Carl Wieman – Expertise in Science and Engineering, How it is Learned and Taught
Nobel Laureate Carl Wieman will discuss how cognitive psychology research has illuminated what it means to “think like a scientist or engineer†(i.e. expertise), and how those abilities are developed. In addition, he will connect that work to different teaching methods used in college science and engineering courses and show comparative data on the resulting learning of expertise that is achieved. He will also discuss the significance of the content expertise of the teacher in this process. Dr Wieman currently has a joint appointment in physics and education at Stanford University. He also served as chair of the Board on Science Education of the National Academy of Sciences and was the founder and chairman of PhET, a web-based directive of University of Colorado Boulder which provides an extensive suite of simulations to improve the way that physics, chemistry, biology, earth science and math are taught and learned. Wieman worked on education reforms at the University of British Columbia and served as Associate Director for Science in the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the White House. In 2001, he won the Nobel prize in Physics. Wieman is a graduate of MIT (BS, '73). This event is co-sponsored with the MIT Science Policy Initiative.