CELEST: A Center of Excellence for Learning in Education, Science, and Technology

CELEST试图通过研究大脑区域内部和区域之间的动态相互作用来了解人类学习的基本过程。跨学科研究团队研究大脑如何学习(1)计划：在给定情况下根据风险和潜在回报的评估做出适当行动的决定；(2)探索：在熟悉和不熟悉的环境中执行计划行动；(3)沟通：使用嘈杂和不完整的感官信息与世界上的其他代理和对象进行有效交互；(4)记忆：编码和指导信息检索以实现目标。CELEST是一个多方面的合作，集中了由波士顿地区四所大学的15名资深科学家领导的科学和教育团队的努力。CELEST将本科生和研究生的跨学科研究相结合，将实验认知神经科学与感知、认知、情感和行动过程中正常和异常学习的定量行为和大脑建模相结合。更广泛的影响：CELEST将学习的基础研究成果转移到本科和研究生课程中。这是通过它正在为波士顿大学新的本科神经科学专业开发课程材料，并通过CELEST网站上的电子传播来实现的。通过为期一天的CELEST研讨会和有关成功学习策略的认知基础的相关工作手册，还可以向本科神经科学社区进行推广。CELEST的一些项目旨在增加在科学领域代表性不足的群体参与其创新课程和研究计划的机会。其中包括研究生奖学金，为少数族裔服务机构的教师提供暑期实习机会，为来自代表性不足群体的本科生提供为期十周的暑期项目，让他们在CELEST的教师实验室工作，以及为期一周的暑期研讨会，向本科生介绍认知神经科学中建模和实验技术的相互作用。中心附加值：通过将传统上采用不同实践和技术的不同科学团体聚集在一起，CELEST跨学科科学正在改变我们理解大脑如何学习的方式，以及大脑不同部分在学习过程中如何相互作用。通过与工业伙伴的合作，包括大规模神经形态工程和技术算法的开发和转移到工业和政府实验室，CELEST促进了传统单一研究者资助无法支持的实际应用研究。CELEST的教师、博士后和学生在与非专业人士的交流中发挥着越来越重要的作用，通过许多活动，包括博客、研讨会和对中学生的演讲。CELEST的研究和教育的整合是通过基于思维和大脑的数学和计算模型的创新课程材料的开发来完成的。通过向各种观众进行电子和个人演讲，并通过赞助科学会议和讲习班。

CELEST seeks to understand the fundamental processes that underlie human learning by studying dynamic interactions within and among brain regions. Interdisciplinary research teams study how the brain learns to (1) plan: to make decisions for appropriate actions based on assessment of risks and potential rewards in a given situation, (2) explore: to perform planned actions to move about familiar and unfamiliar environments, (3) communicate: to use noisy and incomplete sensory information to interact effectively with other agents and objects in the world, and (4) remember: to encode and guide retrieval of information to achieve goals. CELEST is a multi-faceted collaboration that focuses the efforts of scientific and educational teams led by 15 senior scientists at four Boston-area universities. CELEST combines undergraduate and graduate training in interdisciplinary research that combines experimental cognitive neuroscience with quantitative behavioral and brain modeling of normal and abnormal learning during perception, cognition, emotion, and action.Broader impacts: CELEST transfers the results of basic research on learning to undergraduate and graduate courses. This is achieved through its ongoing development of course materials for the new undergraduate neuroscience major at Boston University, and through electronic dissemination on the CELEST web site. Outreach to the undergraduate neuroscience community also occurs by means of a one-day CELEST workshop and related workbook about the cognitive basis of successful learning strategies. A number of CELEST programs are targeted at increasing opportunities for groups underrepresented in science to participate in its innovative curriculum and research initiatives. These include graduate fellowships, summer internships for faculty from minority-serving institutions, a ten-week summer program for undergraduates from underrepresented groups to work in CELEST faculty labs, and a week-long summer workshop to introduce undergraduates to the interplay of modeling and experimental techniques in cognitive neuroscience. Center added value: By bringing together distinct scientific communities that traditionally employ different practices and techniques, CELEST interdisciplinary science is changing the way we understand how the brain learns, and how different parts of the brain interact with each other during learning. Through collaboration with industrial partners, including the development and transfer of large-scale neuromorphic engineering and technological algorithms to industry and government laboratories, CELEST facilitates research for practical applications that cannot be supported by conventional single-investigator grants. CELEST faculty, postdocs, and students are playing increasingly important roles in communicating with non-specialists through many activities including blogs, workshops, and presentations to secondary school audiences. The integration of CELEST research and education is accomplished through the development of innovative curriculum materials based upon mathematical and computational models of mind and brain. through electronic and personal presentations to a variety of audiences, and through sponsorship of scientific conferences and workshops.