Dec. 8, 2005
Contact: Carol S. Pendergast
Cal Poly College of Education
(805) 756-5330
Cal Poly Education Professor Co-Authors Book Chapter
Commissioned by the National Academies
SAN LUIS OBISPO -- Cal Poly Professor Shirley Magnusson has co-authored a chapter for the book “How Students Learn: History, Mathematics and Science in the Classroom,” a report commissioned by the National Research Council and funded by the President’s Circle of the National Academies and the U.S. Department of Education.
Magnusson, the Cotchett Professor of Science and Mathematics Teacher
Education at Cal Poly, co-authored with Annemarie Palincsar, the
Walgreen Professor of Reading and Literacy at the University of
Michigan, a chapter that focuses on teaching and learning science
in the elementary school.
Magnusson was one of several leading educators invited to describe
the results of their work to develop successful curricula and teaching
approaches based on fundamental knowledge of how people learn, presenting
strategies that serve as models for curriculum development and classroom
instruction, according to John Bransford, a nationally renown educational
psychologist and one of the editors of the report.
“Targeted to teachers, the book discusses approaches to instruction in math, science and history for K-12 classrooms that promote student development of deep understanding, and it provides extensive classroom illustrations to give teachers insights about how these research-based approaches function in classrooms,” Magnusson said.
A blend of principle and practice, the book is intended for teachers, administrators, curriculum designers, teacher educators and parents, as well as those concerned about children’s education. The report is available free, online at http://books.nap.edu/catalog/10126.html.
Magnusson, a Los Osos resident, is a relative newcomer to Cal Poly, having come from the University of Michigan. This is her second year at Cal Poly.
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