Jose Mestre

My research interest focuses on the organization and deployment of physics knowledge by experts and novices. In my research, I address questions such as: What is the mechanism by which a beginner develops expertise in a complex domain such as physics? Why is it that the problem solving skills for traditional textbook physics problems often develop faster than conceptual understanding? Why is appropriate transfer of knowledge, even across the same domain and across remarkably similar contexts, so difficult to achieve?

In the future, I plan to research the application of experimental techniques common in cognitive science (e.g., eye-tracking, fMRI, ERP) to learn more fine-grained information about the nature of expertise, learning, and problem solving in the sciences.

Education:
Ph.D., Physics, University of Massachusetts, 1979
B.S., Physics, University of Massachusetts, 1974

Key Professional Appointments :

• Professor, Educational Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2005
• Professor, Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2005
• Professor, Physics, University of Massachusetts, 1993-2005
• Associate Dean, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Massachusetts, 2003-2003
• Visiting Staff Associate, LRDC, University of Pittsburgh, 1992-1993
• Associate Professor, Physics, University of Massachusetts, 1987-1993
• Visiting Assistant, Physics, University of Massachusetts, 1981-1987

Activities and Honors:

• Technical Advisory Committee, Graduate Record Examination, Educational Testing Service, 1999- present

Selected Publications:

• Dufresne, R., Mestre, J., Thaden-Koch, T., Gerace, W., & Leonard, W. (2005). Knowledge representation and coordination in the transfer process. In J. Mestre (Ed.), Transfer of learning from a modern multidisciplinary perspective (pp. 155-215). Greenwich, CT: Information Age.
• Etkina, E., Mestre, J. & O'Donnell, A. (in press). The impact of the cognitive revolution on science learning and teaching. In J. .M Royer (Ed.), The cognitive revolution in educational psychology. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
• Dufresne, R., Mestre, J., Hart, D. & Rath, K. (2002). The effect of web-based homework on test performance in large enrollment introductory physics courses. Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching, 21(3), 229-251.
• Mestre, J. P. (2002). Probing adults' conceptual understanding and transfer of learning via problem posing. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 23, 9-50.
• Mestre, J. & Cocking, R. (Eds.). (2000). Special issue on the science of learning. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, Vol. 21(1).