SCIENCE OF LEARNING: HOW CAN IT MAKE A DIFFERENCE? Connecting Research to Policy and Practice in Education

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This proposal supports the participation of US researchers in an international gathering of scientists, educational practitioners and policy makers. This award supports a series of 3 international meetings of scientists that are jointly sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI), and UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). The set of planned conferences include: (a) a Science of Learning Symposium hosted by Shanghai Institute of Neuroscience that will highlight research from the US Science of Learning Centers to explore areas of common or complementary interests with other participants from Asia and Europe, (b) a day for informal interactive activities among researchers and UNESCO representatives to discuss specific case studies and their links to relevant research; (c) the OECD/UNESCO/NSF meeting which is centered around discussion of advances in research about learning and their implications for educational practice and policy; and (d) a Learning Symposium hosted by East China Normal University (ECNU), Shanghai Normal University, and the University of Hong Kong which will provide an even broader presentation of work by Chinese researchers.Learning is an important research topic with broad societal impacts. The proposed activities promote advances in research and researchers' ability to address educational challenges by: 1) bringing together an international group of researchers to integrate their understanding of learning across disciplinary boundaries; (2) to discuss and to disseminate scientific knowledge about learning in ways that are accessible and meaningful to educational practitioners and policy makers; and (3) promote collaborations among these disparate communities that would lead to more effective integration of scientific findings to future innovations in education and policy. The opportunity for sharing ideas, successes and failures across countries will facilitate new thinking and new partnerships to better address the challenges faced in education. Broader impacts of the proposed activities include: (1) the development, adoption and adaptation of effective models of learning and/or teaching that have proven successful in various countries, (2) establishment of new international research collaborations on learning that integrate knowledge across disciplinary perspectives to advance methods and theory, (3) create a better understanding of the value of learning research among policymakers, practitioners, and broader audiences across countries, and (4) promote more stable partnerships to facilitate reciprocal exchanges between research and practice.