Allan Collins

Biography

Allan Collins is a retired professor emeritus of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University. He studied teaching and learning for over 30 years and wrote extensively on related topics. His book with Richard Halverson entitled Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology: The Digital Revolution and Schooling in America was published by Teachers College Press in August 2009. Information about his upcoming speaking engagements is available through his Facebook account.

From 1991 to 1994, Collins was co-director with Jan Hawkins of the U.S. Department of Education’s Center for Technology in Education. He also served as a founding editor of the journal Cognitive Science and as first chair of the Cognitive Science Society. Recently he was chosen by French psychologists as one of 37 living scholars who have had the most impact on the field of psychology.

Collins is best known in psychology for his work on semantic memory and plausible reasoning, in artificial intelligence for his work on reasoning and intelligent tutoring systems, and in education for his work on situated learning, inquiry teaching, epistemic forms and games, design research, and cognitive apprenticeship.