Harvard-Smithsonian Scientist Investigates Science Education, Feb. 12

The College of Science at Rochester Institute of Technology is sponsoring a presentation by Matthew Schneps, director for Visual Learning at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

The lecture, Power and Pitfalls of Visual Thinking, will be held at 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb.12, in the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science auditorium as part of the college’s Distinguished Speakers Series. It will discuss how so many misconceptions are held by even the brightest, most-educated students regarding simple scientific processes, such as reasons for the change of seasons and the orbits of the planets.

The presentation is open to the public and interpreting services are available upon request. For additional information, visit www.rit.edu/cos/Schneps.php.

Schneps co-produced two award-winning videos on science learning, A Private Universe and Minds of Our Own, well known for their depictions of Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduates who are unable to answer grade school problems in science.

Schneps, who has a doctorate degree in physics from MIT, has diverse research interests that include cognition and learning, astrophysics, science education, learning disabilities and dyslexia, television media, eye tracking and vision, computer image processing, and K-12 science learning. He is also the executive director of the Science Media Group, which has produced over 200 hours of nationally broadcast television programming on science learning.