Jim Minstrell

Jim Minstrell, Ph.D., presently a co-owner of FACET Innovations, was a teacher of mathematics and science at the high school level for over thirty years. Overlapping with the teaching career have been ongoing careers as researcher, developer, and evaluator. Using his classroom and those of teacher colleagues, he investigates students’ understanding of the physical world and of the nature and processes of science. Early in this career he worked on the development of Project Physics and later developed the Physics Pedagogy Program to demonstrate the classroom implications of research on learning. For the past twenty years he has been developing tools (See www.Diagnoser.com) to assist teachers in diagnostic formative assessment of students’ facets of thinking and to suggest lessons specifically designed to address learners’ problematic thinking as well as learning goals. Minstrell and colleagues are also developing assessment of teacher’s knowledge and skills in use of formative assessment. He and colleagues have presented and contributed widely, including chapters for NSTA on Assessing for Learning and for the National Academy on How People Learn.