Laura Wenk

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Biography
I am an Assistant Professor of Cognition and Education at Hampshire College and a senior researcher with the college's Research in Education and Learning Institute (REAL), where I conduct intervention research to improve the teaching of science at the college level. Along with Rachel Conrad, Kristen Luschen, and Natalie Sowell I am a founding faculty member of the Critical Studies of Childhood, Youth, and Learning Program (CYL) at Hampshire College. CYL supports college students in examining the relationships among cognition, development, and instruction. I am also the Curriculum Director for the Collaboration for Excellence in Science Education at Hampshire College (CESE), an outreach program that assists high school faculty in teaching science conceptually. Before pursuing my doctorate in curriculum studies, I taught high school biology and physical science for six years in Northampton, MA. My current research interests include the connections among pedagogy, epistemology and other metacognitive structures, and higher order thinking.

Teaching
I teach courses in 3 areas: (1) Cognition and Instruction, (2) Curriculum and Instruction, and (3) Educational Research. Some of my students are interested in becoming licensed to teach or in teaching in non-formal settings. Others are variously interested in cognition, in educational psychology, educational policy and administration, or in studying young people in educational environments for many different purposes. I advise students who are interested in any of these aspects of education and learning.

If you are interested in any of these topics, you should make an appointment to see me (sign up sheet on my door - ASH 136). You should also check out the Critical Studies of Childhood, Youth, and Learning Program (CYL), which I co-founded with faculty members Rachel Conrad, Kristen Luschen, and Natalie Sowell.

Courses

 * How People Learn: An Introduction to Cognition and Education CS-0208
 * The Psychology of Writing CS-0129T
 * The Classroom CS-0142
 * Knowing and Transforming Environments with Children and Youth CS/SS-0219
 * Educational Research Methods CS-0220
 * College: Educational Research in the Five Colleges CS-0122

Research
Very broadly, my research is on science learning. I look at the relationships among various higher order learning outcomes and the ways students are taught. The learning outcomes include students' understanding of the nature of science, the ways students resolve controversies in science, how well they understand or use primary literature, and how their understanding of science concepts develops. I am particularly interested in what happens to students' thinking about science or reasoning in science when they are taught through inquiry. That is, if "learning" science is more like "doing" science then do students develop more sophisticated ideas about science and do they learn concepts better than when they are taught by lecture and recitation? Luckily, Hampshire is a great place to do this research since so many courses in the sciences are taught via inquiry.

Outreach
I work with college and high school faculty to bring their teaching more in line with what cognitive psychology research tells us about learning. Often, my work with faculty is in a model called "design research" or "intervention research," where the faculty are involved in articulating their teaching goals and, often, in designing the research. Findings are brought back to the faculty to improve their practice and are also reported to the research community to help improve our understanding of the effects of different pedagogies on student learning.

One current program is the Collaboration for Excellence in Science Education (CESE). CESE’s mission is to collaborate with teachers and schools to improve student learning by (1) conducting basic research on the developmental pathways through which students learn science concepts, (2) designing curricula and assessments informed by these findings, and (3) enhancing teachers’ understanding of students’ conceptual development, increasing pedagogical practices that promote conceptual development, and adding to teacher’s content knowledge.

I try to connect my teaching to my outreach efforts. For example, my courses often afford students the opportunity to be involved in classrooms - both to give students a practical component to help make sense of theory and to support classroom teachers in improving their pedagogy. My courses are offered under the Childhood, Youth, and Learning Program (CYL). CYL courses strive to have a practical component in the form of internships in schools and after school programs, involvement in ongoing projects, and/or in research on teaching and learning.

Additional Information

 * From National Science Foundation, 12/15/08, received $31,557 for “Scaffolding Effective Practice for Use of Animations in Teaching Mineralogy and Physical Geology.”