FABBS Honors Michael Lewis

Michael Lewis is University Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, and Director of the Institute for the Study of Child Development at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He is also Professor of Psychology, Education, Biomedical Engineering, and Social Work at Rutgers University. In addition he serves on the Executive Committee of the Cognitive Science Center and is an Associate of the Center for Mathematics, Science and Computer Education.

He has written and edited

To Make Every Child a Reader, Teach Them All Differently

It’s hard to believe that questions about how children learn to read could cause a war, but in the 1970’s and 80’s, that’s exactly what happened. During the “reading wars,” proponents of the phonics approach believed beginning readers needed to focus on sounding out letters and words, while whole language advocates argued for immersing children in interesting texts and focusing on meaning, with the faith that reading specific words would follow. That debate has long been settled

For Teaching Math, Two Ways Are Better Than One

If you think you’re bad at math, you’re not alone. Large percentages of adults lack confidence in their math skills; even teachers have surprisingly low ratings of their ability in the subject. But it might be possible to reverse that trend for our children. Research suggests that one straightforward approach can help students develop a clearer understanding of math: teaching multiple strategies to perform the same skill. When teachers demonstrate two ways to do subtraction or multiply

Deciphering Clues in Human Behavior

Cognitive scientist Rick Dale could be called a detective of human behavior. He is an expert at measuring how our bodies reveal clues to our thoughts and social interactions that are otherwise invisible. These cues can be subconscious and subtle, he has found – a quick eye movement, a change in the pitch of a voice, the way we hold a computer mouse – but surprisingly meaningful. For example, they can help employers figure out who will work well together on a project, and reveal how much we