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Nora Sabelli

Senior Science Advisor

Nora H. Sabelli has a Ph.D. in Chemistry (Theoretical Organic) from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina for research performed at the University of Chicago. Prior to joining SRI International in 2001, Dr. Sabelli was Senior Program Director for the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Directorate for Education and Human Resources, and worked on many NSF-wide and cross-agency initiatives related to education, technology and science, such as Learning and Intelligent Systems and Interagency Education Research Initiatives.

At the NSF, she focused on the support of research on the use of current scientific advances and technological opportunities to help provide quality science and mathematics education for all students. While at the NSF, Dr. Sabelli worked on education issues at the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), which serves as a source of scientific and technological analysis and judgment for the President with respect to major policies, plans, and programs of the Federal Government.

In addition to her directorship at the NSF, Dr. Sabelli's former positions include senior research scientist and assistant director for education at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and associate professor of chemistry at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has authored many research publications in her field and has co-directed research theses.

Dr. Sabelli is focusing on the Center's mission and strategies to improve science education through innovation and inquiry.

Education 

• Ph.D., Chemistry (Theoretical Organic), University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1964
• M.S., Theoretical Chemistry, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1958

Professional Experience 

• Senior Science Advsiors, Center for Technology and Learning, SRI International, Menlo Park, CA (2004-present)
• Co-Director of Center for Technology and Learning, SRI International, Menlo Park, CA (2002-2004)
• Senior Research Fellow, SYRCE (Systemic Research Collaborative for Education in Science, Mathematics and Technology), University of Texas Austin, TX on sabbatical leave from NSF (2000-2001)
• Senior Program Director, National Science Foundation, Education and Human Resources (EHR) (1995-2001)
• Program Director, Applications of Advanced Technologies, Directorate for Education and Human Resources, National Science Foundation (1992-1995)
• Senior Research Scientist, National Center for Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1989-1993)
• Assistant Director for Education, National Center for Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1989-1992)
• Associate Professor of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL (1975-1992)

Current Projects at CTL

• Chemistry Facets: Formative Assessment to Improve Student Understanding in Chemistry (Staff)

Past Projects at CTL

• Center for Innovative Learning Technologies (CILT) (Leader) ended 2003
• Information Technology Research and Education, Teaching and Learning Workshops (Leader) ended 2003
• Learning in Informal and Formal Environments (LIFE) Center (Leader) ended 2009
• Nanoscience: A Vehicle for a Goals-Oriented Science Education (Leader) ended 2007
• NanoSense (Leader) ended 2008

Publications

• Penuel, W. R., Frank, K. A., Fishman, B. J., Sabelli, N., & Cheng, B. (2009). Expanding the Scope of Implementation Research in Education to Inform Design. Menlo Park, CA: SRI International.
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• "Complex Systems and Educational Change: Towards a new research agenda," Jay Lemke and Nora Sabelli, Educational Philosophy and Theory, Vol. 40, No. 1, 2008.
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• La Educación en Ciencia y Tecnología comp derecho social en la economía del conocimiento." Gabriel Baum, Adolfo Nemirovsky y Nora Sabelli. pp. 133-146 in "Propuestas interpretativas para una economía basada en el conocimiento. Argentina, Colombia, México, Estados Unidos, Canadá", Federico Stezano y Gabriel Vélez Cuartas, Editors. 1st Edition January 2008. ISBN 978-84-96571-58-7
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• Sabelli, N. (2008) APPLYING WHAT WE KNOW TO IMPROVE TEACHING AND LEARNING. Report prepared for the Carnegie/IAS Commission on STEM Education. SRI Internationa, Menlo Park, CA.
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• Belk, J.J., Cormia, R., Dang, V., Drane, D., Krajcik, J., Richey, M., Sabelli, N., & Stevens, S. (2007). A System View of Nanoscience Education.
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• Cormia, R., Dang, V., Drane, D., Krajcik, J., Richey, M., Sabelli, N., & Stevens, S. (2007). Nanoscience: A Vehicle for a Goals-Oriented Science Education, Final Report.
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• Bransford, J., Barron, B., Pea, P., Meltzoff, A., Kuhl, P., Bell, P., Stevens, R., Schwartz, D., Vye, N., Reeves, B., Roschelle, R., & Sabelli, N. "Foundations and opportunities for an interdisciplinary science of learning" (2005). In. K. Sawyer (Ed.) Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences.
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• Bransford, J., Vye, N., Stevens, R., Kuhl, P., Schwartz, D., Bell, P., Meltzoff, A., Barron, B., Pea, R., Reeves, B., Roschelle , J. & Sabelli , N. "Learning Theories and Education: Toward a Decade of Synergy" (2005). In P. Alexander & P. Winne (Eds.), Handbook of Educational Psychology (Second Edition). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
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• Means, B., Roschelle, R., Penuel, W., Sabelli, N., & Haertel, G. (2004). Technology’s contribution to teaching and policy: Efficiency, standardization, or transformation? In R. E. Floden (Ed.), Review of Research in Education (Vol. 27). Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.
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• Sabelli, N. H., & Pea, R. (2004). Six years of knowledge networking in learning sciences and technologies. Center for Innovative Learning Technologies (CILT) final report. Menlo Park, CA: SRI International.
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• Sabelli, N., & DiGiano, C. (2004). Information technology research and education, teaching, and learning report on two NSF-funded workshops. Menlo Park: SRI International.
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• Nora H. Sabelli. "Policy and Planning Requirements for Designing Rigorous Evaluations of Learning Technology", in Building a Foundation for a Decade of Rigorous, Systematic Educational Technology Research, Barbara Means & Geneva Haertel (Eds.). Teachers College Press, (2003)
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• Jere Confrey, Jay Lemke, Jill Marshall and Nora Sabelli (2002), "Report on a Conference on Models of Implementation Research within Science and Mathematics Instruction in Urban Schools".
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• Jere Confrey, Nora H. Sabelli and Karen Sheingold, A Framework for Quality in Educational Technology Programs, Educational Technology, Vol.42, 7-20, 2002.
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• Nora Sabelli, Information Technology Research and Education, Teaching and Learning. Draft Report of an NSF-funded Workshop, March 4-5, 2002
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• Nora H. Sabelli. "The Goals behind the Rhetoric: Why We Don’t Always Talk about Technology When We Talk about Technology in Education", iMP Magazine of Information Impacts. June 2001. iMP is published by CISP, an affiliated organization of the ACM Digital Library.
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• Sabelli, N., & Dede, C. (2001). Integrating educational research practice: Reconceptualizing goals and policies: How to make what works, work for us?
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• M. Patricia Morse and Nora H. Sabelli, "Role of Technology in Student-Scientist Partnerships: Perspective from the National Science Foundation", in Internet Links for Science Education, K.C. Cohen, Editor. Plenum Press, 1997.
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• Nora H. Sabelli, "On Using Technology for Understanding Science," Interactive Learning Environments, Vol. 4, 195-198 (1994).
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