Fischer studies cognitive and emotional development and learning from birth through adulthood, combining analysis of the commonalities across people with the diversity of pathways of learning and development. His work focuses on the organization of behavior and the ways it changes, especially with development, learning, emotion, and culture. In dynamic skill theory, he provides a single framework to analyze how organismic and environmental factors contribute to the rich variety of developmental change and learning across and within people. His research includes students’ learning and problem solving, brain development, concepts of self in relationships, cultural contributions to social-cognitive development, early reading skills, emotions, child abuse, and brain development. One product of his research is a single scale for measuring learning, teaching, and curriculum across domains, which is being used to assess and coordinate key aspects of pedagogy and assessment in schools. Fischer has been visiting professor or visiting scholar at University of Geneva (Switzerland), University of Pennsylvania, University of Groningen (Netherlands), Nanjing Normal University (China), and the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (Stanford). He is the author of “Dynamic Development of Action, Thought, and Emotion” in the Handbook of Child Psychology (Volume 1), Human Behavior and the Developing Brain, Mind, Brain, and Education in Reading Disorders, and a dozen other books, as well as over 200 scientific articles. Leading an international movement to connect biology and cognitive science to education, he is founding president of the International Mind, Brain, and Education Society and founding editor of the new journal Mind, Brain, and Education.

Degrees

• Ph.D., Harvard University

• Battro, A.M., Fischer, K.W., & Lena, P. (Eds.) Visual learning and the brain: Lessons from dyslexia. Mind, Brain, and Education, 1(3), 127-137. (2008)
• Fischer, K.W., & Immordino-Yang, M.H. The fundamental importance of the brain and learning for education. In Jossey-Bass reader on the brain and learning (pp. xvii-xi). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. (2008)
• Coch, D., Dawson, G., & Fischer, K. W. (Eds.). Human behavior, learning, and the developing brain: Atypical development (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford. (2007)
• Coch, D., Fischer, K. W., & Dawson, G. (Eds.). Human behavior, learning, and the developing brain: Normal development (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford. (2007)
• Fischer, K. W., & Fusaro, M.. Using student interests to motivate learning. In R. P. Fink & J. Samuels (Eds.), Inspiring success: Reading interest and motivation in an age of high-stakes testing (pp. 62-74). Newark DE: International Reading Association. (2007)
• Fischer, K. W., Bernstein, J. H., & Immordino-Yang, M. H. (Eds.). Mind, brain, and education in reading disorders. Cambridge U.K.: Cambridge University Press. (2007)
• Fischer, K. W., Daniel, D., Immordino-Yang, M. H., Stern, E., Battro, A., & Koizumi, H.. Why Mind, Brain, and Education? Why Now? Mind, Brain, and Education, 1(1), 1-2. (2007)
• Fischer, K. W., & Bidell, T. R.. Dynamic development of action, thought, and emotion. In R. M. Lerner (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology. Vol 1: Theoretical models of human development(6th ed., pp. 313-399 ). New York: Wiley. (2006)
• Schwartz, M. S., & Fischer, K. W.. Useful metaphors for tackling problems in teaching and learning. About Campus, 11(1), 2-9. (2006)

• President, Jean Piaget Society (1988)
• Fellow, American Psychological Association, American Psychological Society
• Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences

• Founding Editor, Mind, Brain, & Education Journal (2006-present)
• Founding President, International Mind, Brain, and Education Society (2004-present)
• Editorial Board, Developmental Science (1996-present)
• Editor, Series in Cognitive and Perceptual Development, Cambridge University Press (1994-present)
• Editorial Board, Adult Development (1992-present)
• Founding President, International Mind, Brain, and Education Society

• Psychological Antecedents of Agression in Childhood
  
• Brain-Behavior Relations in Child Development; Development of Self and Consciousness
  

• How the Ross Cultural-History Curriculum Affects Students’ Learning and Development: Phase 1, Meringoff Family Foundation Inc, (2010-2011)
  Globalization permeates every aspect of life, transforming economic, social, political, and cultural conventions. Education must reorient to meet the changing societal needs from globalization. To function effectively, tomorrow’s citizens, workers, and families need a global orientation, including an understanding that local experiences are shaped by global forces, a flexible and culturally sensitive analytic capacity, and a global identity. Education must shift from instilling a narrow, often ethnocentric outlook in students to promoting global consciousness. With its spiral cultural history curriculum and global school culture, the Ross Schools aim to nurture global consciousness in their students. The proposed research analyzes learning sequences in Ross students and alumni for three domains central to global consciousness – community and conflict, global consciousness, and engagement. Over the next two years, we will interview approximately 200 students at the Ross School and one or two other schools (to be determined). In the first phase of the research, we will analyze interviews of 51 Ross School students and alumni, coding their responses for content and complexity. The result will be hypothesized learning sequences that describe how their thinking and problem-solving develop between fourth grade and adulthood. This analysis provides a framework for understanding learning in these domains and improving curriculum design and instruction. The research will eventually produce a new kind of assessment, which is based in students’ concepts, arguments, and activities similar to what they do in learning environments such as schools (not high-stakes, mass-produced tests). This kind of assessment can be used by teachers and students to shape learning.

• H-156   Doctoral Research Practicum: Research Schools (Yearlong 2012 - 2013)
• HT-100   Cognitive Development, Education, and the Brain: Theory and Practice (Spring 2013)

• Curriculum Vitae (pdf)

• Adult Development
• Child Abuse
• Child Development
• Cognitive Development
• Early Childhood Development
• Emotional Development
• Learning Disorders
• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Reading Development
• Research Methods

A press release on Kurt Fischer receiving the transforming education through neuroscience award.

An article on Fischer being named chairperson of the Appalachian Regional Education Laboratory governing board

Article on how Professor Fischer hopes to bridge the gap between research and practice, and build a new foundation for promoting strong, useful educational research.

Video clips on Fischer addressing how researchers go beyond offering only biological descriptions of learning and development