Laura Wenk

Dean of Curriculum and Assessment, Associate Professor of Cognition and Education

Cognitive Science

lwNS@hampshire.edu

Personal Website

Mail Code DO

Laura Wenk

Cole Science Center 104

413.559.5364

Laura Wenk, associate professor of cognition and education and dean of curriculum and assessment, is a founding faculty member of the Childhood, Youth, and Education Program at Hampshire College supporting college students in examining the relationships among cognition, development, and instruction.

She is also the curriculum director for the Collaboration for Excellence in Science Education at Hampshire College, an outreach program that assists high school faculty in teaching science conceptually. Professor Wenk taught high school biology and physical science for six years before pursuing her doctorate in curriculum studies. She teaches courses in cognition and instruction, curriculum and instruction, and educational research. Her current research interests include the connections among pedagogy, personal epistemology, and higher-order thinking.

Recent and Upcoming Courses

How People Learn: Introduction to Cognition and Instruction
In recent years, as a result of interactions between cognitive psychology and education, we now have many ideas about learning, and approaches to teaching and assessment in formal and informal settings. We also have strong evidence that implementing these ideas could really improve learning for all children and youth, including those who from under- resourced communities. In this seminar we will work to understand the findings by reading and discussing a selection of theoretical works from cognitive psychology and examine their practical applications to education through discussion and time observing/assisting in a classroom, tutoring/mentoring, or partnering with a Hampshire faculty member to examine their teaching. We will also learn how to evaluate educational claims. Students will be evaluated on a series of short reaction papers, 2 longer papers, a presentation, and their general participation. This course can be used to satisfy the Educational Psychology requirement for licensure students.