On March 8, 2024 Prof. Barbara Schneider and Prof. Joseph Krajcik from Michigan State University gave lecture seminars at University of Tartu Senate Hall.
Professor Schneider offered her reflection on her most recent study. Her lecture was entitled, ‘Achieving Equity with Culturally Responsive STEM Learning’. Barbara Schneider is the John A. Hannah Chair and University Distinguished Professor in the College of Education and the Department of Sociology at Michigan State University. Her research focuses on how the social contexts of schools and families influence the academic and social well-being of adolescents into adulthood. Schneider has also designed tools and research methods for measuring real-time everyday experiences that advance learning. A Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, National Academy of Education, American Educational Research Association, and Finnish Academy of Science and Letters, and she holds an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Helsinki. Professor Schneider has published over 150 articles and reports and written 20 books, three of which include: Trust in Schools: A Core Resource for Improvement; The Ambitious Generation: America’s Teenagers Motivated but Directionless; and Learning Science: The Value of Crafting Engagement in Science Environments.
Professor Krajcik focused on the science and engineering learning practices. His lecture was entitled, ‘Learning Progressions: Building scientific practices over time’. Professor Joe Krajcik directs the CREATE for STEM Institute at Michigan State University, where he is a University Distinguished Professor and the Lappan-Phillips Professor of Science Education. Throughout his career, he has focused on working with colleagues and science teachers to design and test project-based learning environments to reform science teaching practices to improve the teaching and learning of STEM. He served as president of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST), from which he received the Distinguished Contributions to Science Education through Research Award in 2010. In 2020, the National Academy of Education elected Joe as a member, and he received the prestigious McGraw Prize for Innovation in Pre-K-12 Education. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts and books on Project-based Learning and science education. In 2022, Professor Krajcik received an honorary doctoral degree from the University of Tartu in Estonia.