Elizabeth Bonawitz

Elizabeth Bonawitz is the David J. Vitale Associate Professor of Learning Sciences at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education. Her research bridges cognitive development and computational modeling, focusing on children’s causal reasoning, belief revision, curiosity, and social learning. She holds a Ph.D. in Brain and Cognitive Sciences from MIT (2009) and completed postdoctoral work at UC Berkeley (2013). Bonawitz’s work has been funded by the NSF, Templeton Foundation, and Jacobs Foundation, among others. She leads projects like the Talk of the Town app, designed to study parent-child interactions in real-world settings, and investigates STEM education’s cognitive mechanisms in early childhood. Awards include the James McDonnell Scholar Award and Jacobs Fellowship.

Education:

• Ph.D., MIT, Brain and Cognitive Sciences (2009)
• Postdoctoral Fellow, UC Berkeley (2009–2013)

Research Interests:

Her work examines how children’s prior beliefs interact with evidence, the role of curiosity and social factors in learning, and the design of tools like the Talk of the Town app to capture real-world learning dynamics. Her computational models explore the development of belief systems and epistemic engagement.

Grants & Projects:

• Talk of the Town App (Templeton Foundation, 2023–2025): A platform for longitudinal studies of informal learning.
• Cognitive Mechanisms of Guided Instruction (NSF, 2023–2028): Comparing query-based vs. direct instruction in STEM learning.
• Jacobs Foundation CRISP (2022–2027): Supporting postdoctoral research on belief revision and global science interventions.

Awards:

• James McDonnell Foundation Understanding Human Cognition Scholar Award
• Jacobs Early Career Research Fellowship

Labs & Teams:

Bonawitz directs the Causal Cognition and Developmental Learning (CCDL) Lab, focusing on computational and experimental methods to study children’s learning processes.