Event

Talks at Twelve

The shortage of skilled labor in the digital economy and the persistence of educational disparities call for more efficient and equitable approaches to learning. Online education can provide affordable and flexible learning opportunities at scale, but this may inadvertently reinforce disparities in a population with diverse demographic, socioeconomic, and cultural backgrounds. Educational intervention science is a theory-driven approach to identify and lower barriers to achievement with behavioral and psychological interventions. Kizilcec will share findings from a series of intervention studies, including the largest educational field experiment to date, that advance our understanding of how scalable brief interventions are at promoting academic goal pursuit at a global scale.

René Kizilcec is an assistant professor in Cornell’s Department of Information Science, where he directs the Future of Learning Lab. His research is on the impact of digital technologies in formal and informal learning contexts and scalable interventions to broaden participation, raise academic performance, and reduce achievement gaps. Kizilcec is known for his work in learning analytics on understanding and supporting learners in massive open online courses. He holds a BA in philosophy and economics from University College London, and an MSc in statistics and PhD in communication from Stanford University.