Expertise

Topics:  Human-Computer Interaction, Implementation Science, Future of Education, Anthropology, Digital Archaeology

Industries: Public Policy, Education/Learning, Research

Lauren Herckis is an anthropologist at Carnegie Mellon University who specializes in faculty culture and the use of technology in higher education. Her field research applies anthropological and archaeological methods and theory to analyze human engagement with the material world. Dr. Herckis is interested in implementation science, human diversity (especially in urban contexts), the pedagogical training of future faculty, the politics of praxis in fieldwork, chaîne opératoire, and political economy in urban growth. Her research in Latin America interrogates assumptions about cultural heterogeneity in the context of long-term urban growth, and highlights the ways that social networks dynamically impact technical choices and the development of informal economies. Under the aegis of Carnegie Mellon's Simon Initiative, Dr. Herckis' current projects explore the intersection of campus culture, technological change, and effective teaching at the college level. Her research informs policymaking, shapes the development of learning technologies, and illuminates aspects of organizational culture and policy which affect teaching practice.

Media Experience

Why Professors Doubt Education Research  — EdSurge
Lauren Herckis, an anthropologist at Carnegie Mellon University who has studied the culture of ancient Mayan cities, is turning her focus closer to home these days—exploring why professors try new teaching approaches, or decide not to.

Failure to embrace new teaching techniques not just about fear of embarrassment  — Times Higher Education
There are many reasons why academics shun new pedagogical styles, say Lauren Herckis, Richard Scheines and Joel Smith

Innovation and the Fear of Trying  — Inside Higher Ed
Last week in Inside Higher Ed, reporter David Matthews of The Times Higher Education characterized “as a surprising conclusion” the work of Carnegie Mellon University anthropologist Lauren Herckis that a major barrier to instructional innovation and technology utilization in higher education is that faculty “are simply too afraid of looking stupid in front of their students to try something new.”

‘Fear of Looking Stupid’  — Inside Higher Ed
Lauren Herckis was brought in to Carnegie Mellon University to understand why, despite producing leading research into how students learn best, the institution had largely failed to adopt its own findings.

How to teach reason properly  — Times Higher Education
To defend the values of reason from political attack we need to be more discriminating about the claims made in its name, says John Hendry