Principal investigator
William Penuel
Funding
Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY); OpenSciEd
Collaboration + support
BSCS Science Learning; the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin; Denver Public Schools; Institute of Cognitive Science; Northwestern University; CU Boulder School of Education
William Penuel, a professor in the Institute of Cognitive听Science (ICS), imagines science classrooms where children听are free to explore what makes them curious鈥攁sking听then answering their own questions on topics ranging听from ocean acidification to antibiotic听resistance听in hospitals.
Penuel and his colleagues are working to foster those听kinds of learning spaces through a new $7 million effort听that鈥檚 part of a national initiative called OpenSciEd. The听team will develop three years鈥� worth of high school听science curriculum materials that are open access and听free for all. The researchers want to show young people听that science isn鈥檛 just about following directions in a听lab鈥攊t can be a whole new way of looking at the world听around them.
鈥淲e鈥檙e really trying to help students understand听that science is not just a body of knowledge but听practices for developing, critiquing and defending that听knowledge,鈥� Penuel said.
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