Students
Prospective Students are encouraged to explore the Cognition and Development area in the Graduate School of Education at UC Berkeley. Geoff Saxe works with students who are enrolled in one of several Ph.D. programs associated with this area. Prospective students will also benefit from exploring the Graduate School Admissions site.
Current Students work with Geoff Saxe on his research projects in addition to pursuing their own unique research interests related to culture, cognition, and development. The students represent interests in the following Cognition and Development programs: HDE - Human Development and Education, EMST - Education in Math Science and Technology, DMS - Developmental Math and Science, and SESAME - Science and Mathematics Education.
Mandy
Arendtsz  |
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arendtsz@uclink.berkeley.edu |
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| Britte
Cheng |
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Office:(510)643-6175 bcheng@socrates.berkeley.edu |
| Rachel
Coben |
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rcoben@uclink4.berkeley.edu |
I am a doctoral student in the School Psychology program, which
is part of the Human Development area. While teaching third
grade, I found that math was exciting to teach because the students
were engaged in creative, conceptual problem-solving. As a result,
I have developed research interests in the area of children's understanding
of arithmetic. My dissertation is about the effects of learning
arithmetic algorithms on the development of procedural and conceptual
knowledge. While at Berkeley, I have worked as a supervisor of student teachers in DTE, a Human Development master's degree program. I have also taught educational psychology courses to student teachers at a nearby college. Currently, I am a school psychologist at an elementary school. My future plans include working as a school psychologist and as a teacher educator, with a focus on understanding children as learners. |
| Indigo
Esmonde |
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esmonde@uclink.berkeley.edu |
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| Coe
Leta Finke |
Began EMST
program in 2000 |
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My research interests at Berkeley focus on educational technology
design and learning in informal settings, particularly in museums.
I'm most interested in designing environments and activities that
promote conversation and group learning. I work as a researcher
and exhibit developer for the multimedia department at the Lawrence
Hall of Science. |
| Jenny
Langer-Garcia de Osuna |
Began DMS program in 2000 |
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jmgdo@uclink4.berkeley.edu |
I am currently interested in understanding human development and education from a multi-disciplinary approach. While my undergraduate background in cognitive development is rooted in information processing and connectionist models, I am now approaching cognition from social and cultural perspectives, including situated cognition and sociology. The result is an interest to consider mathematical problem solving and learning through an analysis of the interplay between cognition and culture. My research focuses on the development of both mathematical knowledge and identity in and out of the classroom and among diverse groups of students. I am also interested in issues of diversity and equity in the mathematics classroom (and what we mean by the terms “diversity” and “equity”). |
| Julie
McNamara |
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juliecmcn@aol.com |
| Behnaz
Shahidi |
Began HD program in 1999 |
behnaz@uclink4.berkeley.edu
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My interest is in the area of tool use and in specific
the use of mathematical tools in learning fractions. My current research
is a developmental analysis of mathematical tool use and elementary
school children’s knowledge of fractions. |
| Edd
Taylor |
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Edd is a graduate student in the cognition and development: human development program. His current work on the mathematical development of children who spend money at corner stores in low-income neighborhoods represents his general interest in culture and cultural practices related to mathematical development. Edd is completing his PhD in the summer of 2004 and has accepted a position as assistant professor of mathematics education at The University of Wisconsin at Madison beginning fall 2004. |
| Tim
Zimmerman |
Began SESAME program in 2000 |
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Office: (510)642-4431 |
Born and raised in a small town on the east coast, I spent many
of my childhood hours catching frogs, turtles, fish, snakes, insects,
and various other creatures of the world during my many outdoor excursions.
Little did I realize how significant these "informal learning
events" would be in my life. I developed a passion for nature
and went on to receive both my master's and bachelor's degrees in
marine biology. My graduate research focused on nesting and reproductive
patterns of diamondback terrapins, the only brackish water turtles
in North America. Wanting to use my science knowledge to protect natural
resources, I took a position with the federal government as an environmental
law enforcement agent. I eventually ended up in Washington, DC as
a National Program Manager for the EPA focused on development and
enforcement of national wetland policy. Working in DC led to the realization
that most politicians and the voting public have little understanding
of the scientific basis underlying most environmental problems. I
also found that the environmental community was not effective in promoting
an understanding of those concepts because they were focusing only
on scare tactic type facts. I decided that if I had a better understanding
of how people learn, I could bring this knowledge to the environmental
community and change the world. This led to my current research on
how students connect concepts of adaptation to issues of conservation.
This research is being conducted in collaboration with the WISE online
learning environment research group at UC Berkeley, where I am a doctoral
student, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I hope this research will
provide insights into knowledge building processes, facilitated by
technology and by pre-visit, aquarium visit, and post-visit activities,
that lead to greater understanding of the scientific need for conservation. |
Prospective students are encouraged to email any of the current students listed here.They can offer valuable insights into the admission process and answer most questions concerning graduate life at the School of Education
Roll over the images to observe ontogensis (change of an individual over time)