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As a Senior Research Scientist at CAST, Bob Dolan provides leadership in the development of new methods and technologies for the assessment of learning that go beyond traditional outcome measures and better support Universal Design for Learning. Dr. Dolan brings to CAST expertise in visual and cognitive neuroscience and in user interface design and implementation.

Dr. Dolan is co-principal investigator for a U.S. Department of Education Directed Research grant, "Universal Design of Assessment: Applications of Technology," in collaboration with the University of Kentucky, which is examining the role of computers in increasing access to large-scale tests for students with disabilities. As the director of a National Institute of Child Health and Human Development research project studying eye movements during students' reading of feature-enriched text, Dr. Dolan is developing a research methodology for understanding how students interact with digital educational materials. In addition, with funding from a private foundation, he directs a multi-year study of computer-based testing accommodations in large-scale assessments for students with learning disabilities. He has also served as the technical advisor to a panel charged with defining technical specifications for the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard, a voluntary standard to facilitate the efficient delivery of accessible instructional materials to students with disabilities.

Dr. Dolan has worked in a number of disciplines within neuroscience and medical imaging research and development. Before joining CAST in 2000, he was a senior project engineer at Analogic Corporation, where he led a team that designed and created Web-based medical image viewing systems. Earlier, he served as the director of image analysis for a start-up pharmaceutical company developing diagnostic imaging agents. Dr. Dolan completed post-doctoral research in magnetic resonance imaging and in quantifying and modeling motor impairments in Parkinson's and Huntington's disease. His thesis work explored visual information processing in the brain.

Dr. Dolan holds a Ph.D. in brain and cognitive sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.S. in biology from Cornell University.

Related Projects

Universal Design and Assessment

National File Format Initiative

Selected Publications

Dolan, R.P. & Hall, T.E. (2001). Universal Design for Learning: Implications for large-scale assessment. IDA Perspectives, 27(4), 22-25.

Dolan, R.P. & Rose, D. (2001). Accurate assessment through Universal Design for Learning. Journal of Special Education Technology, 15(4).