Prof. Gerhard Fischer

Gerhard Fischer is a Professor of Computer Science, a Fellow of the Institute of Cognitive Science, and the Director of the Center for Lifelong Learning and Design (L3D) at the University of Colorado at Boulder. His research includes new conceptual frameworks and new media for learning, working, and collaboration; human-computer interaction; cognitive science; artificial intelligence; (software) design; and domain-oriented design environments. Over the last twenty years, he has directed research projects and has published extensively in these areas. Information about the L3D Center can be found at: http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~l3d/.

Education

1982: Habilitation in Computer Science, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Stuttgart, Germany

Habilitation Thesis: "Mensch-Maschine Kommunikation: Theorien und Systeme", MMK Memo, Department of Computer Science, University of Stuttgart. (Remark: The "Habilitation" is a special German university degree, which is required of full professors in the German university system.)

1977: Ph.D. in Computer Science, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Hamburg, Germany<

Ph.D. Thesis: "Das Loesen komplexer Problemaufgaben durch naive Benutzer mit Hilfe des interaktiven Programmierens", Research Group CUU, Project PROKOP, Darmstadt

1971: Masters in Mathematics, Dept. of Mathematics, University of Heidelberg, Germany

Honors and Awards:

1995: Exemplary Research Award for Best Technology Transfer Grant, Colorado Advanced Software Institute, October
1994-1995: SEL Stiftungsprofessur, Technical University, Darmstadt, Germany
1994: Invited Fellow by the Japanese Government, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, October
1993: Boulder Faculty Assembly's Excellence Award, CU-Boulder
1989-1990: Faculty Fellowship, Council on Research and Creative Work, CU-Boulder
1982: "Habilitation"-Scholarship, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
1979: Prize of the "Friends of the University of Stuttgart" for an outstanding research paper
1977-1978: Postdoctoral Fellowship, German Academic Exchange Service, MIT, Cambridge, MA
1972-1973: Scholarship, German Academic Exchange Service, Univ. of California, Irvine, CA
1971-1972: Scholarship, German Academic Exchange Service, Univ. of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

Professional Experience:

1994-present Director, Center for LifeLong Learning & Design (L3D), CU-Boulder
1988-present Full Professor, Computer Science Department, CU-Boulder
Member of the Institute of Cognitive Science, CU-Boulder
1984-1988 Associate Professor (with tenure), Computer Science Department, CU-Boulder
Member of the Institute of Cognitive Science, CU-Boulder
1982-1984 Associate Professor, Computer Science Department, University of Stuttgart, Germany
1982 Research Associate, Psychology and Computer Science Department, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
1978-1982 Assistant Professor, Computer Science Department, University of Stuttgart, Germany
1977-1978 Research Associate, Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, MIT, Cambridge, MA
1974-1977 Research Associate, Center for Educational Technology, Darmstadt, Germany

Selected Research Projects

1. 2001-2004: "Social Creativity and Meta-Design in Lifelong Learning Communities" (with Ernesto Arias, Hal Eden, and Michael Eisenberg); Sponsor: NSF
2. 2000–2003: "Cognitive Levers: Helping People Help Themselves", Sponsor: Coleman Family Foundation;
3. 1997-2001: "Allowing Learners to be Articulate: Incorporating Automated Text Evaluation into Collaborative Software Environments" (with W. Kintsch and T.K. Landauer), Sponsor: James S. McDonnell Foundation
4. 1997-2000: "Conceptual Frameworks and Computational Support for Organizational Memories and Organizational Learning" (with J. Ostwald and G. Stahl), Sponsor: NSF
5. 1996-1999: "Lifelong Learning - Bringing Learning Activities to Life" (with M. Eisenberg, H. Eden, and A. Repenning), Sponsor: NSF

Selected Papers

1. "Courses as Seeds: Expectations and Realities" " (with Rogerio dePaula and Jonathan Ostwald), Proceedings of The European Conference on Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning 2001 (Euro-CSCL 2001), Maastricht, The Netherlands,March 22-24, 2001, pp 494-501
2. "Lifelong Learning — More Than Training", Special Issue on Intelligent Systems/Tools In Training and Life-Long Learning (eds.: Riichiro Mizoguchi and Piet A.M. Kommers), Journal of Interactive Learning Research, Vol. 11, No 3/4, 2000, pp. 265-294
3. "Symmetry of Ignorance, Social Creativity, and Meta-Design", Special Issue on "Creativity & Cognition 1999" of the International Journal "Knowledge-Based Systems," Elsevier Science B.V., Oxford, UK, Vol 13, No 7-8, 2000, pp 527-537
4. "Beyond Access: Informed Participation and Empowerment". (with E. Arias, H. Eden, A. Gorman, and E. Scharff), Proceedings of the Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL '99), Stanford, 1999, pp 20-32
5. "Lifelong Learning: Changing Mindsets", Proceedings of ICCE 99, 7th International Conference on Computers in Education on "New Human Abilities for the Networked Society", November 4-7, 1999, Chiba, Japan. pp. 21-30.
6. "Embedding Critics in Design Environments" (with K. Nakakoji, J. Ostwald, G. Stahl, T. Sumner). In M. Maybury, W. Wahlster, eds., Readings in Intelligent User Interfaces, Morgan Kaufman Publishers, San Francisco, 1998, pp. 537-561.

He is a member of the following organizations:

ACM , American Association for Artificial Intelligence , Cognitive Science, GI (Gesellschaft fuer Informatik) , Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility

His current research work includes:

• The Envisionment and Discovery Collaboratory
• The focus of this is to develop a framework for integrating physical games, computer simulations, and dynamic information spaces for the support of collaborative learning and design.
• Organizational Memory and Organizational Learning
• This work investigates computer support for learning, working, and collaborating in information-intensive organizations.