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Prof. Daniel L. Schwartz receives the 2021 Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize for his studies addressing cognitive questions through innovative learning experiments, bringing new insight to areas of educational research.
Daniel L. Schwartz
2021 Research Prize
The Foundations of Learning
Dr. Schwartz’s research is driven by the basic and ancient question, “How can people learn and generate new ideas?”
Over the next five years, one of Dr. Schwartz’s broad research goals is to learn how to make online experiences that capture much of what is lost without an in-person learning experience. This includes finding ways to take advantage of the social nature of learning in digital environments.
Click below to explore
Dr. Schwartz will use the Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize money to investigate a new approach using Teachable Agents in a way that supports learning how to reason between data and claims.
He will develop a publicly available database that captures common research designs produced by students of different ages, which will inform more precise instructional practices. This work will result in an engaging and effective way to increase scientific literacy, for example, for learning and reasoning about pandemics.
watch the video
“I kind of fell in love with the microcomputer and I used it to design new ways to teach the kids.”
“The thread running through my research is that I'm really interested in how people come up with new ideas.”
Dr. Schwartz taught at a Los Angeles inner city school for a year before a job opened up in a very remote Alaskan village, about 50 miles south of the Arctic Circle.
There was no TV or radio at the time. After about 3 years, the first computers arrived, giving Dan a unique opportunity to “create complete worlds” from ones and zeros.
Teachable agents
A Teachable Agent is a graphical computer character that students teach. The TA uses artificial intelligence to learn and reason about what it has been taught.
“Teachable agents keep a bit of distance between you and the negative feedback. So you're more receptive to taking in the information that can help you improve.”
Learn how Teachable Agents work:
watch the video
play the game
creativity
Creativity can be artistic, scientific, or practical. It is hard to define and even harder to study.
A “new idea” is something that a person would not naturally recognize, like negative numbers, which don’t exist in nature and cannot be experienced.
ASSESSMENT
Dr. Schwartz’s projects on assessment are exploring new ways to capture compelling forms of learning, such as willingness to seek negative feedback.
Watch Dr. Schwartz talk about assessment:
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Teachable agents
creativity
assessment
Over the next five years, one of Dr. Schwartz’s broad research goals is to learn how to make online experiences that capture much of what is lost without an in-person learning experience. This includes finding ways to take advantage of the social nature of learning in digital environments.
Dr. Schwartz will use the Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize money to investigate a new approach using Teachable Agents in a way that supports learning how to reason between data and claims.
He will develop a publicly available database that captures common research designs produced by students of different ages, which will inform more precise instructional practices. This work will result in an engaging and effective way to increase scientific literacy, for example, for learning and reasoning about pandemics.
“The thread running through my research is that I'm really interested in how people come up with new ideas.”
Click below to explore
The Foundations of Learning
Dr. Schwartz’s research is driven by the basic and ancient question, “How can people learn and generate new ideas?”
Teachable agents
creativity
assessment
“I kind of fell in love with the microcomputer and I used it to design new ways to teach the kids.”
Dr. Schwartz taught at a Los Angeles inner city school for a year before a job opened up in a very remote Alaskan village, about 50 miles south of the Arctic Circle.
There was no TV or radio at the time. After about 3 years, the first computers arrived, giving Dan a unique opportunity to “create complete worlds” from ones and zeros.
Back to top
Teachable agents
A Teachable Agent is a graphical computer character that students teach. The TA uses artificial intelligence to learn and reason about what it has been taught.
Learn how Teachable Agents work:
“Teachable agents keep a bit of distance between you and the negative feedback. So you're more receptive to taking in the information that can help you improve.”
watch the video
play the game
creativity
Creativity can be artistic, scientific, or practical. It is hard to define and even harder to study.
A “new idea” is something that a person would not naturally recognize, like negative numbers, which don’t exist in nature and cannot be experienced.
ASSESSMENT
Dr. Schwartz’s projects on assessment are exploring new ways to capture compelling forms of learning, such as willingness to seek negative feedback.
Watch Dr. Schwartz talk about assessment:
Website created by the Science/AAAS Custom Publishing Office
Website created by the Science/AAAS Custom Publishing Office