In Brief

TC Human Development Professors James Corter and Barbara Tversky and a colleague, Associate Professor Jeffrey Nickerson from Stevens Institute of Technology, have been awarded a research grant from the National Science Foundation for a project titled "Externalizing Thought: Improving the design of software through diagrams." The work will explore why software designs by experts are better than those of novices by employing analysis diagrams that reveal the cognitive structures of designers. One goal of the project is to identify teaching techniques that are most effective in increasing the skills of novices. Corter, Professor of Statistics and Education, specializes in research in the area of computational modeling of human learning, including work on visualization in problem solving. Tversky, Professor of Psychology and Education, is a leading authority in the areas of visual-spatial reasoning and collaborative cognition, and she has studied the use of diagrams in a wide range of design activities.

Published Monday, Nov. 19, 2007