Brenda Lansdown
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Brenda Lansdown | |
|---|---|
 Lansdown, from the 1959 yearbook of Brooklyn College | |
| Born | January 25, 1904 London, England, U.K. |
| Died | July 1, 1990 (aged 86) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Other names | Lan Benda |
| Occupations | Educator, college professor |
Brenda Muriel Lansdown (January 25, 1904 – July 1, 1990) was an English-born American math and science educator and a professor of education at Brooklyn College. Her method for teaching science became popular in China after she lectured at Beijing Normal University in the 1980s.
Lansdown was born in London, the daughter of George Arthur Lansdown and Muriel Janet Lansdown. Her father was an architect who served on the Kensington Borough Council.[1] She graduated from Lausanne University,[2] and moved to the United States in 1931.[3] She earned a bachelor's degree from Hunter College.[4]
Career
Lansdown taught at New York City private schools in the 1940s, including the Dalton School and the City and Country School. She was known for her hands-on science lessons, which she called the investigation-colloquium method. She taught education courses at Brooklyn College,[5] Hunter College, and the Harvard Graduate School of Education.[2]
Lansdown was interested in both educational technology and preparing students for a more technologically complex future. In 1958, she spoke about science education in the "Sputnik Age".[4] In 1963, she coordinated a project to develop best practices for effective and engaging videotaped instruction.[6] She traveled to China in 1977 to study science education.[7] In 1984, with UNICEF funding, she returned to China to give workshops on her science teaching method, and spoke at Beijing Normal University.[2][8]