Marcia C. Linn (née Cyrog) is a professor of development and

cognition Cognition refers to "the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thought, ...

. Linn, specializes in education in mathematics, science, and technology in the Graduate School of Education at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. Since 1970, Linn has made contributions to the understanding of the use of computers and technology to support learning and teaching in mathematics and science.

Family

Linn was born in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

, Wisconsin to Frances and George Cyrog. Frances became the principal of Sorenson School in Whittier, California. George was a supervisor in the postal service as well as a rockhound who founded the Whittier Gem and Mineral Society. Marcia's lifelong interest in science learning stems from growing up as the oldest child in a family enthusiastic about learning. Her father, George, believed everyone could learn about all aspects of science and engineering and implemented this in his hobby of collecting rocks and

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ( ...

s. Her mother, Frances, developed a philosophy for individualized reading instruction starting when she taught elementary school and continuing as she became an elementary school principal.

Education

Linn received a B.A. in psychology and statistics (1965), an M. A. in educational psychology (1967), and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology (1970) from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

working under the mentorship of

Lee Cronbach Lee Joseph Cronbach (April 22, 1916 – October 1, 2001) was an American educational psychologist who made contributions to psychological testing and measurement. At the University of Illinois, Urbana, Cronbach produced many of his works: the "A ...

. Her research addresses how technology-enhanced curricula, visualizations, and assessments can deepen student understanding of science. In 1967-68, Linn worked with

Jean Piaget Jean William Fritz Piaget (, , ; 9 August 1896 – 16 September 1980) was a Swiss psychologist known for his work on child development. Piaget's theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called " genetic epistemolog ...

and other researchers at the Institute Jean Jacques Rousseau in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, Switzerland. In Geneva, listening to researchers probe students' ideas motivated her to listen closely to the ideas that students bring to a learning situation. Linn spent time in schools interviewing students and learning to conduct interviews using the Piagetian clinical method. In Geneva, and when she returned to California, Linn conducted many interviews in which she asked students to explore scientific problems. She learned that student ideas about scientific topics are diverse and often well connected. These interviews formed the basis for her perspective on

knowledge integration Knowledge integration is the process of synthesizing multiple knowledge models (or representations) into a common model (representation). Compared to information integration, which involves merging information having different schemas and represen ...

Academic career

Linn was a Research Psychologist at the

Lawrence Hall of Science The Lawrence Hall of Science is a public science center in Berkeley, California that offers hands-on science exhibits, designs curriculum, aids professional development, and offers after school science resources to students of all ages. The Hall ...

(1970–1987) and led the ACCEL program, a

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

-funded research project that investigated the cognitive consequences of computer environments for learning. She won an Apple Wheels for the Mind grant in 1985 for ''The Computer as Lab Partner'', a project to bring

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

computers equipped with sensing probes into schools. With Robert Tinker, she developed the first Microcomputer-based Labs and probeware for middle school science. In 1983 she was Fulbright Professor at the

Weizmann Institute of Science The Weizmann Institute of Science ( he, מכון ויצמן למדע ''Machon Vaitzman LeMada'') is a public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, 14 years before the State of Israel. It differs from other Israeli unive ...

Rehovot Rehovot ( he, רְחוֹבוֹת ''Rəḥōvōt'', ar, رحوڤوت ''Reḥūfūt'') is a city in the Central District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of . Etymology Israel Belkind, founder of the Bilu movement, ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. In 1983 she won one of two grants awarded by the

National Institute of Education The National Institute of Education (NIE) is an autonomous institute of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. Ranked 12th in the world and 2nd in Asia by the QS World University Rankings in the subject of Education in 2015, the ...

to study the emerging role of technology in education. This project, ''Assessing the Cognitive Consequences of Computer Environments for Learning'', documented the early uses of personal computers in classrooms. In 1986 she received a three-year grant from the

to study ''Autonomous Learning Materials for Pascal Courses'' and studied programming instruction as an approach to learning complex problem-solving skills. Common themes emerging in her research studying how students learn computer science and middle school science led her to describe the

framework (see summary in Linn, 1995 NSF publication). From 1989 to 1996 Marcia was director of the Instructional Technology Program at the

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of Californi ...

. She was responsible for introducing and encouraging innovative university teaching using multimedia and education technologies. In 1995–1996, 2001–2002, and 2010-2011, Linn was a fellow at th
Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences
in

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. In 2008-2009 she was President of the

International Society for the Learning Sciences The International Society of the Learning Sciences is a professional society dedicated to the interdisciplinary empirical investigation of learning as it exists in real-world settings and how learning may be facilitated both with and without techn ...

br>
Linn is a member of th
National Academy of Education
and a Fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

, the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...

, and the

Association for Psychological Science The Association for Psychological Science (APS), previously the American Psychological Society, is an international non-profit organization whose mission is to promote, protect, and advance the interests of scientifically oriented psychology in ...

. She has served as Chair of the AAAS Education Section and as President of the

International Society of the Learning Sciences The International Society of the Learning Sciences is a professional society dedicated to the interdisciplinary Empirical research, empirical investigation of learning as it exists in real-world settings and how learning may be facilitated both wit ...

. Her board services include the

board, the Graduate Record Examination Board of the

Educational Testing Service Educational Testing Service (ETS), founded in 1947, is the world's largest private nonprofit educational testing and assessment organization. It is headquartered in Lawrence Township, New Jersey, but has a Princeton address. ETS develops var ...

, th
James S. McDonnell Foundation
Cognitive Studies in Education Practice board, and th
Directorate for Education and Human Resources
at the

. Linn's books includ
Computers, Teachers, Peers
(2000)
Internet Environments for Science Education
(2004)
Designing Coherent Science Education
(2008)
WISE Science
(2009), an
Science Learning and Instruction: Taking Advantage of Technology to Promote Knowledge Integration
(2011). Awards include th
National Association for Research in Science Teaching
Award for Lifelong Distinguished Contributions to Science Education and th
Council of Scientific Society Presidents
first Educational Research Award. She currently directs the

NSF NSF may stand for: Political organizations *National Socialist Front, a Swedish National Socialist party *NS-Frauenschaft, the women's wing of the former German Nazi party *National Students Federation, a leftist Pakistani students' political gr ...

-funde
Technology-Enhanced Learning in Science (TELS)
center and th
Web-based Inquiry Science Environment (WISE)

References

External links

Marcia C. Linn's webpage and CV/publications

Technology Enhanced Learning in Science (TELS)

Web-based Integrated Science Environment (WISE)

Graduate School of Education: Marcia Linn
{{DEFAULTSORT:Linn, Marcia Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Scientists from Milwaukee American cognitive scientists Stanford University alumni University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Education faculty