Roger Schank

Carrie, Jozanne, Matt and Yan
 
CAREER
 
Roger Schank is one of the world's most influencial researchers in Artificial Intelligence, learning theory and cognitive science, who used to be a professor in several prestigious universities, like Stanford, Yale, Northwest and so for 35 years. 
  • Yale University
    • Before 1989,  Schank worked at Yale University as a professor of computer science and psychology.
  • Northwestern University
    • In 1989, Schank was hired by Northwestern University, then he contributed to found the Institute for the Learning Sciences (ILS) at Northwestern University, that  later was absorbed by the School of Education as a separate department.
  • Carnegie Mellon University
    • As the Distinguished Career Professor in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, Schank helped to found the Center for the Learning Science.
  • Trump University
    • In 2005, Schank worked at Trump Univerisity as chief learning officer.
 
RESEARCH AREAS
  • Artificial Intelligence
    • Help computers learn from experience.
  • Cognitive Psychology
    • Investigates internal mental processes like problem solving, memory, and language.
 
TOP TEN MISTAKES IN EDUCATION
 
Roger Schank believes that the school system is making a great many mistakes. He thinks as long as school can eliminate these mistakes, it will help kids learn much better. 
  1. Teachers and administrators act just like there is no relations between learning and doing.
  2. Teachers and administrators believe that as part of the education process they also have the responsibility for pupil assessment.
  3. Teachers and administrators believe they have responsibility to create the same curricula for each individual.
  4. Teachers believe they need to let students know what is important of their own thought.
  5. Teachers and administrators believe instruction and motivation can be separated for the use in real life.
  6. Teachers and administrators believe it's important for students to study in learning process.
  7. Teachers and administrators believe that grading according to age group is an intrinsic part of the organization of a school.
  8. Teachers and administrators believe having grades is essential for children if you want them to accomplish things.
  9. Many teachers and administrators accept that disciplining students is a task that comes with instructing classes.
  10. Teachers and administrators believe students will always have basic interests in no matter what schools decide to teach them.
 
BOOKS
 
Roger Schank has written more than 25 books. Here are some of his favorites:
 
ROGER SCHANK AND LEARNING THEORY
  • Learning Theories
    • Case-based, or as he likes to call it, story-based learning.
  • How it works
    • Learners role play in a collection of realistic cases or stories in order to learn skills (scripts or schema).
    • These skills (scriptlets) are perceptual, physical, and cognitive abilities, i.e., sending an email.
    • They are learned by practice.
    • Just-in-time learning--Skills are learned when learners want to know, when it makes sense to them, and when they will best remember.
    • Packaged together, scriplets make larger skills.
    • Stories are selected according to the skills or scriptlets the learners need to acquire.
"You learn by having someone help you talk through something – help you reflect, consider new things about the topic, offer challenges... A trainer should never be an imparter of information.“
 
FORMER BUSINESSES
  • Cognitive Arts
    • This is a commerical spin-off from ILS created by Roger Schank.  Their vision is to create revolutionary learning environments.  They have developed learning experiences for places such as GE Capitol, IBM, and Wal-Mart.
 
CURRENT BUSINESSES
  • Socratic Arts
    • Founder and current CEO
    • Provides learning solutions for corporations, educational institutions, and governmental organizations.
    • The story-centered curriculum can be delivered online, face-to-face, or as a hybrid combination.
    • Carnegie Mellon E-Commerce Course example
      • The student gets a job as for the E-Commerce company, Shamazon.com.  During the course of the student’s employment, he/she will have to:
        • Meet company deadlines and profitability goals
        • Deal with security breaches
        • Deal with lawsuits
        • Create new user interfaces that capture user requirements
        • Compete with new technology of competitors
      • Some targeted tasks/skills might be
        • Developing a profitability strategy
        • Introduce new technology
      • Examples of skills (scriptlets) the participants learn
        • Create marketing plan
        • Create financial plan
        • Design supply chain
        • Create ideas
        • Evaluate ideas
        • Define requirements
           
  • Grandparent Games
    • Educational games designed for grandparents and their grandchildren.
    • Video, voice, and educational games designed to connect young children (preschool to early elementary) with their grandparents. 
    • Builds on the idea that kids learn naturally through conversation and practice. 
    • Games include reading, math, history, and geography lessons.
    • Learning by doing applies equally well to adults and children.
  • Trump University
    • Roger Schank is the current Chief Learning Officer.  He designs and implements the e-learning curriculum.  Their focus is on providing students with real business experiences and little lecture.
 
REFERENCES
Groups:

Disclaimer

Any opinions expressed here, except as specifically noted, are those of the individual authors or commenters and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of the Department of Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences, the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services, or Utah State University.