Deanna Kuhn, PhD. (and team)

Deanna Kuhn is professor of psychology and education at Teachers College Columbia University.  She holds a Ph.d. from University of California, Berkeley, in developmental psychology and was previously a member of the faculty in the Graduate School of Education of Harvard University.  She is an international leader in research and curriculum design to help students develop the intellectual skills they will need for success in the 21^st century.  In addition to dozens of articles, she has published three major books, The Development of Scientific Thinking Skills, The Skills of Argument, and, most recently, Education for Thinking (Harvard University Press, 2005). 

Graduate Teaching Fellows Working at CSS With Deanna Kuhn:

 
Amanda Crowell is an advanced PhD candidate in the Cognitive Studies in Education program at Columbia University Teachers College. Her research interests focus on harnessing the power of argumentation to prepare citizens to contribute meaningfully to the democratic debate.  She holds a BA in Communication Theory from the University of Dayton, and an MA in Developmental Psychology from Boston College.  She previously worked for an organization implementing Reading First for the State of Massachusetts and worked to disseminate new cognitive development software for middle-school students.  

MaryAnne De Fuccio has taught middle school students for more than twenty years and holds an Ed.D. degree in Cognitive Studies in Education from Columbia University Teachers College.  Her research has focused on the contribution argument skills can make to school success, conflict resolution and problem solving in the present and adult lives of adolescents.  Her dissertation work on argumentation as a tool for developing intellectual skills in incarcerated adolescents was published in 2009 in the journal Applied Developmental Science. 

Valerie Khait is a beginning student in the PhD program in Cognitive Studies in Education at Columbia University Teachers College. Her research interests include motivation and its role in cognitive development. Her previous research focused on inducing optimism and eliminating hopelessness among college students. 

Wendy Moore is a PhD candidate in the Cognitive Studies program at Columbia University Teachers College. During her undergraduate work in neuropsychology at the University of Rochester and her postgraduate work at Mount Sinai Medical Center, she explored visuospatial impairment and neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's disease, cognitive processing in individuals with autism during storytelling, and human motivation. Moving to New York City, she developed a deep interest in how to apply what has been learned in the field of Cognitive Science to the challenges we face in education. Her interests include the development of critical thinking, specifically the use of evidence in crafting claims and arguments, and how best to help students develop a sense of themselves as active agents.  

David Shaenfield was awarded a PhD in 2009 from Columbia University Teachers College in the Cognitive Studies program. He also holds a Bachelors degree in Management Information Systems from the University of Texas.  He is interested in creating opportunities for adolescents to develop collaboration and argumentation skills and has several publications in this area.  He also has played a role in helping CSS in implementing their technology program. 

Shawn Yanklowitz is a PhD candidate in the Developmental Psychology program at Columbia University Teachers College. He received his Masters degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in Human Development and his Bachelors degree from the University of Texas. Shawn's research interests include the skills of argument and moral reasoning and development. He is the founder of Awaken to Justice (a social justice organization), has studied and taught in various *yeshivot *(Talmudic academies) for the last 6 years and has taught and volunteered in El Salvador, France, Israel, Senegal, Ukraine, Thailand, Ghana, Germany, and India.