The learning sciences is a field of interdisciplinary study that works to further scientific understanding of learning as well as engage in the design and implementation of learning innovations. Research in the learning sciences traditionally focuses on cognitive-psychological and social-psychological foundations of human learning, as well as on the design of learning environments (e.g., educational software such as intelligent tutors, programming languages, learning management systems, virtual environments, etc). Over the past decade, researchers have also expanded their focus to the design of curricula, informal learning environments, instructional methods, and policy innovations. Major contributing fields include cognitive science, computer science, psychology, education, neuroscience, and social science.

Northwestern University's program in the Learning Sciences ([1]) is one of the pioneers in the field. Their program is interdisciplinary and connects across three major themes that permeate the research and theory in the learning sciences ([2]):

Cognition: constructing scientific models of the structures and processes of learning and teaching by which organized knowledge, skills and understanding are acquired

Design: building environments for learning and teaching, incorporating multimedia, artificial intelligence, computer networks and innovative curriculum and classroom activity structures

Social Context: examining the social, organizational and cultural dynamics of learning and teaching situations, including classrooms, schools, school districts, museums, corporations and homes

Although controlled experimental studies and rigorous qualitative research have long been and continue to be employed in Learning Sciences, is is also quite common for researchers to employ Design Research methods in which interventions are conceptualized and then implemented in natural settings in order to test the ecological validity of dominant theory and to generate new theories and frameworks for conceptualizing learning, instruction, design processes, and educational reform.

Currently, there exists an International Society of Learning Sciences (ISLS, [3]), which runs two journals: The Journal of the Learning Sciences and "The International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning". ISLS sponsors two biennial conferences, the International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) and Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL).

See also

• Cognitive Science
• Artificial intelligence
• Instructional technology
• Educational psychology
• Cognitive psychology

External links

• International Society of the Learning Sciences
• The Journal of the Learning Sciences
• International Journal of Computer Support for Collaborative Learning
• Pittsburgh Science of Learning Center

Academic Programs/Departments of Study

• Northwestern University
• Stanford University
• Learning Sciences Institute - Vanderbilt
• CARAT Learning Sciences Program - University of Michigan
• Pittsburgh Science of Learning Center - U of Pitt & Carnegie Mellon
• Learning Sciences and Policy Program - University of Pittsburgh
• Georgia Institute of Technology
• Indiana University
• National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
• Tufts University
• University of Illinois at Chicago
• Learning Sciences Research Institute - University of Nottingham, UK
• University of Utah
• University of Washington, Seattle
• University of Wisconsin, Madison
• Carnegie Mellon University
• Utah State University
• University of California, Berkeley
• University of California, Los Angeles
• The Pennsylvania State University
• University of Pennsylvania
• University of Maryland, College Park
• Centre for Learning Sciences and Technologies, CELSTEC, Open University of the Netherlands

Wikipedia content modification information:

• This page was last modified on 13 November 2008, at 03:16.

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