Reading can transport folks around the globe — and backwards and forwards in time.
That’s what Danielle McNamara has helped tens of hundreds of scholars do.
McNamara is the chief director and professor of the newly fashioned Learning Engineering Institute. Her groundbreaking work in cognition, studying comprehension, writing and educational technology has earned her Arizona State University’s highest school recognition — the excellence of Regents Professor for 2026.
“I was surprised — very surprised,” mentioned McNamara, director of the Science of Learning and Educational Technology, or SoLET, Lab. “It’s an amazing honor.”
McNamara has spent the final 30 years pioneering applied sciences to assist college students who battle with studying and writing — not college students who don’t know methods to learn, however those that have issue comprehending what they’ve learn; and never college students who can’t write, however those that battle to construction and set up their concepts.
Her work has centered totally on college students navigating the pathway from highschool into school, but additionally extends from early readers studying to grasp to school college students studying to make sense of a number of sources of data.
“Students don’t struggle to read and write because they are not intelligent,” she mentioned. “They often just don’t have the background in reading and writing because of where they are from. And they don’t have the knowledge to fill in the gaps.”
“That’s why they are struggling,” she mentioned. “And that’s why we devised strategy training, where they learn how to use comprehension and writing strategies.”
McNamara, a professor in ASU’s Department of Psychology, has developed 10 education-related applied sciences which have been utilized by researchers, educators and college students alike.
Among them is Coh-Metrix, which she co-developed with Art Graesser. The system analyzes texts utilizing greater than 100 measures of phrases, syntax, semantics and textual content cohesion.
“These technologies are all grounded in theories and rigorous research on learning, cognition and motivation,” mentioned Graesser, a professor in the Department of Psychology and the Institute for Intelligent Systems on the University of Memphis, Tennessee.
The street to turning into a Regents Professor
McNamara is a global professional in cognitive and studying sciences, comprehension, writing, pure language processing, clever tutoring and synthetic intelligence in schooling.
She has authored six books on studying comprehension, discourse and writing.
Her path to analysis was not a direct one however fairly a circuitous route the place she picked up levels in linguistics, medical psychology and cognitive science.
“I always thought that I’d become a clinical psychologist, but I discovered I was not very good at it,” mentioned McNamara, who was born in Kansas and is the daughter of two medical psychologists. “I really started thinking deeply about the mind and how it works. That’s when I went into cognitive science.”
“My first career after getting my linguistics degree was in teaching English as a second language. This is when I first became interested in education, but I didn’t have formal training in educational sciences per se,” she mentioned.
Her first two grants got here from the McDonnell Foundation in 1993 and 1996. The program was known as Cognitive Studies for Educational Practice.
“I would say my education on education happened there,” she mentioned. “I was surrounded by young scholars like me and mentored by leaders in the application of cognitive science to educational practice. Across my career, I was constantly moving more and more toward the things I had been interested in from the start, helping learners learn.”
McNamara and her crew have developed a number of clever tutoring programs, together with iSTART and Writing Pal, to assist studying comprehension and writing instruction. Research on these applied sciences has explored methods to enhance scholar engagement via game-based follow, enhanced adaptability and real-world classroom use.
She has additionally led the event and testing of a number of pure language processing instruments used in studying environments involving essay writing, studying comprehension, second-language studying and creativity.
Annie Hale says McNamara leads with curiosity, integrity and a relentless concentrate on evidence-based options.
“What stands out most is her ability to translate complex cognitive science into real educational innovations that educators and students can use,” mentioned Hale, who labored with McNamara on varied analysis collaborations and institutional initiatives. “I grow as a scholar every time I work with Danielle on a project; she pushes my thinking and challenges me to connect theory, evidence and impact.
In 2023, McNamara established the Learning Engineering Institute, which brings together experts in learning sciences, computer science and instructional design to advance learning-focused research and development.
Learning engineering is an emerging field that integrates learning sciences, data science and technology to design, implement and assess effective learning experiences.
In 2024, McNamara received a $3.5 million grant from the Institute of Education Sciences to explore AI-enabled learning experiences.
The project integrates transdisciplinary and cross-industry collaborations, aligning with ASU’s charter and McNamara’s approach to research.
“As a member of her team, Danielle is the definition of a Regents Professor,” mentioned Tracy Arner, who has labored in the Learning Engineering Institute for 5 years. “I have witnessed firsthand her visionary leadership as the founding executive director, guiding a cross-enterprise institute dedicated to supporting student success largely through the design, development and evaluation of learning technologies leveraging the principles of learning engineering.”
What’s subsequent?
McNamara is now centered on scaling applied sciences to boost studying.
The objective is to use the science of studying and synthetic intelligence to enhance the effectiveness of educational technology at scale.
“We want to leverage transformative learning technologies to provide flexible environments where students can learn and practice in any setting — even while commuting,” she mentioned. “And to harness the power of large language models to provide immediate, adaptive feedback across domains and contexts.”
“My belief is that learning should be personalized to the learner, the context and their goals,” McNamara mentioned. “That’s something that can happen in a small classroom or one-on-one — it’s been done for thousands of years. But, it’s not always possible at scale.”
“That is the goal,” she mentioned. “To bring personalized learning to thousands of learners, at scale.”