Dr. Sherry Hsi received a B.S. degree in Engineering Science, Bioengineering at UC Berkeley in 1986. As an undergraduate student, she initiated a research project to use expert systems to configure communications devices with disabled children. Working with the Stanford’s Children’s Hospital and Mechanical Engineering Professor Alice Agogino, Sherry won a competitive UC president’s undergraduate fellowship and grants from the Texas Instruments and the Department of Education to implement this expert system. As a Master’s student in Mechanical Engineering at UC Berkeley she used this project as the foundation for her MS research (“ADIS: Assistive Device Interface Selector for the Disabled”), graduating in 1988. She published several peer-reviewed publications on this research: (1) Hsi, S., M. Barker, A.M. Agogino and B. Yazdani-Kachoee, “Expert Systems Applied to Rehabilitation Engineering: A New Approach to the Evaluation of Control,” Proceedings of the RESNA 10th National Conference, June 1987, pp. 148-150. (2) Hsi, S., A.M. Agogino, M. Barker and B. Yazdani-Kachoee, “ADIS: Assistive Device Interface Selector for the Disabled,” Proceedings of the ASME International Computers in Engineering Conference, Vol. 1, pp. 109-114, (July 31 – August 3, 1988, San Francisco, California). (3) Expert System ADIS: Assistive Device Interface Selector,” Proceedings of the International Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Rehabilitation Technology, (Montreal, June,1988), pp. 74-75.
After working on AI applications in industry in Japan, Sherry returned to UC Berkeley for a Ph.D. in the interdisciplinary program in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Education. She was a leader in use of multimedia in engineering education with the Synthesis Engineering Education Coalition. In particular, she worked on innovations in multimedia case studies engineering design. Peer-reviewed publications on this subject include: (1) Hsi, S. and A.M. Agogino, “Creating Excitement and Motivation in Engineering Design: Evaluating Student Participatory Experiences in Multimedia Case Studies,” Proceedings of the ED-MEDIA ‘93, World Conference on Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia (June 23-26, 1993; Orlando, Florida), AACE (Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education), pp. 255-261. (2) Hsi, S. and A.M. Agogino, “Use of Multimedia Technology in Teaching Engineering Design,” Proceedings of the HCI International ‘93 (5th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, Orlando, Florida; Aug. 8-13, 1993), pp. 778-783. (3) Hsi, S. and A.M. Agogino, “Navigational Issues in Multimedia Case Studies of Engineering Design,” Proceedings of the HCI International ‘93 (5th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, Orlando, Florida; Aug. 8-13, 1993), pp. 764-769. (4) Hsi, S. and A.M. Agogino, “The Impact and Instructional Benefit of Using Multimedia Case Studies to Teach Engineering Design,” Journal of Educational Hypermedia and Multimedia., Vol. 3, No. 3/4, 1994, pp. 351-376. (5) Hsi, S. and A.M. Agogino, “Scaffolding Knowledge Integration through Designing Multimedia Case Studies of Engineering Design,” Engineering Education for the 21st Century: Proceedings of Frontiers in Education, FIE’95, ASEE/IEEE, pp. 4d1.1-4d1.4.
A strong advocate in equity, diversity and inclusion, Sherry Hsi also researched gender differences in spatial reasoning strategies in a software application and gender differences in online discussion. Publications include: (1) Hsi, S. and A.M. Agogino,”Scaffolding Knowledge Integration through Designing Multimedia Case Studies of Engineering Design,” Engineering Education for the 21st Century: Proceedings of Frontiers in Education, FIE’95, ASEE/IEEE, pp. 4d1.1-4d1.4. (2) Agogino, A.M. and S. Hsi,” Learning Style Based Innovations to Improve Retention of Female Engineering Students in the Synthesis Coalition,” Engineering Education for the 21st Century: Proceedings of Frontiers in Education, FIE’95, ASEE/IEEE, pp. 4a2.1-4a2.4. (3) Hsi, S., M. C. Linn and J. E. Bell, “The Role of Spatial Reasoning in Engineering and the Design of Spatial Instruction,” Journal of Engineering Education, April 1997, pp. 151-158; (4) Hsi, S. & Hoadley, C. M. (1997). Productive discussion in science: Gender equity through electronic discourse. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 6(1):23-36. Dr. Hsi received her Ph.D. in 1997 with thesis title “Facilitating Knowledge Integration in Science through Electronic Discussion: the Multimedia Forum Kiosk”. She was co-advised with Alice Agogino in Mechanical Engineering and Marcia Linn in Education. She co-published a popular book in 2000 with Prof. Marcia Linn – Computers, Teachers, Peers: Science Learning Partners. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Mahwah, NJ. 2000 – which showed how technology-enabled curricula that builds on student ideas can help with lifelong learning.
After graduation, Dr. Sherry Hsi did her post-doc with the Center for Innovative Learning Technologies, then started Metacourse, Inc., which pioneered collaborative online professional development courses for teachers, faculty instructors, curriculum developers, and industry professionals. She also created communities of online learners among faculty in the U.S and in South America with Metacursos in the early 2000s.
Dr. Sherry Hsi served as Director of Online Media Research and Evaluation (2002-2010) at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, conceptualizing and leading projects in new media research including studying Exploratorium’s online visitors, creating Exploratorium’s digital learning resources, and researching mobile learning with electronic guidebooks and RFID. Publications include: (1) Hsi, S. (2003). The Electronic Guidebook: A study of user experiences mediated by nomadic web content in a museum setting. International Journal of Computer-Assisted Learning, 19(3): 308-319; (2) Hsi, S. (2008) Designing for Mobile Digital Engagement. In Digital Technologies and the Museum Experience, Edited by Loïc Tallon and Kevin Walker, pp. 125-146. AltaMira Press, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Dr. Sherry Hsi served as Research Director at the Lawrence Hall of Science at UC Berkeley (2010-2015), where she led a number of innovative education initiatives including 3D visualizations using the AR Sandbox exhibit now in hundreds of museums around the globe; and Paper mechatronics project aims to provide an extensible approach and kit that incorporates both “high” and “low” technological elements, along with learning resources that can meet the needs of novice designers and appeal to the interests and abilities of a wide range of learners. The design marries the inherent approachability and flexibility of everyday materials with graduated pathways into mechanical and computational complexity. She also co-created the informal STEM digital library Howtosmile.org with a network of museum partners; and award-winning mobile health apps for children’s hospitals supported by NIH. While at LHS with Cal alums and BEAM, she created the TechHive studio, a youth makerspace and STEM project-based leadership innovation program to expand opportunities for apprenticeship learning in engineering.
Dr. Sherry Hsi served as Senior Research Scientist (2016-2018) and then Executive Vice President (2018-2020) at the Concord Consortium. There she served in both a leadership capacity and in managing technology learning research. Her team created novel Dataflow software and IoT-enabled sensors kits for data production to enhance learning in science laboratories and computational craft materials for learning engineering.
Dr. Sherry Hsi is currently a Principal Scientist at BSCS Science Learning, a national center that develops, studies, and disseminates powerful approaches to education through research-driven innovation. She is the Principal Investigator on two the National Science Foundation projects that is exploring mobile strategies for raising awareness and public understanding of modern radio; and teach computing concepts using craft-based materials and culturally-responsive approaches to design.
“Our hope for future learners is that they grow to be more creative, scientifically literate, and independent in making sound decisions. This requires recognizing the many assets that youth bring, acknowledging different ways of working, and valuing learners’ curiosity.” – Sherry Hsi
“You can teach a lot of engineering with just a piece of paper and some cardboard.” -Sherry Hsi