Department of Education
Kennedy Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-4203
Phone: (607) 255-9830
E-Mail: rji1@cornell.edu
Fax: (607) 255-7905
Currently, I am a doctoral candidate in the Field of Education at Cornell University with concentrations in science education, and curriculum and instruction. I have a minor in soil, crop and atmospheric sciences and my science background is drawn from the areas of natural resources management, forestry, botany, forest pathology, and entomology. Concurrently, I am the co-coordinator of the Meaningful Learning Research Group and the teaching co-coordinator for Theory and Methods for the Facilitation of Meaningful Learning (EDUC 694.03).
My area of expertise is in applied cognitive learning theory and human constructivism. The focus of my dissertation research is on using metacognitive tools (Novak's concept map and Gowin's Vee heuristic) to facilitate knowledge production and organization, group communication and understanding, and future research activities among members of a diverse, multidisciplinary team of United States Department of Agriculture scientists. Although these tools were developed to help students learn how to learn in school, I am finding that they can help research scientists working on a multidisciplinary project develop a global view of the project. Concept maps and the Vee heuristic are powerful tools for organizing and producing knowledge. They help individual members of the team to see where and how their work fits into the "big picture." They facilitate communication among members of the group, helping them to arrive at shared understandings of both the global and local knowledge frameworks germain to the project. In addition they make explicit, gaps or inadequate conceptual relationships in knowledge frameworks which can then be used to design future research activities. I have also worked with a second group of researchers seeking to obtain funding from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for the establishment of NASA's Center for Bioregenerative Life Support Research and Training at Cornell.
My professional interests are to apply cognitive learning theory and a constructivist epistemology to diverse learning environments for facilitating student meaningful learning and faculty training and development; designing curricula; developing innovative instructional practices and alternative assessment tools; organizing and producing knowledge; and facilitating shared understanding and communication among members of a collaborative group. I am particularly interested in the use of metacognitive tools to facilitate curriculum development, instructional practices, faculty training and development, meaningful learning, and student assessment in medical education (See Katherine M. Edmondson).
Our most recent publication is:
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