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Philip Bell Associate Professor of Learning Sciences, Educational Psychology 322J Miller Hall - Phone 221-5360 pbell@u.washington.edu

Education Publications Other Site Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Bell directs the ethnographic and design-based research of the Everyday Science and Technology Group. As a learning scientist, he has studied everyday cognition and expertise in science, children's argumentation, the use of digital technologies within youth culture, the design and use of novel learning technologies, and new approaches to inquiry instruction in science. Bell is a Co-Lead of informal learning research for the Learning in Informal and Formal Environments (LIFE) Center and is a Co-PI of COSEE-Ocean Learning Communities. He has a background in human cognition and development, science education, electrical engineering, and computer science. He has developed web-based learning platforms, designed and studied K-12 science curricula, and presently most of his time is spent conducting ethnographies of children's learning across social settings.

Education

Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 1998

Select Publications

On the theoretical breadth of design-based research in education, Educational Psychologist, 2004.

Internet environments for science education (May 2004) which includes chapters on "Promoting students' argument construction and collaborative debate in the science classroom" and "The educational opportunities of contemporary controversies in science" among others.

Design-based research: An emerging paradigm for educational inquiry. Educational Researcher, Jan/Feb 2003.

Fostering multi-partisan interactions online around a socially polarized science-based controversy (or, "How to get stakeholders in a current science controversy to start making their positions and arguments visible
over email lists ").

Courses

Introduction to Inquiry in Education: an in-depth introduction for incoming doctoral to the research traditions in education

Exploring the Gap between Science Education and the Nature of Science: an exploration of the evolving gulfs and continuities between the practice of science education and our understanding of how science works

Technology and Child Development: has a dual focus on understanding the technological fluencies that kids develop (how they 'become technological') as well as how digital technologies, electronic gadgets, and interactive media influence children's development

Emerging Genres of Learning Technology: an overview of current research exploring the affordances of novel computer technologies for learning

Design-based Research Methods in Education: a two-quarter, project-focused methods sequence on design-based research that takes students through a cycle of design, enactment, analysis, and reporting

Dilemmas in Teaching and Learning: a course in the UW Teacher Education Program that introduces preservice teachers to the learning sciences and problematizes aspects of teaching and learning

Cognition in the Context of the School Curriculum: a survey of cognitive theories and research that can inform instruction in history, literature, science, and mathematics

The Works of Jerome Bruner: a chronological reading of books and articles of Bruner related to education

Discourse in the Disciplines: an exploration of the form and function of talk, social interaction, and epistemic practices in various academic disciplines -- fields in the natural sciences, history, mathematics, and literature

Instructional Theory: an overview of contemporary theories and frameworks for instruction