User:Dan Suthers

Dan Suthers is Professor in the department of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where he directs the Laboratory for Interactive Learning Technologies (http://lilt.ics.hawaii.edu).

Dr. Suthers obtained his Bachelor of Fine Arts (1979) from Kansas City Art Institute, studied Psychology at the graduate level at Northern Arizona University, 1982-1985, and then earned M.S. (1988) and Ph.D. (1993) degrees in Computer Science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Subsequently he worked at the Learning Research and Development Center of the University of Pittsburgh before coming to the University of Hawai`i.

Dr. Suthers' research is generally concerned with cognitive, social and computational perspectives on designing and evaluating software for learning, collaboration, and community. This work began as studies of "representational guidance," which examined how software interfaces that enable learners to construct, examine, and manipulate representations of their evolving knowledge affect discourse between learners and learning outcomes. His current focus is on social affordances--how software interfaces influence collaborative learning and problem solving processes in small groups and the formation of relationships and social capital in online communities. In addition to selected laboratory studies, he has worked with diverse applications including middle to high school geosciences, post-secondary computer science distance education (via asynchronous learning networks), collaborative professional development of adult educators engaged in systemic reform, and informal science education.

He is presently associate executive editor for the journal Research and Practice in Technology Enhanced Learning, associate editor for the International Journal of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning, and on the editorial boards of the Journal of the Learning Sciences and Interactive Learning Environments. He is also conference committee chair and Computer Supported Collaborative Learning community co-chair in the International Society of the Learning Sciences.