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Dr. Zhang is an assistant
professor of Instructional Technology at the University
at Albany, State University of New York. His research
interests are at the interface of knowledge building,
interactive learning environments, and learning
innovation in cultural contexts, with a special
focus on pedagogical and technological designs for
engaging students in collaborative productive work
with knowledge. He investigates students' knowledge
building across content areas, harnessing the potentials
of new technologies (e.g., simulations, CSCL environments)
to enable innovative learning. In parallel, he searches
for socio-techno designs for sustaining innovations
in schools by engaging teachers as grassroots innovators.
His study of knowledge building in a dynamic collaborative
environment was awarded the 2007 Outstanding Journal
Article of the Year Award from AECT (Association
for Educational Communications and Technology).
He earned his doctorate in educational psychology
at Beijing Normal University. Prior to joining the
University at Albany, he had been a postdoctoral
fellow at OISE, University of Toronto and a faculty
at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
Selected Publications
Zhang,
J., Scardamalia, M., Reeve, R., & Messina, R.
(under review). Designs for collective cognitive
responsibility in knowledge building communities.
Journal of the Learning Sciences.
Sun, Y., Zhang, J., & Scardamalia,
M. (in press). Developing deep understanding and
literacy while addressing a gender-based literacy
gap. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology.
Zhang, J. (2007). A cultural look
at information and communication technologies in
Eastern education. Educational Technology Research
and Development, 55(3), 301-314.
Zhang, J., Scardamalia, M., Lamon,
M., Messina, R., & Reeve, R. (2007). Socio-cognitive
dynamics of knowledge building in the work of nine-
and ten-year-olds. Educational Technology Research
and Development, 55(2), 117-145.
Zhang, J. & Scardamalia, M.
(2007). Sustaining principle-based knowledge building
innovation at an elementary school. A paper presented
at the Annual Meeting of American Educational Research
Association, 2007, Chicago, IL.
Chen, Q. & Zhang, J. (2006).
Collaborative discovery learning based on computer
simulation. In: A. M. O'Donnell, C. E. Hmelo-Silver,
& J. van der Linden (Eds.), Collaborative
learning, reasoning, and technology. Mahwah,
NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Zhang, J. & Sun, Y. (2005).
Constructive Learning: An Integrated View from
the Learning Sciences. Shanghai: Shanghai Education
Publishing House. (in Chinese)
Zhang, J., Chen, Q., Sun, Y., &
Reid, D. J. (2004). A triple scheme of learning
support design for scientific discovery learning
based on computer simulation: Experimental research.
Journal of Computer Assisted Learning,
20(4), 269-282.
Reid, D., Zhang, J.*, & Chen,
Q. (2003). An experiment on scientific discovery
learning in computer simulations. Journal of
Computer Assisted Learning, 19(1), 9-20. (
*corresponding author)
Zhang, J. (2002). The landscape
of educational technology research: What are educational
technologies doing? Educational Research
(the top education journal in China), Issue 4, 44-48.
Zhang, J. (2000). Knowledge construction
based on problem solving activities. Educational
Research, Issue 10, 58-62.
Fall 2008 Courses:
ETAP 623, Class #5248 - Systematic
Design of Instruction
(3 credits)
Promotes systematic, analytical approaches to curricular
and instructional planning. Surveys contemporary theories
of learning, instruction, and instructional design,
and requires application of these theories to the
preparation of educational materials. Although planning
for classroom activities and presentations is discussed,
primary focus is on design of materials that support
independent learning. ETAP 623 for fall 08 will be
offered as a blended (partial online) course. There
will be four face-to-face sessions: two in the beginning,
one in the middle, and one near the end of this course.
Students who have difficulty traveling to campus for
these sessions may join in through Skype (video conferencing).
The rest of this course will take place online through
Knowledge Forum (http://builder.ikit.org/etap623)
and a Wiki space (http://tccl.rit.albany.edu/knilt).
The above technological tools are very easy to use,
but students do need to spend some time learning how
to use them.
ETAP 687, Class #9055
- Knowledge Media for Creative Learning (3
Credits)
Education of the 21st Century needs to prepare students
for a knowledge-based society in which knowledge creation
and innovation pervade. What do we know about creativity
and innovation? How can we bring knowledge-creating
processes into curriculum and classroom life? How
should new technologies be designed and used to support
creative learning and knowledge building? This course
will explore these important issues drawing on the
latest research on creativity, knowledge innovation
and educational technology. By the end of this course,
learners should be able to:
1.
Recognize the critical importance of creative capabilities
and the necessity of educational innovation in the
21st century, knowledge-based society;
2.
Understand the cognitive, social-cultural, and organizational
perspectives of creativity and innovation, as well
as their implications to educational designs.
3. Understand new pedagogical frameworks
(e.g., Knowledge Building, Constructionism) for developing
knowledge-creating capabilities.
4.
Develop basic knowledge and pedagogical thinking related
to a variety of new knowledge media (e.g., Knowledge
Forum, programmable devices, visualizations, wikis,
virtual environments) that can support creative and
collaborative knowledge work.
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