LSAP Faculty

Learning Sciences and Policy Faculty

Active Faculty Research Projects

Learning Sciences and Policy program faculty are involved in a range of research projects focused on the following areas:

Professional Learning for Teachers and School Leaders
Leadership for instructional improvement
Professional learning in communities of practice
Teacher learning for managing science instruction
Role of induction and professional development in quality of instruction
Effect of instructional coaching on teaching and learning

Instructional Design
Project-based robotics curriculum
Building innovative learning environments for science, technology, & art
Creative robotics and the development of technological fluency
Authentic design-based science activities
Mathematics learning in high school science classrooms
Interactions of reasoning capacity and motivation in science learning
Evaluating the spread and use of Algebra I courseware
Technology-scaffolded peer evaluation in writing

Improving and Measuring Instruction
Knowledge of mathematics needed for teaching
Reasoning and proving in secondary mathematics
Classroom discourse for comprehension instruction during text-based discussions
The effects of differentiated tasks on learning from text
Effects of comprehensive school reform programs on teaching and learning
Validity and technical issues in large-scale assessment programs
Evaluation of assessment and teaching programs
Developing and validating measures of instruction (teacher logs, observation tools and collection of classroom artifacts)

Learning in Out-of-School Environments
Intelligent tutoring systems for informal robotics education Understanding and designing for learning in museums Informal learning and community engagement

Developing Organizational Structures that Support Learning
Learning from grantmaking
Evaluation capacity building for non-profits
Policies to support instructional leadership
Organizing to improve mathematics instruction

Evaluating and Interpreting Education Policies
Implementation of No Child Left Behind
Special education in the context of No Child Left Behind
Effects of high-stakes testing on instruction
School choice