Professional Bio

Philip Bell pursues a cognitive and cultural program of research across diverse environments focused on how people learn in ways that are personally consequential to them, especially related to science and technology. He is an associate professor of the Learning Sciences at the University of Washington where he directs the ethnographic and design-based research of the Everyday Science and Technology Group. He also directs the University of Washington Science and Mathematics Education Institute focused on cultivating P-20 STEM educational excellence and equity through partnerships between the university and external partners. In terms of his research and development activities, Bell has studied everyday expertise and cognition in science and health, the design and use of novel learning technologies in science classrooms, children's argumentation, the use of emerging digital technologies within youth culture, and new approaches to inquiry instruction in science. Bell currently serves as a member of the Board on Science Education with the National Academy of Sciences and co-chaired the National Research Council Consensus Volume on Learning Science in Informal Environments. He is a Co-Lead of 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, computer science, and electrical engineering.

Expertise & Interest Descriptors

how and why people learn about science and technology, everyday learning across settings, scaffolding disciplinary inquiry in the classroom (esp. culturally responsive instruction, argumentation), social research methods in education (esp. design-based research & ethnography)

Planned Conference Participation

Attending :: Building Capacity and Collaboration at the Intersection of the Learning Sciences and Informal Science Education
August 6- 7, 2009