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EP0. Learning Sciences
Elena Pasquinelli
Educa4on, cogni4on, cerveau Cogmaster 2010‐2011
• A new field of research: the science of learning
• Un4l quite recently, cogni4ve science steered clear of educa4on, while the sciences of educa4on tended to ignore cogni4ve science.
• Things have changed over the last few years, and there is now quite a lot of interac4on between the two fields.
How does neuroscience, and more broadly cogni4ve science, interact with educa4on? What are the themes and the models at work?
What are the major models of learning? Behaviorism, gene4c epistemology, cogni4vism, construc4vism, situated approaches in cogni4ve science, conceptual change theory, will be presented and compared.
What can philosophy of science teach us about the nature of the applied science at work? What counts as scien4fic evidence in this context? How do we measure the effects of a given factor? How can one account for extra‐cogni4ve (social, poli4cal, historical, ideological) factors affec4ng learning and educa4on?
What are some concrete examples of prac4cal applica4ons of experimental and neuro‐imaging methods in such areas as numerical cogni4on and reading skills?
LEARNING SCIENCES
Learning sciences (large view)
• “Learning sciences is an interdisciplinary field that studies teaching and learning.
• … in a variety of se=ngs, including not only the more formal learning of school classrooms but also the informal learning that takes place at home, on the job, and among peers.
• The goal of the learning sciences is to beUer understand the cogni?ve and social processes that result in the most effec?ve learning,
• and to use this knowledge to redesign classrooms and other learning environments so that people learn more deeply and more effec?vely.
• The sciences of learning include cogni&ve science, educa&onal psychology, computer science, anthropology, sociology, informa&on sciences, neurosciences, educa&on, design studies, instruc&onal design, and other fields.” (Sawyer, 2009, p. xi)
Learning sciences (large view)
• “Learning sciences is an interdisciplinary field that studies teaching and learning.
Learning sciences (large view)
• … in a variety of se=ngs, including not only the more formal learning of school classrooms but also the informal learning that takes place at home, on the job, and among peers.
Learning sciences (large view)
• The goal of the learning sciences is to beUer understand the cogni?ve and social processes that result in the most effec?ve learning,
• and to use this knowledge to redesign classrooms and other learning environments so that people learn more deeply and more effec?vely.
Learning sciences (large view)
• The sciences of learning include cogni&ve science, educa&onal psychology, computer science, anthropology, sociology, informa&on sciences, neurosciences, educa&on, design studies, instruc&onal design, and other fields.” (Sawyer, 2009, p. xi)
Learning sciences
Formal, informal, non formal learning
Applica4on fields
BeUer understanding of learning processes
Cogni4ve and social processes
Promote beUer learning
Design environments for beUer learning
Objec4ves Research fields
Cogni4ve sciences, psychology, anthropology, sociology, ar4ficial intelligence, neurosciences, educa4onal sciences (economy, philosophy, history, design)
Objec4ves
• Objec?ves: – Understanding learning
– Building the condi4ons for beUer learning
– Promo4ng beUer forms of learning (adapted to XXI century needs)
Engaged vision: foster beUer learning
Neutral vision: design environments for learning beUer
Methods
• Experimental: randomized, controlled trials
• Quasi‐experimental: – correla4onal studies – Longitudinal studies
• Qualita4ve observa4ons
In general: Objec4vity vs intui4on & tradi4on
More specifically: experimental methods
• Learning is a human basic, adap4ve, pervasive func4on.
• People learn all their life long, everywhere, in informal secngs.
• But formal secngs have been created too.
Reason 1. Learning is a pervasive human ac4vity
• From industrial society to knowledge society: • the goal of educa4on has changed • from instruc4onism (rote learning, passive transmission to deep, ac4ve learning) • from good taylorist learners to crea4ve, collabora4ve, innovators
Reason 2. Societal transforma4ons
Reason 3. Accumula4on of knowledge
New sciences, new knowledge, which is meaningful for learning and educa4on
3.a Disciplinary knowledge
3.b Interdisciplinary knowledge
3.c Transdisciplinary knowledge (new applica4ve discipline of educa4on with strong scien4fic background on learning)
A BIT OF HISTORY 1. DISSATISFACTION WITH BEHAVIORISM 2A. COGNITIVE THEORIES OF LEARNING 2B. COGNITIVE REVOLUTION 3. BIOLOGICAL REVOLUTION
1. Dissa4sfac4on with behaviorism
• Behaviorist psychology emerges as a reac4on to introspec4on:
• “Psychology as the behaviorist views it is a purely objec5ve experimental branch of natural science.”
• Learning a new behavior is the consequence of adjus4ng to s4muli in the environment
• Psychology can become useful to educa4on, law, … (Watson, 1913)
Radical Behaviorism (B. F. Skinner)
• Opera4onal condi4oning = reinforcing the individual’s responses
(Skinner, 1938)
Behaviorism and educa4on: note the analogies with the new science of learning (and the disanalogies)
• It becomes the orthodoxy in educa4on
• What’s wrong with that?
.
What’s missing in the descrip4on of the learning process made by
behaviorists?
• Hardwired & sohwired constraints – Previous knowledge
– Func4onal architecture
• Construc4vism: – Jean Piaget
• Knowledge structures of children are qualita4vely different from adults’
• Developmental stages towards logic thought
• Adapta4on to the world: disequilibra4on and re‐equilibra4on via assimila4on/accomoda4on processes
– Vygotsky: social construc4on of knowledge
– Jérôme Bruner • Adapta4on of Piaget’s epistemology
and of Vygotsky social construc4vism to educa4on, but without stages
– Seymour Papert • Construc4onism: learning by
construc4on
2a. Cogni4ve theory of learning
2b. Cogni4ve revolu4on
1956: MIT symposium – Birth of cogni4ve science and of its objects:
• Problem solving • Exper4se • Memory • Language • Reasoning
3. The biological revolu4on
1990: Decade of the brain
• neuroscience • cogni4ve neuroscience • neurobiology • neurogene4cs
– BeUer comprehension of learning mechanisms,
– Neural representa4ons of learning (localiza4on, 4ming) – BeUer comprehension of individual differences
• “… a mature science of learning will involve understanding not only that learning occurs but also understanding how and why it occurs” (Bransford, et al., in Sawyer, 2009, p. 20)
Neuroeduca4on, Educa4onal neuroscience, Mind, brain, and
educa4on
Founda4ons for the new science of learning
• “The new science of learning has arisen from several disciplines. Researchers in developmental psychology have iden?fied social factors that are essen?al for learning. Powerful learning algorithms from machine learning have demonstrated that con?ngencies in the environment are a rich source of informa?on about social cues. Neuroscien?sts have found brain systems involved in social interac?ons and mechanisms for synap?c plas?city that contribute to learning. Classrooms are laboratories for teaching prac?ces.” (Meltzoff, et al., 2009, p. 284)
• “Research from cogni?ve psychology has increased understanding of the nature of competent performance and the principles of knowledge organiza4on that underlie people's abili4es to solve problems in a wide variety of areas, including mathema4cs, science, literature, social studies, and history.
• Developmental researchers have shown that young children understand a great deal about basic principles of biology and physical causality, about number, narra4ve, and personal intent, and that these capabili4es make it possible to create innova4ve curricula that introduce important concepts for advanced reasoning at early ages.
• Research on learning and transfer has uncovered important principles for structuring learning experiences that enable people to use what they have learned in new secngs.
• Work in social psychology, cogni?ve psychology, and anthropology is making clear that all learning takes place in secngs that have par4cular sets of cultural and social norms and expecta4ons and that these secngs influence learning and transfer in powerful ways.
• Neuroscience is beginning to provide evidence for many principles of learning that have emerged from laboratory research, and it is showing how learning changes the physical structure of the brain and, with it, the func4onal organiza4on of the brain.
• Collabora?ve studies of the design and evalua?on of learning environments, among cogni4ve and developmental psychologists and educators, are yielding new knowledge about the nature of learning and teaching as it takes place in a variety of secngs. In addi4on, researchers are discovering ways to learn from the ''wisdom of prac4ce" that comes from successful teachers who can share their exper4se.
• Emerging technologies are leading to the development of many new opportuni4es to guide and enhance learning that were unimagined even a few years ago.
• All of these developments in the study of learning have led to an era of new relevance of science to prac4ce. In short, investment in basic research is paying off in prac4cal applica4ons. These developments in understanding of how humans learn have par4cular significance in light of changes in what is expected of the na4on's educa4onal systems.” (Bransford, et al., 2000, p. 4)
Structuring the field
1991: 1st Interna4onal conference on Learning sciences/Journal of the learning sciences
2003‐2006: NSF: 6 Learning Centers
2000: Bransford et al (NRC): How people learn
1970‐1980: AI and educa4on conferences
1987: Ins4tute for the Learning Sciences (ILS, R. Shank); Ins4tute for Research on Learning (J. S. Brown, J. Greeno, D. Kearns)
2002: Interna4onal Society for the learning sciences 1999
OECD‐CERI Brain program 1
2002 OECD‐CERI Brain program 2
2007 IMBES
2003 Mind, Brain Educa4on (Rome)
2005 (Erice)
2010 EARLI SIG 22
1991 Decade of the brain
An example
RECIPES FOR OUR COURSE
Learning beUer
• Focusing on learning in addi?on to teaching : « When children ac4vely par4cipate in construc4ng their own knowledge, they gain a deeper understanding, more generalizable »
Learning beUer
• Crea?ng learning environments: « Scaffolding is the help given to the learner that is tailored to that learner’s needs in achieving his or her goals at the moment … effec4ve scaffolding provides prompts and hints that help learners to figure it out on their own. »
Learning beUer
• The importance of building on a learner’s previous knowledge : « learning always takes places against a backdrop of exis4ng knowledge. Students don’t enter the classroom as empty vessels, wai4ng to be filled; they enter the classroom with half‐formed ideas and misconcep4ons about how the world works … » (Sawyer, 2009, p. 2‐3)
Learning beUer
• The importance of reflec?on. “Students learn beUer when they express their developing knowledge – either through conversa4on or by crea4ng papers, reports, and other ar4facts – and then are provided with opportuni4es to reflec4vely analyze their state of knowledge.”
• “One of the reasons that ar4cula4on is so helpful to learning is that it makes possible reflec4on or metacogni4on – thinking about the process of learning and thinking about knowledge.” (Sawyer, 2009, p. 12)
Learning beUer
• « Computers can represent abstract knowledge in concrete forms
• … Allow learners to ar4culate their developing knowledge in a visual and verbal way
• … allow learners to manipulate and revise their developing knowledge
• … Internet‐based networks of learners can share and combine their developing understandings …» (Sawyer, 2009, p. 9)
QUESTIONS
• WHY should we have a science of learning? • WHAT’s the role of research for educa4on?
• WHAT have cogni4ve sciences and neuroscience to do with educa4on (and the other way around)?
• HOW can research have an impact upon educa4on (or else)?