Brian Reiser

Brian J. Reiser is the Orrington Lunt Professor of Education and Social Policy in the Program in Learning Sciences 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, working with ten state education agencies to create and field test middle school and high school storyline instructional materials released as open educational resources. 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 (guiding development of the Next Generation Science Standards, NGSS), and reports recommending policies for NGSS assessment and implementation. Reiser collaborated with districts and states around the country to design and support professional learning programs supporting K-12 teachers in NGSS implementation. Reiser was a founding member at Northwestern of the first graduate program in Learning Sciences, chairing the program from 1993, shortly after its inception, until 2001. 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. Reiser earned his Ph.D. from Yale University and has been a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University and professor at Princeton University.