Kapur, Manu

Biography

Since January 2017 Prof. Manu KAPUR is a full Professor at the Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences of the ETH Zurich and holds the Chair of Learning Sciences and Higher Education. Prior to joining ETH Zurich, he was a Professor of Psychological Studies at the Education University of Hong Kong (EduHK). Manu Kapur also worked as the Head of the Curriculum, Teaching and Learning Academic Group (CTL AG) as well as the Head of Learning Sciences Lab (LSL) at the National Institute of Education (NIE) of Singapore. An engineer by bachelors training, Manu Kapur was a pre-university mathematics teacher for five years before receiving his doctorate in instructional technology and media from Teachers College, Columbia University in New York, where he also completed a Master of Science in Applied Statistics. He also has a Master of Education from the NIE. Early in his academic career, Manu Kapur directed a $50m interactive and digital media R&D program at the Ministry of Education of Singapore to jumpstart research on interactive and digital media in education in Singapore. Manu Kapur conceptualized the notion of productive failure and has used it to explore the hidden efficacies in the seemingly failed efforts of small groups solving complex problems collaboratively in an online environment. Manu Kapur has done extensive work in real-field ecologies of mathematics classrooms to extend his work on productive failure across a range of schools in Singapore. Manu Kapur’s research has attracted high profile media interest (e.g. TIME, The Australian, The Straits Times, The Times of India, The Conversation, etc.) and approximately US$3m in funding in Singapore and internationally. He has been invited to present major keynote addresses around the world, and his work has been published in the top journals in the field.

Research Interest

Manu Kapur’s research has attracted high profile media interest (e.g. TIME, The Australian, The Straits Times, The Times of India, The Conversation, etc.) and approximately US$3m in funding in Singapore and internationally.