Michael Martinez
Abstract
Learnable Intelligence
Deliberate attempts to enhance intelligence have met with verifiable, though usually moderate, success. The summary point is this: Intelligence is modifiable in response to experience. It seems likely, then, that intelligence could be enhanced more effectively if this goal were part of the explicit mission of education. Such a goal, combined with advancing theories of intelligence, could help to shape the design of educational experience both in schools and outside of school settings. Over time, intelligence could be cultivated more deliberately and equitably. Could this be one way to advance the two cherished educational goals-so often set in opposition and undermined-of excellence and equity?
Profile
Michael E. Martinez is Professor of Education at the University of California, Irvine, where he teaches courses on learning and cognition at both undergraduate and graduate levels. A former high school science teacher, Dr. Martinez received his Ph.D. in educational psychology from Stanford University in 1987. He subsequently joined the research staff of the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, New Jersey, where he developed new forms of computer-based testing for assessment in science, architecture, and engineering. While a faculty member at UC Irvine, Dr. Martinez was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship at the University of the South Pacific in the Fiji Islands (1994-95). He served as Program Director for the National Science Foundation (2001-02) where he managed the NSF's role in the Interagency Educational Research Initiative (IERI). His honors include appointments as a College Board Visiting Scholar (2002-03), a Mellon Visiting Scholar at Columbia University (2003-04), and the APA Presidential Commendation for Contributions to Psychology (2003).