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Deborah Tatar

CTL Alumnus : Cognitive Scientist

(left 8/1/2003)

Deborah Tatar is investigating whether, when, and how individual, interpersonal, and community aspects of being can interact with technologies to aid learning. Some of this work is focused on Tapped In, some of it is focused on SimCalc and some of it is focused on Wireless, Handheld machines in the context of math and science learning.

As an undergraduate at Harvard in the late 70s, she was introduced to Cognitive Science and fell in love with it. As a Senior Software Engineer at Digital Equipment Corporation and a Member of the Research Staff at Xerox PARC, she wrote a textbook on the Lisp programming language and conducted research in the design and implementation of novel educational and communication technologies. These years featured work on Colab, a seminal project in the area of Computer-Supported Collaborative Work. Her research at that time also encompassed using video-based observation as a methodology in design practice. One outcome of the research was that she realized that when exploring new technologies, we really ought to know more about how people are affected by those aspects of interaction that people in Western culture are likely to ignore or downplay because they are outside of our cultural models: interdependence, mutual attention and affect. She went off to gain the skills to pursue this issue; her thesis work in psychology at Stanford explored the effects of having a preoccupied listener on social interaction.

Currently, she is examining similar themes in distance learning situations and in the presence of handheld machines. A new theme is the transition from small to large scale educational innovations, as explored in the Scaling Up SimCalc project. In general, she is a methodological pragmatist and has used physiological, interview, survey and experimental techniques as well as observation to conduct research in a range of topics.

Education 

• Ph.D., Psychology, Stanford University, 1998
• A.B., English and American Literature and Language, Harvard University, 1981

Professional Experience 

• Cognitive Scientist, SRI International, Menlo Park, CA (2000-2003)
• Consultant/Post-doc, Stanford Poynter Project, Stanford University, Stanford, CA (1998-2000)
• Researcher, NSF Web Security Project, Stanford University, Stanford, CA (1998-2000)
• Research Co-Therapist, Shyness Clinic, Portola Valley, CA (1998)
• Research Assistant/Post-doc Department of Communication, Stanford University, Stanford, CA (1996-1997)
• Consultant, EuroParc and Xerox PARC, Cambridge England and Palo Alto CA (1991)
• Member of the Research Staff, Xerox PARC, Palo Alto, CA (1996-1998)
• Senior Software Engineer, Digital Equipment Corporation, Bedford, MA (1984-1986)
• Senior Course Developer, Digital Equipment Corporation, Nashua, NH (1983-1984)
• Administrative Assistant, Logo Group, MIT, Cambridge, MA (1981-1983)
• Research Assistant, Jamaica Plains VA Hospital, Jamaica Plains, MA (1978)

Research Areas at CTL

Learning Environments
Technology Development

Current Projects at CTL

• SimCalc (former Member)
• Tapped In^® (former Member)
• Wireless Internet Learning Devices (WILD) (former Member)

Past Projects at CTL

• Tuple Spaces as a Foundation for Collaborative Learning ended 2006
• Wireless Handhelds for Improving Reflection on Learning (WHIRL) ended 2004

Selected Publications

• Fishman, B., Penuel, W., Hegedus, S., Moniz, R., Dalton, S., Brookstein, A., Beaton, D., Tatar, D., Dickey, M., & Roschelle, J. (2009). What happens when the research ends? Factors related to the sustainability of a research-based innovation. (SimCalc Technical Report 04). Menlo Park, CA: SRI International.
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• Roschelle, J., Tatar, D., Shechtman, N., & Knudsen, J. (2008). The role of scaling up research in designing for and evaluating robustness. Educational Studies in Mathematics. 68(2).
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• Tatar, D., Roschelle, J., Knudsen, J., Shechtman, N., Kaput, J., & Hopkins, B. (2008). Scaling Up Innovative Technology-Based Math. Journal of the Learning Sciences. 17(2). 248-286.
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• Brecht, J., DiGiano, C., Patton, C., Tatar, D., Chaudhury, R., Roschelle, J., & Davis, K. (2007). Coordinating networked learning activities with a general-purpose Interface. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning.
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• Roschelle, J., Patton, C., Tatar, D. (2007). Designing networked handheld devices to enhance school learning. In M. Zelkowitz, Ed. Advances in Computers, 70, 1-60.
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• Roschelle, J., Tatar, D., Chaudhury, R., Dimitriadis, Y., Patton, C., & DiGiano, C. (2007). Ink, improvisation, and interactive engagement: Learning with tablets. Computer, 40(9), 42-48.
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• Roschelle, J., Tatar, D., Shechtman, N., Hegedus, S., Hopkins, B., Knudsen, J., & Dunn, M. (2007). Extending the SimCalc approach to grade 8 mathematics (SimCalc Technical Report 02). Menlo Park, CA: SRI International.
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• Roschelle, J., Tatar, D., Shechtman, N., Hegedus, S., Hopkins, B., Knudsen, J., & Stroter, A. (2007). Can a technology-enhanced curriculum improve student learning of important mathematics? (SimCalc Technical Report 01). Menlo Park, CA: SRI International.
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• Roschelle,J., Tatar, D. , Shechtman, N., Hegedus, S., Hopkins, B., Knudsen, J., Stroter, A. (2007). Can a Technology-enhanced Curriculum Improve Student Learning of Important Mathematics? (SimCalc Technical Report 1). Menlo Park, CA: SRI International.
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• Vahey, P., Tatar, D., & Roschelle, J. (2007). Using handheld technology to move between private and public interactions in the classroom. In M. van 't Hooft & K. Swan (Eds.). Ubiquitous computing in education: Invisible technology, visible impact (pp. 187-210). Mahway, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
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• Vahey, P., Tatar, D., & Roschelle, J. (2007). Using Handhelds to Link Private Cognition and Public Interaction. Educational Technology Magazine, v47(3) pp 13 - 16.
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• Shechtman, N., Roschelle, J., Haertel, G., Knudsen, J., & Tatar, D. (2005). Measuring student learning gains in conceptual mathematics when scaling a technological intervention for middle school mathematics. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Montreal, Canada.
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• Gray, J. & Tatar, D. (2004) Sociocultural Analysis of Online Professional Development: A Case Study of Personal, Interpersonal, Community, and Technical Aspects. In Barab, S.A., Kling, R., & Gray, J. H. (Eds.). Designing for Virtual Communities in the Service of Learning. New York: Cambridge University Press.
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• Penuel, W. R., Tatar, D., & Roschelle, J. (2004). The role of research on contexts of teaching practice in informing the design of handheld learning technologies. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 30(4), 331-348.
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• Roschelle, J., Tatar, D. G., Knudsen, J., Kaput, J. J., Hopkins, B., Shectman, N. (2004, April). Scaling up restructuring knowing: From design experiments to experimental design. Panel presentation at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA.
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• Vahey, P., Tatar, D., & Roschelle, J. (2004). Leveraging handhelds to increase student learning: Engaging middle school students with the mathematics of change. Proceedings of The Sixth International Conference of the Learning Sciences (pp. 553-560). NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
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• Roschelle, J., Vahey, P., Tatar, D., Kaput, J., & Hegedus, S. J. (2003). Five key considerations for networking in a handheld-based mathematics classroom. In N. A. Pateman & B. J. Dougherty & J. T. Zilliox (Eds.), Proceedings of the 2003 Joint Meeting of PME and PMENA (Vol. 4, pp. 71-78). Honolulu, Hawaii: University of Hawaii.
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• Tatar, D., Roschelle, J., Vahey, P., & Penuel, W. R. (2003). Handhelds Go To School: Lessons Learned. IEEE Computer, 36(9), 30-37.
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• DiGiano, C., Yarnall, L., Patton, C., Roschelle, J., Tatar, D. G., & Manley, M. (2002). Collaboration design patterns: Conceptual tools for planning for the wireless classroom. In Proceedings of WMTE 2002 (pp. 39-47).
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• Tatar, D., Gray, J. & Fusco, J. (2002) Rich Social Interaction in an Online Community for Learning. In Electronic Proceedings of the Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work. January, 2002 (Bloomington CO)
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• Horowitz, L., Krasnaperova, E., Tatar, D., & Nelson, K. (2001) The Way to Console Depends on the Goal. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 37, 49-61.
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• Pratto, F., Tatar, D. & Conway-Lanz, S. (1999) Who Gets What and Why: Determinants of Social Allocation. Political Psychology. 20, 1.
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• Reeves, B., Lang, A., Kim, E. Y. & Tatar, D. (1999). The Effects of Screen Size and Viewer Contents on Attention and Arousal. Journal of Media Psychology, 1,1.
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• Tatar, D., Foster, G. & Bobrow, D. (1991). Design for Conversation: lessons from Cognoter. International Journal of Man-Machine Studies, 34 pp. 185-209.
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• Tatar, D. (1989). Using Video as a Research and Design Tool. SigCHI Bulletin. October 1989. pp. 5-11.
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• Stefik, M., Foster, G., Bobrow, D., Tatar, D. & Lanning, S. (1987). WYSIWIS Revised: Experiences with Multi-user Interfaces. ACM Transactions on Office Information Systems, 5:2, pp 147-167 (April 1987); Proceedings of the Computer Supported Cooperative Work Conference, Austin TX (December 1986).
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• Tatar, D. A Programmer's Guide to Common LISP. 1986. Digital Press: (Bedford, MA). 337 pages.
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