REU Site: Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center REU Program

这是一个与天普大学NSF资助的学习科学中心(SLC)有关的REU试点网站：空间智能和学习中心(SILC)。来自发展、认知和学习科学的四名教员负责这个项目，以指导不同的本科生暑期实习生群体。学生参与并获得跨学科团队科学方法的经验，以学习科学。PI团队旨在为学生提供研究体验，让他们了解使用不同方法和人群的各种协同活动，所有这些活动都是为了实现SLC的总体目标而协调一致的：改善空间学习，并最终改善STEM学习。这种团队方法超越了Temple的界限，因为SILC涉及到许多跨机构的合作。因此，REU参与者减少了他们为追求自己的职业目标而建立网络的“分离程度”。定期活动包括实验室会议、社交活动、辅导会议和道德模块，旨在吸引来自不同实验室的学生每周至少一次聚在一起。这些群体建设活动将来自SILC所有实验室的学生聚集在一起，涉及社交互动、专业发展和以研究为导向的活动。由于有大量的机会与来自不同实验室的其他本科生、研究生和教职员工交流，REU的经历将是有益的，无论是在实习生的研究知识和技能的发展方面，还是在讨论和分享想法、合作解决问题以及了解成为学术社区的一部分是什么感觉方面。此外，所有REU学生将被邀请一起参加2015年10月的SILC年度务虚会，展示基于他们暑期工作的海报。这次务虚会包括来自西北大学、芝加哥大学和其他七个机构以及坦普尔的SILC研究人员。该项目的科学价值在于推进了一门新的学习科学，专注于空间学习和认知。空间认知是一个多元化的领域，有许多激动人心的理论和翻译研究方向已经成熟，可以协同地结合在一起。空间认知是人类许多重要活动的核心，包括导航和寻路、工具的使用和设计以及科学和数学思维。空间认知的研究涉及许多学科，包括认知科学、计算机科学、地理学、地理信息科学、神经科学、语言学、心理测量学和机器人学。它的发现和见解与科学、技术、工程和数学方面的教育以及包括医学和牙科、城市规划和交通建模以及建筑和设计在内的广泛专业领域都有相关性。因此，REU的学生接触到了非常丰富的研究经验，并得到了这些领域的教职员工和研究生的指导。REU的一些学生来自坦普尔大学的本科生，坦普尔大学是美国最多元化的研究型大学之一。至少一半的参与者来自研究机会有限的机构。考虑到SILC企业的复杂性和规模，这个REU试点站点将作为未来更大、更成熟的REU站点的试验场。

This is a pilot REU Site associated with an NSF-funded Science of Learning Center (SLC) at Temple University: the Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center (SILC). Four faculty members from the developmental, cognitive and learning sciences run this program to mentor a diverse group of undergraduate summer interns. The students participate and get experience in an interdisciplinary team science approach to the science of learning. The PI-team aims to provide students with a research experience that informs them regarding a wide variety of synergistic activities using different methodologies and populations, all coordinated on achieving the overall goals of the SLC: improving spatial learning and, ultimately, STEM learning. This team approach goes beyond the boundaries of Temple, as SILC involves much cross-institutional collaboration. Thus, the REU participants reduce their "degrees of separation" for networking to pursue their own professional goals. Regular activities include lab meetings, social events, mentoring sessions, and ethics modules that are designed to draw the students from various labs together at least once a week. These cohort-building events bring together students from all the labs within the SILC, and involve a mix of social interaction, professional development, and research-oriented events. Because of the wealth of opportunities to connect with other undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty members from a variety of labs, the REU experience will be rewarding, both in terms of development of the interns' research knowledge and skills, and in discussing and sharing ideas, solving problems collaboratively, and getting a sense of what it is like to be a part of an academic community. In addition, all REU students will be invited together to the SILC Annual Retreat in October 2015 to present posters based on their summer work. This retreat includes SILC researchers from Northwestern University, University of Chicago and seven other institutions as well as Temple. The scientific merit of the project lies in the advancement of a new science of learning, focusing on spatial learning and cognition. Spatial cognition is a diverse field with many exciting theoretical and translational research directions ripe to be drawn together synergistically. Spatial cognition is central to many vital human activities, including navigation and wayfinding, tool use and design, and scientific and mathematical thinking. Research on spatial cognition draws on many disciplines, including cognitive science, computer science, geography, geographic information science, neuroscience, linguistics, psychometrics, and robotics. Its findings and insights have relevance for education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, as well as in a wide range of professional fields, including medicine and dentistry, urban planning and traffic modeling, and architecture and design. Thus, the REU students are exposed to a very rich research experience and mentored by faculty members and graduate students in these fields. Some of the REU students come from the undergraduate population at Temple University, one of the most diverse American research universities. At least half of the participants come from institutions with limited research opportunities. Given the complexity and size of the SILC enterprise, this pilot REU Site serves as a testing ground for a larger, full-fledged REU Site in the future.