Northwestern University: Two Faculty Members Elected to National Academy of Education

Northwestern University learning scientists Miriam Sherin and Uri Wilensky were among 17 exceptional scholars elected to the prestigious National Academy of Education (NAEd) for their outstanding work in education scholarship and research.

It’s the third consecutive time the School of Education and Social Policy has had two winners in the same year and the fourth overall. Last year, Megan Bang, Jonathan Guryan, and Brian Reiser were elected, the first time in School history that three faculty members joined in one year.

Overall, the School of Education and Social Policy now has 17 National Academy members, including ten in the last six years under Dean David Figlio. The remaining members include Lindsay Chase-Lansdale, Cynthia Coburn, Allan Collins, Figlio, Larry Hedges, Kirabo Jackson, Carol Lee, Doug Medin, Penelope Peterson, Diane Schanzenbach, Morton Schapiro, and Jim Spillane.

Sherin is best known for her research on “teacher noticing” – how teachers make decisions about what to attend to in the moments of instruction. She has also pioneered the use video to help teachers see how students think.

Wilensky, the Lorraine H. Morton Professor of Learning Sciences and Computer Science, is the father of a worldwide movement to harness the power of computer modeling and simulations and foster the mindset known as “computational thinking.”