Dr. Barry Fishman

Biography

Barry Fishman serves as the inaugural Chair of the Learning, Equity, Problem Solving Public Good (LEAPS) undergraduate program at the University of Michigan. His research focuses on designing transformative learning environments, the role of technology in learning, and developing assessment systems that promote engagement. He is a co-creator of GradeCraft, a game-inspired learning management system. He is a Fellow of the International Society for Learning Sciences and the International Society for Design and Development in Education, and co-authored the Obama Administration’s 2010 U.S. National Educational Technology Plan. In 2017, he was named the 'Distinguished Professor of the Year' by the Michigan Association of State Universities and received the 'Campus Technology Innovator of the Year Award' for his work with GradeCraft in 2016. He also earned the Provost’s Teaching Innovation Prize in 2010, the Pattishall Junior Faculty Research Award in 2003, and the Jan Hawkins Award for Early Career Contributions to Humanistic Research and Scholarship in Learning Technologies from the American Educational Research Association in 2001. He obtained his A.B. in English and American Literature from Brown University in 1989, an M.S. in Instructional Systems Technology from Indiana University in 1992, and a Ph.D. in Learning Sciences from Northwestern University in 1996.

Research Interests