Brian Reiser

Northwestern University

Professor

Brian J. Reiser is professor of learning sciences at Northwestern University. Reiser's work explores how to make science learning more meaningful in K-12 classrooms as students build scientific knowledge in the context of addressing questions and problems they identify. Reiser's research examines how to support students in science knowledge-building practices through curriculum materials and teaching approaches, and how teachers learn as they make sense of and enact these reforms. Reiser heads the NextGen Science Storylines project, a researcher-teacher collaborative developing and investigating storyline units, in which students help manage the trajectory of their science knowledge building. Reiser leads the Northwestern team of the OpenSciEd Developer's Consortium, working with 10 state education agencies to create and field test middle school and high school research-based storyline instructional materials released as open educational resources. Reiser served as member of the National Research Council's Board on Science Education from 2011 to 2018. He served on the NRC committee authoring A Framework for K-12 Science Education (guiding development of the Next Generation Science Standards [NGSS]), and subsequent reports recommending policies for NGSS assessment and implementation. Reiser has advised on the development of tools used nationally to support NGSS implementation, and has collaborated with state initiatives to design and provide professional development to support K-12 teachers in realizing NGSS reforms in their classrooms. Reiser is a Fellow of the International Society of the Learning Sciences. He earned his Ph.D. from Yale University, and has been a researcher and professor at Carnegie Mellon University and Princeton University.