Voices of Innovation Speaker Series: Dr. William Sandoval
The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation was pleased to present the first Voices of Innovation Seminar of the semester on Monday, August 24, 2009. The presenter was Dr. William Sandoval of the University of California, Los Angeles. His topic was Studying Children’s Ideas About Knowledge in Science Classrooms.
Dr. Sandoval described a recent study to elicit children's ideas about causal justification, and particularly the role that data plays in learning science. The study was part of an ongoing research agenda to construct a theoretical account of epistemological development that can be of use to science educators as they design instruction.
William Sandoval is Associate Professor and Head of the Division of Psychological Studies in Education at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the UCLA. His interests include the development of scientific epistemologies and their effects on learning and teaching, technological supports for science learning, and design-based research methods in education. His publications span the fields of the learning sciences, science education, and psychology. He received his B.S. in Computer Science from the University of New Mexico in 1986, and his Ph.D. in Learning Sciences from Northwestern University in 1998.