Vera Michalchik

Senior Social Scientist

Vera Michalchik leads the informal learning practice at SRI's Center for Technology in Learning and conducts multi-method studies of STEM education projects in the United States and abroad, focusing on the social and cultural aspects of learning. Trained in educational psychology and anthropology, for 20 years she has been researching the relationships and differences between learning in and out of school, with an emphasis on social interactions that support everyday learning in family and community settings. At SRI, among other projects, she helps direct the NSF AYS Research and Evaluation Center with the CILS leadership team, studies community-based youth development programs, researches models for building partnerships between informal science institutions and schools, coordinates worldwide evaluation for education programs funded by the Intel Foundation, and develops assessments for informal learning settings. She has also been part of the research team for the NSF-funded LIFE Science of Learning Center, which explores implicit and informal learning. From 2006-2008, she served on the NSF-sponsored Committee on Learning Science in Informal Environments at the National Research Council. Vera has also done research in the area of teacher professional development for projects such as Bridging, was a co-PI on an NSF-funded chemistry visualization research and development project, ChemSense, and has studied other math and science development projects, including NanoSense, NetCalc, and SimCalc. Vera specializes in observational, ethnographic, and video analytic methods, and has taught graduate courses on qualitative research methods at Stanford.

Education 

Professional Experience 

Research Areas at CTL

Evaluation
Learning Environments

Current Projects at CTL

Past Projects at CTL

Publications