Free-Choice Learning affiliated faculty and staff

Shawn Rowe

Shawn joined the staff of Sea Grant Extension and the Department of Science and Math Education at OSU after receiving his Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis. His research combines methods for studying learning outside of school with tools for analyzing how groups make sense out of what they say and do. Along with Dr. Olga Rowe, he has carried out research in history and science museums both in the US and in Ukraine. His current position combines academic work on on free-choice learning with practice-based research in the OSU Hatfield Marine Science Visitor Center in Newport, OR.

In addition to carrying out his own research on how talk and activity work together as part of visitors' meaning making and identity work, Dr. Rowe works closely with graduate students in the new Free-Choice Science Learning Ph.D., M. S., Environmental Science, and Marine Resource Management programs at OSU.

John Falk and Lynn Dierking

Dr. John H. Falk and Dr. Lynn D. Dierking, National leaders in free-choice learning and heads of the Institute for Learning Innovation in Annapolis, Maryland, jointly assume a new tenured professor position within the OSU College of Science Department of Science and Mathematics Education in the fall of 2006. Based on the OSU campus in Corvallis, they will collaborate with Free-Choice Learning faculty at HMSC to further the graduate program in free-choice learning.

Melissa Feldberg

Melissa is the Education Programs Development Coordinator at Oregon Sea Grant. She serves as a liaison between Sea Grant education programs, the university, and regional and national collaborations. Her primary role with the Free-Choice Learning Initiative is to help secure funding for projects and initiatives and to catalyze collaborations among interested parties. Melissa administers the Oregon Sea Grant Fellowship Program and helps undergraduate and graduate students to secure academic and professional opportunities in marine science, policy, and education.

Prior to her work with Sea Grant, Melissa was a federal Knauss Fellow and Staff Scientist at the GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) Program and Programs Coordinator for OSU's SMILE (Science and Math Investigative Learning Experiences) Program. Feldberg received her B. A. in Earth and Environmental Science from Wesleyan University, CT and her M. S. in Oceanography from Oregon State University.

William Hanshumaker

William Hanshumaker has been educating the general public and self-selected audiences in free-choice science education since 1977.  With more than sixteen years of experience at the Oregon Museum and Science and Industry and 12 years at OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center, Bill has had opportunities to develop, deliver, and evaluate science curricula to a variety of audiences ranging from families to school groups to Elderhostel seniors. The instructional platforms included classrooms, field trips, labs, workshops, video production, museum displays incorporating aquariums and other live animals, computer-mediated and other interactive exhibitry.  His doctoral research focuses on developing and evaluating an interactive aquarium concept utilizing PIT-tagged fish.

Bill’s personal interests include deep-sea research, SCUBA diving and mountaineering.

Olga Rowe

Olga works at OSU with both the Department of Sociology and Extended Campus teaching classes and developing her research on identity as an important part of learning in both formal and informal settings. Along with Dr. Shawn Rowe, she has conducted research in history and science museums both in the US and Ukraine. In addition to teaching classes, Olga heads up the Oregon Sea Grant Free-Choice Math project, working on integrating math content in existing exhibits at HMSC Visitors Center. She holds degrees in mathematics, social psychology and sociology.

In collaboration with Dr. Shawn Rowe, Olga has developed the class "Social Aspects of Free-Choice Learning" and offered it to graduate students from several different departments across campus, including those from the Department of Science and Math Education (Free-Choice Learning option).