organization representing educational researchers in the United States and around the world....
, Fellow, 2009 - American Association for Advancement of Science, Fellow, 2009
- Distinguished Contributions Award from the National Association for Research in Science Teaching
- Canadian Education Association Whitworth Award for Education Research, 2006
- AERA Division K Award for Exemplary Research in Teaching and Teacher Education, 2005
Selected Publications
- Roth, W.-M. (2010). Language, learning, context: Talking the talk. London: Routledge.
- Roth, W.-M. (2009). Dialogism: A Bakhtinian perspective on science and learning. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
- Ercikan, K., & Roth, W.-M. (Eds.). (2008). Generalization in educational research. New York: Routledge.
- Roth, W.-M. (2006). Learning science: A singular plural perspective. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
- Roth, W.-M. (2005). Doing qualitative research: Praxis of methods. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
- Roth, W.-M. (2005). Talking science: Language and learning in science. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
- Roth, W.-M., & Barton, A. C. (2004). Rethinking scientific literacy. New York: Routledge.
- Roth, W.-M. (2002). Being and becoming in the classroom. Westport, CT: Ablex/Greenwood.
- Roth, W.-M. (1998). Designing communities. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
- Roth, W.-M. (1995). Authentic school science: Knowing and learning in open-inquiry science laboratories. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.