PULLMAN – John Bransford, an internationally known expert in cognition and technology, will deliver the annual WSU Philip C. Holland Lecture this month.
He will address the topic of “Preparing People for Rapidly Changing Global Environments” at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 20 in the Smith Center for Undergraduate Education. A reception will follow in the Smith CUE atrium.
Bransford and his colleagues began conducting research into the areas of human learning, memory and problem solving in the 1970s. Their work is credited with the shaping what has become known as the “cognitive revolution” in psychology. He later co-chaired National Academy of Science committees that produced two major books, “How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience and School” (1999) and “How People Learn, Bridging Research and Practice” (1999). The widely praised books address such issues as when infants begin to learn, how children learn differently than adults, and what educators should do to help children learn most effectively.
In 2003, Bransford joined the faculty of the College of Education at University of Washington, where he is currently the James W. Mifflin University Professor. He was previously Centennial Professor of Psychology and Education and co-director of the Learning Technology Center at Vanderbilt University. Bransford co-chairs the National Academy of Science and National Academy of Education committees, and serves on the international board of advisors for Microsoft’s Technology and Learning Program. He received a doctorate in cognitive psychology from the University of Minnesota.
The annual Philip C. Holland Lecture is sponsored by the WSU Office of the Provost and funded through an endowment established in the will of Washington State College President Ernest O. Holland (1916-1944).
This year’s Holland lecture is co-sponsored by the College of Education, Honors College, the Office of Undergraduate Education, College of Liberal Arts, College of Engineering and Architecture; College of Sciences, Department of Human Development, and School of Biological Sciences at WSU.
