Updated 2022–09–07 It all started in Toronto in 1976… Identifying the problem During the 70s and 80s I practiced midwifery. It was a great honor to be present at the births of over 500 babies, and in many cases, follow them into childhood. Every single one of those babies was a joyful, driven, and effective “every moment” learner. Regardless of…

There’s a lot of talk about “embodied” learning these days, and it doesn’t seem like there’s much consensus about what it means. Since we sometimes use the term alongside “optimal learning” and “robust learning,” I think it’s time we offered a clear definition. Take a close look the activity in…

Back in 1996, after many years of bemoaning the state of modern education, I set out to see if it was possible to create a new educational assessment technology focused on measuring and supporting optimal mental development. In addition to being accurate and richly formative (supportive of learning and development)…

Applying for work is not a recreational activity. In fact, it can be a misery. — One of my worst recruitment experiences occurred years ago when I was applying for a professorship at a prestigious university. I spent two days on campus, meeting with students and faculty — from breakfast through dinner — on both days. Then, I returned home and the hiring committee ghosted me…

On metrics and virtuous cycles of learning I recently sat down for a conversation with Tim Logan, from the Future learning design podcast series. It was a wonderful opportunity to describe Lectica’s mission, learning model, and approach to assessment. Here is a synopsis of what Tim had to say about the podcast: With trillions of public money…

For the last several years I’ve been struggling with the pronoun issue. While I agree that gender neutrality in language can help support gender equality, I’ve decided that I’m not a fan of attempts to eliminate the use of singular pronouns by replacing them with plural pronouns. Despite reservations, I’ve…

You know that you’re probably thinking out of the box when your rejection letters say things like this… NSF grant proposal We proposed studying how a new kind of assessment could be used to support learning. We were told… You can submit a grant to fund assessment development or a grant to fund…

Originally posted on December 11, 2009 During the first 10 years of my work developing Lectical Assessments, I spent a fair bit of time explaining how testing works. Gradually, I came to understand that the science behind our assessments was less important to clients than their practical benefits, so I…

Originally posted on July 29, 2009 This year my colleagues and I are celebrating the achievement of a 25-year effort to create a fully-automated developmental assessment system for texts. The system is deeply grounded in Piagetian and neo-Piagetian theory and research along with a great deal of study related to…