UCI Prof Is Winner of Grant

Henry Becker, a sociology professor in UC Irvine’s department of education, has won a $1-million grant from the National Science Foundation to study how computer technology has changed instruction in the nation’s classrooms, university officials said Monday.

With the funding, Becker will head a three-year research project with Ronald Anderson, a sociology professor at University of Minnesota, to determine whether computer technologies ranging from CD-ROMs to the Internet are more effective teaching tools than textbooks and lectures.

Becker’s research will be based on the “constructivist” theory, which in this case proposes that students possibly retain information better by interacting with others by computer instead of by hearing it from teachers who lecture in front of classes.

Becker said there is little evidence to document whether the theory is true. He said his data will be important because it will dictate how instructors teach in the future.

“Considering the skill requirements in the emerging global economy, we must enable high school graduates to be able to attack problems of greater complexity than teachers have traditionally addressed through a fixed curriculum, memorization of facts and an emphasis on isolated skills,” Becker said.

The professors’ research will involve observing classrooms, interviewing teachers and conducting surveys at schools in California, Maryland and Minnesota.