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<font face="Palatino"><font face="Palatino">Monday, <font
face="Palatino">March 25,</font></font> </font>Job Talk by
Visiting Assistant Professor of Cognition and Education Candidate<br>
<b>Timothy David Zimmerman, Ph.D.</b><br>
<font face="Palatino"><a
href="http://gse.rutgers.edu/timothy_zimmerman">http://gse.rutgers.edu/timothy_zimmerman</a><br>
<br>
</font> Talk Title: <b>"Inquiries into informal science and
environmental learning: A learning sciences approach to improve
learning and inform practice.</b><b>"</b><br>
<br>
Abstract: Programs and exhibits at informal institutions often seek
to promote environmental awareness and yet little design or research
in the field of environmental learning leverages current learning
theory or research to achieve these goals. Using a range of
qualitative and quantitative methods that include design studies,
museum studies, and learning at the individual and socio-cultural
level of analysis, I investigate how we come to understand science
concepts as they relate to current, authentic environmental
challenges (e.g., fisheries decline, habitat destruction, climate
change impacts). I also design learning activities that bridge
learning across formal and informal learning contexts. Where
possible, I leverage the findings from my work to inform
environmental decision-making and pedagogical practices within
environmental education broadly construed. In this talk, I present
research from three projects that explore learning in different
environmental science contexts. First, I describe a recent study of
university students that employed “participatory action” methods
during ecology fieldwork in Mongolia. Second, I describe a study
where middle school science students engage in free-choice moments
of marine science meaning-making during a field trip designed to
connect learning across contexts. Finally, I describe a
museum-based study of individual knowledge about interrelated
scientific constructs, and discuss how exhibits that target
individuals with low incoming knowledge can help improve both
knowledge about marine science and attitudes about conservation. For
each of these studies, I describe the relevant methods, the
theoretical perspective regarding individual and collaborative
learning, and the connections between research and practice.<br>
<br>
Biographical Information: Timothy (Tim) D. Zimmerman, Ph.D. is an
Assistant Professor of Science Education at Rutgers University <a
href="http://gse.rutgers.edu/timothy_zimmerman">http://gse.rutgers.edu/timothy_zimmerman</a>
Jointly appointed in the Department of Learning and Teaching and
the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, his research focuses
on learning and teaching of ocean and environmental science
concepts. In particular, he seeks to understand the nature of
learning across formal and informal science learning contexts by
conducting learning sciences research during informal learning
experiences at aquariums, salt marshes and outdoor environments in
conjunction with the design and testing curricular, programmatic and
exhibit interventions. To achieve this, Dr. Zimmerman combines
qualitative and quantitative research methodologies to study
learning by students in middle school, high school and college, and
the general public, as they move spatially and temporally across
informal-formal learning context boundaries. He has developed marine
and environmental science curricula for, and conducted learning
research in conjunction with, several organizations and institutions
including the National Geographic Society, the U.S. National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, the Monterey Bay and New York
Aquariums, and the Massachusetts Audubon Society. He is currently PI
of a 3-year NSF funded ($1.1 million) ITEST grant seeking to
understand 21st Century learning of ocean science concepts, and
co-PI on two NSF grants (REU; IRES) studying science learning during
apprenticeship model research experiences for students. He has also
conducted field-based marine biology, ecology and oceanography
research. Dr. Zimmerman received his Ph.D. from the University of
California, Berkeley in science education, an M.S. in marine biology
from the College of Charleston, and a B.S. in biology and marine
biology from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth.<br>
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Paula Harmon, Administrative Assistant <br>
<div class="moz-signature"><small> School of Cognitive Science <br>
Hampshire College<br>
893 West Street Amherst, MA 01002 <br>
phone: 413.559.5502 <br>
fax: 413.559.5438 <br>
<a href="http://cs.hampshire.edu">http://cs.hampshire.edu</a></small>
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