Philip Bell: Biographical Sketch

Philip Bell pursues a cognitive and cultural program of research across diverse environments focused on how people learn in ways that are personally consequential to them. He is an associate professor of the Learning Sciences at the University of Washington where he directs the ethnographic and design-based research of the Everyday Science and Technology Group (http://everydaycognition.org). He also directs the University of Washington Science and Mathematics Learning Institute focused on coordinating P-20 education efforts across the university. Bell has studied everyday expertise and cognition in science and health, the design and use of novel learning technologies in science classrooms, children's argumentation, the use of emerging digital technologies within youth culture, and new approaches to inquiry instruction in science. He is a Co-Lead of the Learning in Informal and Formal Environments (LIFE) Center (http://life-slc.org/) and is a Co-PI of COSEE-Ocean Learning Communities (http://cosee-olc.org/). Bell serves as a member of the Board on Science Education with the National Academy of Sciences and co-chairs the National Research Council Consensus Committee on Learning Science in Informal Environments. He has a background in human cognition and development, science education, computer science, and electrical engineering.