Peter Fairweather

Peter Fairweather is a Research Staff Member in the Learning Research and Technologies Department at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center where he investigates adaptive learning systems for individuals, groups, and organizations.

An elementary school teacher beset with questions, Fairweather earned a doctorate in reading and language (psycholinguistics) while puzzling about the processes people use to understand text and what happens as these processes evolve or break down. While exploring models of text comprehension, he served on the faculties of Northwestern University and the University of Texas, extending this thread of research to include cognitive simulation. Seduced by more available resources in industry, he held a number of posts in learning technologies companies, working on device and process simulations with both commercial and academic application. He has also designed interactive elementary and middle school material offered by several publishers. He is the co-author of Computer-based Instruction: Design and Development, a popular instructional design text that by now both he and his co-author have vigorously repudiated. He has published over 50 papers in the area of learning technologies, assistive technologies, and accessibility, and has been awarded several patents in these areas. Currently he works with a team on the problem of how to affordably and efficiently develop simulations that infer individuals' learning status and then adapt appropriately.


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Last updated 15 Jun 2006

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