Profile

Louis M. Gomez Aon Professor of Learning Sciences, Learning Sciences Professor, Computer Science Annenberg Hall Room 337 2120 Campus Drive Evanston, IL 60208-0001 Phone: (847) 467-2821 Fax: (847) 491-8999

Biography

Louis M. Gomez is one of the co-directors of the National Science Foundation-sponsored Center for Learning Technologies in Urban Schools (LeTUS). The center is a partnership made up Chicago Public Schools, Detroit Public Schools, University of Michigan and Northwestern University. The center is dedicated to collaborative research and development with urban schools that will bring the current state-of-the-art in computing and networking technologies into pervasive use in schools so that they will integrally support science and other curriculum. Gomez also co-directed The Learning Through Collaborative Visualization (CoVis) Project at Northwestern University. The CoVis project focuses on bringing next-generation scientific visualization and collaboration technologies along with open-ended scientific inquiry to high school classrooms. In this project and others Gomez' primary interest is in working with school communities to create curriculum that supports school reform while connecting schools to broad communities of practice beyond school. Prior to joining the faculty at Northwestern, Gomez was director of Human-Computer Systems Research at Bellcore in Morristown N.J. Over the last several years Gomez has also pursued active research programs investigating techniques that improve human use of information retrieval systems and techniques which aid in the acquisition of complex computer-based skills. He is chair, Educational Testing Service (ETS) Visiting Panel of Research and is a recent recipient of the Spencer Foundation Mentorship Award.

Research/Scholarship
Education

Year		Degree		Institution
1979		PhD, Cognitive Psychology		University of California at Berkeley
1974		BA, Psychology		State University of New York at Stony Brook

Selected Publications

Gomez, L. M., Gordin, D. N., & Carolson, P. (1998). Adventurous teaching for authentic science learning: Project science meets global warming in a technology-rich class. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Fishman, B., Gomez, L., Pea, R., & Gordin, D. (1995). Using the WWW to Build Learning Communities in K-12 Settings, Part II: The Next Generation of Web Servers to Support Learning Communities. The Global Network Navigator [Electronic Document].

Gordin, D., Gomez, L., Pea, R., & Fishman, B. (1995). Using the WWW to Build Learning Communities in K-12 Settings, Part I: The Current State of the Art in Web-Based Technology for K-12 Education. The Global Network Navigator [Electronic Document].

Projects

Adolescent Literacy Support Project
Building an Infrastructure for Generative and Sustained Change in Science Instruction
Center for Learning Technologies in Urban Schools (LeTUS)
Chicago Urban Systemic Program
CoVis Project
Literacy in Science and Technology
Living Curriculum Project
Meaningful Science Consortium
NU-PEAK
Reality Based Learning
SIBLE (Supportive Inquiry-Based Learning Environments) Project
Small School Project

Research Interests

Curriculum design and systemic school reform; school and classroom organization support through technology; application of computing and networking technology to teaching and learning; applied cognitive science; human-computer interaction.

Teaching/Advising
Courses

LRN_SCI 451		Topics in Learning Sciences Current research topics in the learning sciences. Topics vary. May be repeated for credit with change in topic.
LOC_301		Macrocognition A social and cultural investigation of cognition, studying macrocognition in the wider context of cognitive science research.  Course will discuss conceptual tools, examine studies and research frameworks, and design and conduct a macrocogniive study of a social context.
LOC 301		Macrocognition How people learn to understand, reason, and solve problems; knowledge representation, expertise, transfer, and metacognition; study of distributor congnition.
LRN_SCI 451 sec 21		Learn Sci Topics Chicago Curr & School Reform
COMP_SCI 330		Human Computer Interaction
LOC 306		Studies in Org Change Theories and methods of organizational changes are examined through analysis of organizational adaptaions using theories from learning sciences and organizational behavior.