Position: Assistant Professor at the University of California, Berkeley School of Education
Michelle Wilkerson studies how young people learn with and about computational representations – things like computer simulations, data visualizations, or interactive graphics. Rather than asking whether or how technology might be used to improve education, Wilkerson’s work takes it as given that it is an important part of many people’s professional and everyday lives. Simulations, visualizations, and analysis tools are a central part of scientific and social investigations. They are used to communicate about contemporary socioscientific issues (e.g., health, climate, transit), and in popular media. Her research explores how young students learn to make sense and make use of these tools, and how to support them through the design of software, curricula, and teacher professional learning experiences. She is currently part of the Access to Sustainability (A2S) project.