Brian Reiser

Northwestern University

Professor

Brian J. Reiser is the Orrington Lunt Professor of Learning Sciences in the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University. Reiser’s work explores how to make science learning more meaningful in K-12 classrooms as students investigate questions and problems they identify. Reiser’s research examines how to support students in science knowledge-building practices through storyline curriculum materials and teaching approaches, and how teachers learn as they enact these reforms. Reiser heads NextGen Science Storylines, a researcher-teacher collaborative developing and investigating design principles for storyline units in which students help manage the trajectory of science knowledge building. Reiser leads the Northwestern team of the OpenSciEd Developer’s Consortium, a partnership with ten state education agencies to design and field test storyline instructional materials. The project has released a freely available middle school science curriculum in 2022, a high school curriculum in 2024, and is currently developing materials for K-5 and high school. Reiser was a member of the National Research Council’s Board on Science Education from 2011 to 2018, serving on the NRC committee authoring A Framework for K-12 Science Education, which has led development of the Next Generation Science Standards and related three-dimensional standards across many states. Reiser is a Member of the National Academy of Education, a Fellow of the International Society of the Learning Sciences, and a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association.