Justin Harris

About Justin Harris

What makes for a truly transformative learning experience? I believe the two key elements are self-determination and self-concept. My expertise is in designing and facilitating experiences that bring that vision to life for learners of all ages with an emphasis on early learners and working professionals. Why self-determination? Choice drives intrinsic motivation and ownership drives commitment. By structuring your learning experiences in way that allows people to take some control over their experience or, better yet, to be an active participant in constructing it, you guide people to investing and immersing themselves in the experience. Doing so helps them forge connections between what they\'re learning and the rest of their life, supporting future recall and continued practice. Why self-concept? You can never do more than what you imagine you are capable of doing. Helping a learner develop their self-concept into something that includes the work they need to do is an essential, but often overlooked, step in transitioning them into someone who will do that work well. Our ideas about what people who do a job are like also influence how we do that work. For example, if a scientist is someone who doesn\'t know things and asks questions, it\'s OK for me to do that too. I\'m also a foster dad and am always happy to talk to people about that!

Experience

1. Assistant Director of Learning

   Empow Studios

   Mar 2022 — Present · Boston, MA, US

   Child learning • Designing the learning experience for our children and the accompanying curriculum Adult learning • Creating the training for our programs staff Organizational learning • Developing our program evaluation plan • Analyzing our program data and leveraging insights to improve program design

Education

• University of Pennsylvania

  Master’s Degree, Applied Positive Psychology

  2007 — 2008

• University of California, Irvine

  Master’s Degree, Computer Science

  2003 — 2006

• Temple University

  Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Developmental Psychology

  2008 — 2014

• University of Maryland Baltimore County

  Bachelor’s Degree, Computer Science, Psychology

  1999 — 2003