Janet Kolodner
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Janet Lynne Kolodner is an American
cognitive scientist Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary, scientific study of the mind and its processes. It examines the nature, the tasks, and the functions of cognition (in a broad sense). Mental faculties of concern to cognitive scientists include percep ...
and learning scientist. She is a Professor of the Practice at the
Lynch School of Education The Boston College Lynch School of Education and Human Development (abbreviated as Lynch School) is the school of education at Boston College. Founded in 1952, the Lynch school offers graduate and undergraduate programs in education, psychology, ...
at
Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...
and co-lead of the MA Program in Learning Engineering. She is also Regents' Professor Emerita in the School of Interactive Computing, College of Computing at the
Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public university, public research university and Institute of technology (United States), institute of technology in Atlanta, ...
. She was Founding Editor in Chief of '' The Journal of the Learning Sciences'' and served in that role for 19 years. She was Founding Executive Officer of the International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS). From August, 2010 through July, 2014, she was a program officer at the National Science Foundation and headed up the Cyberlearning and Future Learning Technologies program (originally called Cyberlearning: Transforming Education). Since finishing at NSF, she is working toward a set of projects that will integrate learning technologies coherently to support disciplinary and everyday learning, support project-based pedagogy that works, and connect to the best in curriculum for active learning. As of July, 2020, she


Education

Kolodner graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in math and computer science from
Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...
in 1976. She then completed her
Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...
degree in computer science in 1977 and her
PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
in computer science in 1980 from
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
.


Career and research

Kolodner is a Regents' Professor Emerita of Computing and Cognitive Science in the School of Interactive Computing in Georgia Tech's College of Computing. She spent the 1996-97 academic year as a Visiting Professor
Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...
in
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
. From August, 2010 until July, 2014, she was on loan to The
National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...
, where she was a Program Officer in the CISE and EHR Directorates and had responsibility for the Cyberlearning: Transforming Education program (renamed Cyberlearning and Future Learning Technologies and, in 2020, RETTL). In 1992, Kolodner was elected a fellow in the
Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence The Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) is an international Learned society, scientific society devoted to promote research in, and responsible use of, artificial intelligence. AAAI also aims to increase public under ...
(AAAI) for "pioneering research on case-based reasoning and learning, including memory organization, information retrieval, problem solving, and knowledge acquisition." In 2017, she was elected an Inaugural Fellow of the International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS). Kolodner's research addresses issues in learning, memory, and problem solving, both in computers and in people. She pioneered the computer reasoning method called
case-based reasoning Case-based reasoning (CBR), broadly construed, is the process of solving new problems based on the solutions of similar past problems. In everyday life, an auto mechanic who fixes an engine by recalling another car that exhibited similar sympto ...
, a way of solving problems based on analogies to past experiences, and her lab emphasized case-based reasoning for situations of real-world complexity. In case-based reasoning, the results of previous cases are applied to new situations, cutting down the complexity of the reasoning necessary in later situations and allowing a problem solver to anticipate and avoid previously-made mistakes. Automated case-based reasoners from her lab include MEDIATOR and PERSUADER, common sense and expert mediation programs; JULIA, a case-based design problem solver; CELIA, a case-based car mechanic; MEDIC, a case-based physician; and EXPEDITOR, a case-based logistics manager. Kolodner's classic work in this area, ''Case-based Learning'' (1993), has been cited thousands of times by researchers. Her research interests are the implications and applications of cognition to education and educational technology, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, case-based reasoning, novice-expert evolution, the role of experience in expert and common-sense reasoning, design cognition, creativity, design of decision-aiding tools, and interactive learning environments.


Publications

Kolodner has published the following books and articles: * Kolodner, J. L. et al. (lead author; 2010 - 2020). ''Project-Based Inquiry Science,'' a set of 13 science units covering 3 years of middle school science. It's About Time Inc. Mt. Kisco, NY. * Bruckman, A.S., Guzdial, M., Kolodner, J.L., Ram, A., (Eds.) (1998). ''Proceedings of the International Conference of the Learning Sciences'' 1998. AACE, Charlottesville, VA, 1998. * Kolodner, J. L. (1993). ''Case-Based Reasoning''. Morgan-Kaufmann Publishers, Inc., San Mateo, CA. * Kolodner, J.L. (Ed.), (1993). ''Case-Based Learning''. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Netherlands. * Kolodner, J.L. (Ed.) (1988). ''Proceedings: Case-Based Reasoning Workshop''. Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Inc., San Mateo, CA. * Kolodner, J.L. & Riesbeck, C. (Eds.) (1986). ''Experience, Memory, and Reasoning''. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Hillsdale, NJ. * Kolodner, J.L. (1984). ''Retrieval and Organizational Strategies in Conceptual Memory: A Computer Model''. Lawrence Erlbaum, Associates, Inc., Hillsdale, NJ. * Tawfik, A.A. & Kolodner, J.L. (2016). 'Systematizing scaffolding for problem-based learning: A view from case-based reasoning'. The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based learning. 10(1). Retrieved from https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/ijpbl/vol10/iss1/6/


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kolodner, Janet Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American computer scientists American cognitive scientists Brandeis University alumni Georgia Tech faculty Boston College faculty Yale University alumni Fellows of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence American women computer scientists Women systems scientists