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Course Description
What does cognitive science have to do with models and modeling? One of David Hestenes’ favorite punchlines is “We think in models. We think with models. We think about models.” In this five-week short course we will unpack this punchline with a brief introduction to cognitive science. We will take a quick historical tour of the origins of modern theories of cognition and then explore some of those current theoretical perspectives to see what they can teach us about thinking and learning science (and other things too!).

This is a seminar distance learning course. We will meet to discuss assigned readings once a week for 3 hours from 7-10 PM (EST) on Wednesdays beginning January 13, 2021. For those who wish (optional) graduate-level credit this will be a 1-credit course from the University of the Pacific.

This is an Advanced Modeling course, attendees should have taken at least one Modeling Instruction workshop/course when registering.

This course will be taught by Dr. Colleen Megowan-Romanowicz. Colleen is a veteran physics teacher who built a highly successful physics first program in her high school prior to learning Modeling Instruction at a 1998 Modeling Workshop at UC Davis. She worked with a team that developed Modeling Physics second semester materials in 1999 and later moved to Arizona to pursue her masters and PhD at Arizona State University under the direction of David Hestenes. As a faculty member at ASU she secured NSF funding to build a Masters of Natural Science degree program grounded in Modeling Instruction for middle school science and mathematics teachers, where she mentored over 60 teachers. In 2011 she became AMTA's first Executive Officer, guiding the organization through five years of impressive growth and development. She is currently AMTA's first Senior Fellow, and continues to lead our research efforts.

Topic: Advanced Modeling Instruction: Modeling and Cognition
Leader: Colleen Megowan-Romanowicz
Dates: Wednesday January 13 - February 10, 2021
Meeting Time: 7-10 pm EST
Costs: $325 (includes membership), $250 for members
Optional: One graduate-level credit from the University of the Pacific available.