About Us
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Project Staff
Principal Investigator
Chris Dede is the Timothy E. Wirth Professor of Learning Technologies at Harvard's Graduate School of Education. He has served as a member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Foundations of Educational and Psychological Assessment, a member of the U.S. Department of Education's Expert Panel on Technology, and a member of the International Steering Committee for the Second International Technology in Education Study. His current funded research includes a grant from the National Science Foundation to aid middle school students learning science via shared virtual environments and a Star Schools grant from the U.S. Department of Education to help high school students with math and literacy skills using wireless movile devices to create augmented reality simulations. His co-edited book, Scaling Up Success: Lessons Learned from Technology-based Educational Improvement, was published by Jossey-Bass in 2005. A second volume he edited, Online Professional Development for Teachers: Emerging Models and Methods, was published by the Harvard Education Press in 2006. Chris will serve as principal investigator on our proposed IES project, with ultimate responsibility for the conduct of the curriculum design, implementation, and research activities, as well as for expenditure of grant funds. He will participate actively in all these phases of the project, devoting time equivalent to one course release in each project year and one summer month in years two and three.
Co-Principal Investigator
Tina Grotzer is an Associate Professor of Education at Harvard's Graduate School of Education and a Principal Investigator at Harvard's Project Zero. She directs the Understandings of Consequence Project, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Her current funded research includes a follow-up NSF grant, "Learning to RECAST Students' Causal Assumptions in Science through Interactive, Multimedia Professional Development Tools." She serves on the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Panel on Reasoning and Evidence in Science and on the Editorial Advisory Board for Studies in Science Education. She publishes in both academic journals and teacher-oriented publications and is deeply committed to helping teachers use the knowledge gained through research. She is the lead author of the Causal Patterns on Science series of curriculum guides. She collaborates with scientists from organizations such as the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Institute of Ecosystem Studies, and the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Prior to her work at Harvard, she taught in public and private schools for 14 years. She will contribute to the intellectual direction of the project, particularly as it pertains to the challenges of teaching ecosystems concepts and will participate actively in these phases of the project, including conceptual design of the environment. interactions with teachers, and the assessment of student understanding. She will devote one summer month in each project year.
Project Director
Shari Metcalf holds a SB and SM from MIT, and a PhD from the University of Michigan, where she designed and developed Model-It, a software tool for students building models of dynamic systems. She has been working as a researcher in educational technology for over 10 years, particularly in middle and high school science. Along with a strong technical background, she has extensive experience in assessment design, data collection and analysis. Her professional interest is the design of educational software tools, particularly the use of modeling and simulation to support science learning.
Research Associate
Amy Kamarainen is a postdoctoral fellow with the EcoMUVE project. Amy holds a BS in Zoology from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Wisconsin in Madison along with a Certificate in Research, Teaching and Learning (through the NSF-funded CIRTL). Amy uses ecosystem models to study how nutrients and pollutants are processed by aquatic ecosystems embedded in urban and agricultural watersheds. She is also interested in how technology may be used to enhance learning of complex concepts related to ecology, evolution and ecosystems science. In particular, she is interested in examining whether combining technology with field experiences can build student efficacy in 21st-century modes of scientific inquiry. Amy aims to contribute to teaching materials and curricula that place science learning in the context of real-world issues and appeal to students who may otherwise not like science.
Contributors
Software development by Information in Place, Inc.
Atom Tracker artwork by Singer Ko, with PublicVR - Jeffrey Jacobson, Director.
Microscopic organism artwork by Abigail Evans
Participating Schools
Coming soon