Robert F. Tinker
Encyclopedia
Robert Frederick Tinker (born December 11, 1941) is an American
physicist, science educator, and education technology innovator, who pioneers constructivist approaches to education, particularly novel uses of educational technology in science. He is best known for igniting the field of probeware for education. He is also the creator, with Monica Bradsher, of the first global kids online science network, the National Geographic Kids Network, and, with Sheldon Berman, the first virtual high school. He served as a co-founder and president of the Concord Consortium from 1994-2009.
, and played a leading part in the production of sulphanilamide family of drugs and anthrimides to make inks, which had stopped being shipped from Germany during WWII.
His mother Janet died at his birth, and his father then married Adelaide Louise Camerano of Chicago, IL. As his brother, John Frank, and two sisters, Dorothy Jane and Irene Celeste, had left home, Robert grew up with much time for reading and exploration. He spent his childhood building train sets, erector sets, and explosives; and eating pastries during summer visits to grandparents who operated an Italian bakery in Chicago. Enjoying airplanes and flying with his pilot parents, he soloed as a pilot at the age of 16, and then flew long trips with his parents, pilots themselves.
His family were members of the Society of Friends, attending Wilmington Meeting. For elementary and secondary school, he went to Wilmington Friends School
, before going on to Swarthmore College
.
with a Masters degree and, with Barbara, headed South to teach at Stillman College
, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama from 1964 to 1966. There they marched on a variety of occasions, including in Selma, and worked in voter registration efforts locally.
As the first faculty member in the Physics Department, Robert gained direct teaching experience and mentored several students who went onto graduate studies in the North. With his laboratory filled with springs and oscilloscopes, he sought more teaching tools by visiting army depots to collect surplus equipment.
With his passion for education and entrepreneurial spirit, he founded a small enterprise called the Recruitment of Southern Teachers, Inc. in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, after receiving a grant from the Ford Foundation
from 1964-66 that enticed qualified teachers to spend time in Black colleges. He subsequently became a staff member of the Southern Education Project in Atlanta, Georgia from 1966–68
After a summer as research assistant at the Los Alamos National Laboratory
in 1965, while Barbara worked in a local pueblo CAP program, he returned to Stillman for an additional year.
In 1966, Robert and Barbara returned to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he did his doctoral work in experimental low-temperature physics at MIT and participated in Barbara’s tutoring and community organizing efforts. His thesis work was under the direction of professor and physicist John G. King. While he did research at MIT, he accepted a part-time instructor job at Wellesley College, to cover the high cost of tuition and the arrival of his first son, Dylan C. Tinker in 1968. He earned his Ph.D. in 1970, writing a dissertation on superfluids and evaporation properties of Helium II films.
In 1971, he accepted a position as an Assistant Professor at Amherst College
, Amherst, Massachusetts the same year his second son, Aaron Tinker, was born. While concurrently teaching physics, Robert took a freelance position as curriculum writer and consultant for the Technical Education Research Centers in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As a physicist who was also skilled at writing, he authored several grants that funded the Modular Electronics Project and the Computer and Laboratory Math Project in 1976 and became the Director of the Technology Center for TERC at its location on 8 Eliot St., Cambridge, Massachusetts. During his tenure, the organization grew from six staff to 100 full-time and successfully initiated a series of projects that marked TERC’s transition from postsecondary technical education to K-12 science.
Committed to improving physics education for all, he spent three years (1975–78) concurrently as a lecturer delivering Chautauqua Courses for college teachers held at regional field centers, a program developed by the AAAS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Association_for_the_Advancement_of_Science in 1971 funded by the National Science Foundation
. The original idea behind Chautauqua was to present a series of short courses for instructors who teach at two and four year institutions in order to give them some new information about topics they found of interest and would teach others.
In the '80's, Robert Tinker developed the idea of equipping computers with sensors (probes for real-time measurements) and of using the network for collaborative student data sharing and investigations. Working with Marcia Linn
at the University of California at Berkeley, Robert pioneered micro-based computer laboratories using probeware with Apple II
computers in middle school science classrooms. While at TERC, as Project Director and then Chief Science Officer, he also enabled the design of the first National Geographic Kids network and the Global Laboratory Project, which enabled children to engage in citizen science
, collecting and sharing local scientific data with each other and with scientists.
In 1994, Robert Tinker started the Concord Consortium http://concord.org in Concord, Massachusetts, so he could concentrate on applications of technology to improve the quality of education, such as web-based courses. His early work at Concord pioneered applications of portable computers to education and the use of the Web for inquiry-based professional development and teaching. One of these early projects created the first Virtual High School, which was spun out as an independent nonprofit that continues to be a trendsetter in online teaching. His current research includes educational applications of portable computers, the development and testing of computational models in education, and the development of “smart graphs” that are able to interact with students about important features of a graph. He is also involved in policy formation relating to educational technology and its role in improving STEM education worldwide.
Smithsonian-Siemens Award for Best Applications of Technology in Education, 1990 http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8179849.html
NECC 1999 Lifetime achievement award
Ed*Net Decade of Achievement Award
Technology and Learning Software Award of Excellence for the design of three software packages
American Association of Physics Teachers, distinguished service citation
Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science Brandwein Institute, World Technology Network
Phi Beta Kappa
Sigma Xi
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
physicist, science educator, and education technology innovator, who pioneers constructivist approaches to education, particularly novel uses of educational technology in science. He is best known for igniting the field of probeware for education. He is also the creator, with Monica Bradsher, of the first global kids online science network, the National Geographic Kids Network, and, with Sheldon Berman, the first virtual high school. He served as a co-founder and president of the Concord Consortium from 1994-2009.
Early Life and Education
Robert Tinker, the youngest of a family of four children, was born on December 11, 1941 in Wilmington, Delaware to Janet Casto Tinker of Terre Haute, Indiana and John Marlin Tinker. His father, a chemist, directed the Jackson Laboratory at DuPontDuPont
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company , commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009...
, and played a leading part in the production of sulphanilamide family of drugs and anthrimides to make inks, which had stopped being shipped from Germany during WWII.
His mother Janet died at his birth, and his father then married Adelaide Louise Camerano of Chicago, IL. As his brother, John Frank, and two sisters, Dorothy Jane and Irene Celeste, had left home, Robert grew up with much time for reading and exploration. He spent his childhood building train sets, erector sets, and explosives; and eating pastries during summer visits to grandparents who operated an Italian bakery in Chicago. Enjoying airplanes and flying with his pilot parents, he soloed as a pilot at the age of 16, and then flew long trips with his parents, pilots themselves.
His family were members of the Society of Friends, attending Wilmington Meeting. For elementary and secondary school, he went to Wilmington Friends School
Wilmington Friends School
Wilmington Friends School, the oldest existing school in Delaware, is a preschool through 12th grade Quaker school in Wilmington, Delaware. The school was founded in 1748 by members of the Wilmington Monthly Meeting of Friends ....
, before going on to Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....
.
Physics, Education, and Technology
At Swarthmore, Robert double majored in Physics and Chemistry and graduated with High Honors in 1963. There he met Barbara Ann Perkins, who was participating in student civil rights actions. They were married in the Swarthmore Friends Meeting in February 1964. Robert finished his graduate studies early from Stanford UniversityStanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
with a Masters degree and, with Barbara, headed South to teach at Stillman College
Stillman College
-Marching Band:The school's marching band is named the Blue Pride Marching Band.In February 2010, Stillman College dedicated the brand new facility, the Thomas Lyle Band Center, named in honor of former band director Thomas Lyle, in conjunction with the Wynn Fine Arts Center.Organizations include:...
, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama from 1964 to 1966. There they marched on a variety of occasions, including in Selma, and worked in voter registration efforts locally.
As the first faculty member in the Physics Department, Robert gained direct teaching experience and mentored several students who went onto graduate studies in the North. With his laboratory filled with springs and oscilloscopes, he sought more teaching tools by visiting army depots to collect surplus equipment.
With his passion for education and entrepreneurial spirit, he founded a small enterprise called the Recruitment of Southern Teachers, Inc. in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, after receiving a grant from the Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
from 1964-66 that enticed qualified teachers to spend time in Black colleges. He subsequently became a staff member of the Southern Education Project in Atlanta, Georgia from 1966–68
After a summer as research assistant at the Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory, managed and operated by Los Alamos National Security , located in Los Alamos, New Mexico...
in 1965, while Barbara worked in a local pueblo CAP program, he returned to Stillman for an additional year.
In 1966, Robert and Barbara returned to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he did his doctoral work in experimental low-temperature physics at MIT and participated in Barbara’s tutoring and community organizing efforts. His thesis work was under the direction of professor and physicist John G. King. While he did research at MIT, he accepted a part-time instructor job at Wellesley College, to cover the high cost of tuition and the arrival of his first son, Dylan C. Tinker in 1968. He earned his Ph.D. in 1970, writing a dissertation on superfluids and evaporation properties of Helium II films.
In 1971, he accepted a position as an Assistant Professor at Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
, Amherst, Massachusetts the same year his second son, Aaron Tinker, was born. While concurrently teaching physics, Robert took a freelance position as curriculum writer and consultant for the Technical Education Research Centers in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As a physicist who was also skilled at writing, he authored several grants that funded the Modular Electronics Project and the Computer and Laboratory Math Project in 1976 and became the Director of the Technology Center for TERC at its location on 8 Eliot St., Cambridge, Massachusetts. During his tenure, the organization grew from six staff to 100 full-time and successfully initiated a series of projects that marked TERC’s transition from postsecondary technical education to K-12 science.
Committed to improving physics education for all, he spent three years (1975–78) concurrently as a lecturer delivering Chautauqua Courses for college teachers held at regional field centers, a program developed by the AAAS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Association_for_the_Advancement_of_Science in 1971 funded by the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
. The original idea behind Chautauqua was to present a series of short courses for instructors who teach at two and four year institutions in order to give them some new information about topics they found of interest and would teach others.
In the '80's, Robert Tinker developed the idea of equipping computers with sensors (probes for real-time measurements) and of using the network for collaborative student data sharing and investigations. Working with Marcia Linn
Marcia Linn
Marcia C. Linn is a professor of development and cognition specializing in education in mathematics, science, and technology in the at the University of California, Berkeley. Since 1970 she has made significant contributions to the understanding of how computers and technology can be used to...
at the University of California at Berkeley, Robert pioneered micro-based computer laboratories using probeware with Apple II
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
computers in middle school science classrooms. While at TERC, as Project Director and then Chief Science Officer, he also enabled the design of the first National Geographic Kids network and the Global Laboratory Project, which enabled children to engage in citizen science
Citizen science
Citizen science is a term used for the systematic collection and analysis of data; development of technology; testing of natural phenomena; and the dissemination of these activities by researchers on a primarily avocational basis...
, collecting and sharing local scientific data with each other and with scientists.
In 1994, Robert Tinker started the Concord Consortium http://concord.org in Concord, Massachusetts, so he could concentrate on applications of technology to improve the quality of education, such as web-based courses. His early work at Concord pioneered applications of portable computers to education and the use of the Web for inquiry-based professional development and teaching. One of these early projects created the first Virtual High School, which was spun out as an independent nonprofit that continues to be a trendsetter in online teaching. His current research includes educational applications of portable computers, the development and testing of computational models in education, and the development of “smart graphs” that are able to interact with students about important features of a graph. He is also involved in policy formation relating to educational technology and its role in improving STEM education worldwide.
Awards and Affiliations
World Technology Award, 2003Smithsonian-Siemens Award for Best Applications of Technology in Education, 1990 http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8179849.html
NECC 1999 Lifetime achievement award
Ed*Net Decade of Achievement Award
Technology and Learning Software Award of Excellence for the design of three software packages
American Association of Physics Teachers, distinguished service citation
Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science Brandwein Institute, World Technology Network
Phi Beta Kappa
Sigma Xi