Jose Mestre

Research Biography:

My research interests focus on the development, organization and deployment of science knowledge and concepts, as well as their application to solve problems. In my research, I address questions such as: What is the mechanism by which a beginner develops expertise in science? Why is appropriate transfer of knowledge, even across the same domain and across remarkably similar contexts, so difficult to achieve? Recently I have begun collaborations on projects exploring the application of methodologies from cognitive science, reading research, psycholinguistics, and visual cognition to science and math reasoning.

Education:

Ph.D., Physics, University of Massachusetts, 1979
B.S., Physics, University of Massachusetts, 1974

Key Professional Appointments :

• 2011-present: Chair, Department of Educational Psychology, UIUC.

• 2010-2011: Associate Dean for Research, College of Education, UIUC.

• 2005-present: Professor of Physics and Educational Psychology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

• 2003: Associate Dean, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, UMass, Amherst.

• 1992-2005: Professor of Physics, UMass, Amherst.

• 1987-1992: Associate Professor of Physics, UMass, Amherst.

• 1981-1987: Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics, UMass, Amherst.

Activities and Honors:

• Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society, 2010.

• Education Mentor in the Life Sciences, National Academy of Science, 2008.

• Recipient of the Chancellor's Medal for exemplary and extraordinary service to the University of Massachusetts, April 10, 2001.

• Distinguished Faculty Lecturer, UMass Amherst, 2000-2001.

• External Advisory Board, project NEXUS (National Experiment in Undergraduate Science Education). Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 2011-2013.

• Committee on Undergraduate Physics Education Research and Implementation, National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council, 2011-present.

• Elected Member, Physics Education Research Leadership Organizing Council American Association of Physics Teachers, 2008-2011.

• Editorial Board, Journal of the Learning Sciences, 2007-present.

Selected Publications:

•  Mestre, J.P. & Ross, B.H. (Eds.) (2011). The Psychology of Learning and Motivation, Vol. 55: Cognition in Education (313 pages). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

• Docktor, J.L. & Mestre, J.P. (2011).  A synthesis of discipline-based education research in physics. White paper commissioned by the National Research Council (147 pages). www7.nationalacademies.org/bose/DBER_Docktor_October_Paper.pdf

• Smith, A.D., Mestre, J.P., & Ross, B.H. (2010). Eye-gaze patterns as students study worked-out examples in mechanics. Physical Review Special Topics: Physics Education Research, 6(#2) 020118 (9 pages). (Available on-line at http://prst-per.aps.org/pdf/PRSTPER/v6/i2/e020118).

• Feil, A. & Mestre, J.P. (2010). Change blindness as a means of studying expertise in physics. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 19(#4), 480-505.

• Stelzer, T., Gladding, G., Mestre, J. & Brookes, D.T. (2009).  Comparing the efficacy of multimedia modules with traditional textbooks for learning introductory physics content.  American Journal of Physics, 77(#2), 184-190.

•  Dufresne, R., Mestre, J., Thaden-Koch, T., Gerace, W., & Leonard, W. (2005). Knowledge representation and coordination in the transfer process. In J. Mestre (Ed.), Transfer of learning from a modern multidisciplinary perspective (pp. 155-215). Greenwich, CT: Information Age.

•  Etkina, E., Mestre, J. & O’Donnell, A. (2005). The impact of the cognitive revolution on science learning and teaching. In J.M Royer (Ed.) The Cognitive Revolution in Educational Psychology (pp. 119-164).  Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing

•  Leonard, W. J., Dufresne, R. J., Gerace, W. J., & Mestre, J. P. (1999-2003). Minds on physics. [a high school physics curriculum/6 student books and 6 teacher manuals, 3,660 pages total]. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing.

•  Dufresne, R., Mestre, J., Hart, D. & Rath, K. (2002). The effect of web-based homework on test performance in large enrollment introductory physics courses. Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching, 21(3), 229-251.

•  Mestre, J. P. (2002). Probing adults' conceptual understanding and transfer of learning via problem posing. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 23, 9-50.