Education Revolution: Christine Reich Of TERC On Innovative Approaches That Are Transforming Education
The environments we create don’t just shape what people learn. They shape what people believe is possible for themselves.
As a part of this series, we had the pleasure to interview Christine Reich.
Christine Reich, PhD is an educator, nonprofit executive, and science education researcher dedicated to advancing STEM learning for all. As the President of TERC, she is leading the organization in pursuing research that transforms STEM learning and expands opportunities for all learners — across both formal and informal educational settings. She also serves as an Adjunct Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and as President of the Board for the Visitor Studies Association. With over 25 years of experience in museums and social science research, Christine brings a deep commitment to designing learning experiences that are evidence-based, inclusive, and impactful.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
One of the biggest changes in my thinking is what I believe our responsibility is as educators. Early on, I thought my job was to ensure that learners acquired new content and skills. Today, I think our responsibility is bigger. We help shape not only what people learn, but what they believe they are capable of achieving. That shift in my thinking came from one of the first research studies I conducted, which examined how people with disabilities experienced an interactive science museum exhibit.
One visitor was blind and had never used a computer before. Despite that, she navigated the experience with remarkable ease. At the end, she smiled and told us that, “just by listening and touching the objects, I was able to learn on my own — that’s a really great feeling.” What stayed with me wasn’t just what she learned. It was that she had discovered something about herself — she was capable of exploring science independently.
Another participant was Deaf, an experienced computer user, and deeply interested in the exhibit. But because the exhibit’s scrolling text couldn’t be paused, he repeatedly missed information while examining the exhibit. Eventually he became frustrated and disengaged. It was clear that he wasn’t simply disappointed with the exhibit — he felt excluded.
That study taught me three lessons that have shaped my career. First, small design decisions profoundly impact who is able to learn. Second, involving learners in the design process is one of the best ways to create experiences that truly work for everyone. And finally, learning is never purely cognitive; it’s deeply emotional. The environments we create don’t just shape what people learn. They shape what people believe is possible for themselves.
Experience like this, and many others, have made me increasingly convinced that we must create learning environments that help people discover they are capable of learning, solving problems, and contributing to STEM. That belief has guided my career and is central to TERC’s work.
Can you briefly share with our readers why you are an authority in the education field?
My career has enabled me to work with many kinds of learning environments — museums, K-12 schools, higher education, gaming, and public media. I’ve had the opportunity to lead nationally funded research projects and the design of internationally touring museum exhibitions, taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, served as Chief Learning Officer at the Museum of Science in Boston, led Knology, and now serve as President of TERC — an organization that has been advancing STEM learning through research and innovation for more than sixty years.
I’m also proud to say that The Obama White House recognized me as a Champion of Change for the inclusion of people with disabilities in STEM learning. But honestly, what makes me feel most qualified is that I’ve spent almost three decades listening to learners and educators, gathering data, reflecting on what I’ve learned, and continuously improving learning experiences.
These experiences have emphasized for me that the most meaningful educational innovations rarely begin with new technologies or new curricula. Instead, they begin by developing a deep understanding of learners — their strengths, their interests, their lived experiences, and the barriers they encounter. When we truly understand learners, we can design learning environments that allow many more people to succeed.
Can you identify some areas of the US education system that are going really great?
I am truly excited for the widened lens society now has for where and when learning takes place, and the recognition that education extends across a person’s entire life. For a long time, we tended to think about education primarily through the lens of schools. Schools remain incredibly important, but learning happens across an entire ecosystem including museums, libraries, afterschool programs, community organizations, online spaces, and at home. Adults continue learning throughout their careers as technologies evolve and new opportunities emerge. Learning is life-wide and life-deep.
That shift in perspective allows us to ask new questions about where learning is happening, where it isn’t, and how different organizations can work together to create experiences that no single institution could provide on its own. Some of the most exciting innovations I’m seeing today are happening because schools, community organizations, museums, researchers, libraries, employers, and technology partners are beginning to work together in new ways.
I’m also encouraged that our understanding of learning itself has become much more sophisticated. We know far more today about the importance of motivation, identity, curiosity, and belonging than we did even twenty years ago. Increasingly, educators recognize that success isn’t simply about helping students acquire knowledge. It’s about creating learning environments where people feel challenged, supported, and inspired to continue learning throughout their lives. That gives me hope that we can redesign educational experiences so more people discover that STEM learning is something they can enjoy, contribute to, and pursue throughout their lives.
Can you identify the key areas of the US education system that should be prioritized for improvement? Can you explain why those are so critical?
I no longer believe we can improve STEM education simply by refining what we’ve always done. Science and technology are evolving at an unprecedented pace, and STEM learning has to evolve with them. That means rethinking not only what we teach, but when, where, and how people learn.
One priority should be strengthening numeracy with the same urgency that we’ve devoted to literacy. Reading remains absolutely fundamental, but mathematics is at the core of so many challenges and opportunities shaping our future. Future careers in artificial intelligence, data science, healthcare, climate science, advanced manufacturing, finance, and engineering all require mathematical thinking. Yet too many people still believe that math is only for a select few.
Everyone needs to see themselves as a “math person,” with a focus on all learners developing both mathematical competence and confidence. Content matters, but confidence determines whether someone chooses to continue learning, leverages mathematical understanding to pursue a new career, or even believe that those opportunities are available to them.
More broadly, STEM learning cannot be viewed as something that happens primarily during grades K–12. It should begin much earlier, continue beyond graduation, and occur in different settings throughout people’s lives. If science and technology continue evolving — as they undoubtedly will — our educational system has to support lifelong STEM learning as well.
Please tell us all about the innovative educational approaches that you are using. What is the specific problem that you aim to solve, and how have you addressed it?
When we think about innovation, it’s not enough to create something new. We need to create something that brings forward new solutions that others haven’t considered. To do this, we need to define the problem in a novel way or ask a different kind of question.
Many educational innovations begin with questions like, “How do we improve this curriculum?” or “How do we improve teaching in this grade level?” Those are important questions, but at TERC we ask broader ones: What kinds of STEM learning environments will people need for a future we can’t yet predict? What parts of the STEM learning ecosystem are currently missing?
If our goal is to prepare learners for the careers, technologies, and communities of the future, we have to pay attention to the places where opportunities don’t yet exist or where too few organizations are investing. That’s why our work often focuses on the edges of the educational system — early childhood, adult learners, families, museums, libraries, community organizations, and the educators and paraeducators who support learners every day. These are essential parts of how people develop confidence and interest in STEM.
For example, one of our math curriculum projects, LEAP, focuses on teaching algebra to early elementary school students (grades K through 5). This project started with a deceptively simple question: Why do we wait until middle school to introduce algebraic thinking? By the time students enroll in Algebra I, many have already decided whether mathematics is “for them.” A experimental study that examined the impact of the LEAP curriculum found students who experienced this curriculum not only successfully engaged in algebraic thinking, they also went on to learn math at a faster rate than their peers in later grades.
Our Adult Numeracy Center similarly stems from defining the problem in a new way. As a nation, we’ve spent years discussing how many students graduate from K-12 schools ill-prepared for the mathematical challenges of adulthood. This often calls for K-12 education reforms (which are definitely needed) without asking — how can we help these adults develop mathematical thinking after they’ve left school? Through our Adult Numeracy Center, we are building the capacity of adult educators to help adult learners strengthen mathematical skills needed for today’s workforce and life. As one participating adult said, “Coming to this math, it doesn’t intimidate you. No, it invites you. It makes me comprehend it so much that I am ready. I can choose what I want to do in life.”
Although these projects look different, they’re driven by the same question: How do we create learning experiences that help more people discover that they are capable of engaging with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics? When we ask that question consistently, we begin to see opportunities that traditional educational structures sometimes overlook.
In what ways do you think your approach might shape the future of education? What evidence supports this?
One of the strengths of educational research is that it helps us understand whether a particular intervention works. I also think we need to ask a second question: If this intervention works, what does it teach us about how the larger system could work better?
At TERC, our curricula, professional learning, technologies, and educational resources are all opportunities to understand how STEM learning can be redesigned so that more people thrive.
Take mathematics as an example. If we only focus on helping students succeed in Algebra I, we’re already responding to a challenge that emerged years earlier. A systems perspective encourages us to ask what experiences in preschool, elementary school, museums, libraries, afterschool programs, and homes might have shaped students’ confidence long before they entered that classroom. Likewise, if we think about numeracy only as a K–12 issue, we miss the millions of adults whose educational experiences did not prepare them for today’s economy.
Over the past sixty years, TERC has seen this systems perspective lead to innovations that have influenced classrooms, museums, community organizations, and educational policy. Individual projects matter, but what excites me most is when those projects change how people think about the larger educational system. That’s when new possibilities begin to emerge.
How do you measure the impact of your innovative educational practices on students’ learning and well-being?
One of the things I appreciate most about working at TERC is that we don’t have to choose between research and innovation — they’re inseparable. Every educational innovation raises new questions about learning, and every research study creates opportunities to improve how learning experiences are designed.
That also means we think about impact a little differently than other organizations. Of course we care about whether learners acquire new knowledge and skills. That’s essential. But if we stop there, I think we miss some of the most meaningful STEM learning outcomes.
I’m equally interested in whether learners become more curious, confident, and willing to tackle problems they once believed were beyond them. Do they begin asking better questions? Do they persist when something is difficult? Do they start to see themselves as someone who belongs in STEM? Those are the kinds of changes that often determine whether someone continues learning after a lesson has ended.
Measuring those outcomes requires creativity as well as rigor. At TERC we’ve developed new approaches for studying mathematical thinking through maker activities, synthesized qualitative research to better understand learning across many studies, and created assessment approaches that fit naturally within authentic learning experiences rather than interrupting them. I think one of the exciting frontiers in educational research is developing better ways to understand not only what people know, but how they think, how they feel about learning, and what they believe is possible for themselves because of that learning.
What challenges have you faced in implementing your educational innovations, and how have you overcome them?
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that it’s much easier to improve a single program than it is to improve an educational system.
When you take a systems perspective, you quickly realize that no single organization can prepare learners for the future. Schools are essential, but so are museums, libraries, community organizations, families, employers, researchers, policymakers, and many others. Each sees a different part of the learning ecosystem. Real innovation happens when those perspectives come together.
Ironically, I think that’s also one of the greatest strengths of this approach. Rather than trying to solve every challenge ourselves, we’ve learned that our role is often to bring together people with different expertise, ask new questions, and create opportunities for collaboration. Some of our most successful work has grown from partnerships among researchers, educators, media organizations, schools, community organizations, and industry leaders who all shared a common commitment to expanding opportunities for STEM learning.
It has reinforced my belief that if the challenges facing education are systemic, then the solutions must be systemic as well. Lasting change happens when organizations work together to redesign learning environments, rather than expecting any one institution to solve the problem alone.
Keeping in mind the “Law of Unintended Consequences” can you see any potential drawbacks of this innovation that people should think more deeply about?
Absolutely. One example is accessibility. I care deeply about making STEM learning accessible to everyone, but accessibility doesn’t mean making learning easier. In fact, some of the deepest learning happens when people encounter problems that are difficult, persist through moments of uncertainty, and ultimately discover that they can solve them.
Years ago, while studying learning in museums, I found something that has stayed with me. Visitors often spent the longest time at exhibits that were both highly interesting and appropriately challenging. They were willing — even eager — to wrestle with difficult ideas because they found the experience exciting or intriguing. The challenge wasn’t the problem. The problem was when the learning environment design created unnecessary barriers that prevented engagement.
When we get that balance right, people experience something incredibly powerful. They don’t just learn new ideas — they begin to think, “I can do this.” And once someone starts believing that, it often changes how they approach learning for years to come.
What are your “5 Things I Wish I Knew When I First Started”?
1. Learning environments matter just as much as learners.
Early in my career, I spent a lot of time thinking about how to help learners succeed. Today, I find myself asking a different question: Have we designed the learning environment in a way that gives every learner the opportunity to succeed? That subtle shift has completely changed how I approach education.
2. Learning is emotional as well as intellectual.
People don’t simply remember what they learned. They remember how learning made them feel. Excitement, curiosity, frustration, confidence, belonging — all of those emotions influence whether someone continues learning long after a particular experience ends.
3. Designing for inclusion leads to better learning for everyone.
One of the biggest misconceptions about inclusive design is that it’s only for specific groups. In reality, when we design learning experiences that are more flexible, engaging, and responsive to diverse learners, a broad range of learners benefit.
4. The people experiencing the system usually know how to improve it.
Some of the most important insights in my career have come from listening carefully — to learners, teachers, families, museum visitors, and community partners. Research gives us tools for listening systematically, but innovation begins by taking those perspectives seriously.
5. Education should never stand still.
Science and technology continue to evolve, our understanding of learning continues to evolve, and our communities continue to evolve. Education has to evolve alongside them.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
My mentor, Dr. Betty Davidson, often said, “The message of ‘not for you’ is incredibly destructive for the life of a child.”
Betty’s own life embodied that lesson. She became a biochemical researcher after navigating a world that often underestimated what someone using a wheelchair could accomplish. Rather than allowing those experiences to define her, she dedicated the latter part of her career to expanding opportunities for others. She helped me see that education isn’t simply about transferring knowledge. It’s about making sure that everyone feels welcome and able to participate in learning, and by extension, the community at large.
I think the message of “not for you” takes many forms. Sometimes it’s explicit, but more often it’s subtle. It appears in a classroom where only a few students are expected to excel in mathematics. It appears in a museum exhibit that unintentionally excludes certain visitors. It appears whenever someone concludes that STEM simply isn’t for people like them.
That quote reminds me every day why the design of learning environments matters. Our responsibility is to create experiences where learners discover that STEM is for them. I can’t think of a more important goal for education.
We are blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂
I’d choose Satya Nadella. Of course, Microsoft has been at the forefront of artificial intelligence, but that’s actually not why I’d want to meet him. What I admire most is the way he has talked about curiosity, empathy, and continuous learning as essential qualities for both individuals and organizations. Those ideas resonate deeply with me.
We’re entering a period where advances in AI and other technologies are reshaping not only the workforce, but also the knowledge and skills people will need throughout their lives. I’m fascinated by how educational organizations and technology organizations can learn from one another as they navigate that future.
I’d love to have a conversation about a question we’re both wrestling with in different ways: How do we create organizations that continue learning as quickly as the world around them changes? For me, that’s one of the defining leadership challenges of our time. If we expect learners to continually adapt, then educational organizations have to model that same commitment to curiosity, reflection, and innovation.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
I’d love to invite readers to visit www.terc.edu and subscribe to our newsletter. We regularly share new research, educational innovations, and practical resources for educators, researchers, museums, libraries, community organizations, and others who are working to expand meaningful STEM learning.
But I’d also extend an invitation beyond simply following our work.
One of the things we’ve talked about throughout this interview is that the future of STEM learning depends on all of us. No single organization can redesign the learning ecosystem on its own. Whether you’re an educator, researcher, philanthropist, business leader, policymaker, or simply someone who cares about preparing the next generation, there is an important role for you to play.
At TERC, we’re always looking for partners who want to explore new ideas, ask ambitious questions, and build learning environments where more people can discover what they’re capable of achieving. I hope this conversation encourages readers not only to learn more about our work, but also to imagine what we might accomplish together.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you continued success with your important work!
Education Revolution: Christine Reich Of TERC On Innovative Approaches That Are Transforming… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.