Professional Bio

Heather Toomey Zimmerman is an Assistant Professor of Education at the Pennsylvania State University. Heather is a learning scientist who uses ethnographic, interaction analysis, and design-based research methods to study the cognitive and cultural resources used by youth as they move across social settings. By employing these methods, she analyzes how multiple learning experiences contribute to children’s understanding of scientific knowledge, practices, and career trajectories.

Heather works to understand the processes that families and youth use to learn about science in homes, museums, and community settings. She has a background in cognition and development, designing for learning in museums and informal institutions, science communication, youth and digital technology, and understanding gender issues as they intersect with STEM disciplines.

Prior to completing her doctoral work, Heather earned an M.A. in Museology, and she worked for Pacific Science Center, the Burke Museum of Natural History, and the Rochester Museum & Science Center.

Expertise & Interest Descriptors

everyday cognition, youth and family development, learning in museums and informal institutions, youth and emerging technologies, formative evaluation and design-based research, women and science

Planned Conference Participation

Attending :: CAISE Forum: Intersections between the learning sciences and informal science education
July 13-17, 2009

Attending :: Building Capacity and Collaboration at the Intersection of the Learning Sciences and Informal Science Education
August 6- 7, 2009