Invited Symposium
Principles of Complex Learning
Time and Location
Sunday May 25, 2008,
10:30 AM - 11:50 AM
Chicago 10
An educated workforce requires life long learning and the capacity to master challenging topics in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Psychology can help individuals, families, communities, and the workforce achieve the acquisition of complex knowledge and skills by developing a mature science of learning. Principles of learning that are grounded in science are currently occupying the attention of groups at National Science Foundation (NSF), Institute of Education Sciences (IES), Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL), and many professional societies. The purpose of this symposium is to update psychologists with these recent advances.
Arthur C. Graesser
(Chair)
University of Memphis
Arthur C. Graesser
University of Memphis
Principles of Learning Identified in the Lifelong Learning at Work and Home Initiative
The mission of this initiative (http://www.psyc.memphis.edu/learning) is to create, evaluate, and disseminate high-quality research that can be used to promote life-long learning and thinking skills. Examples of such skills are knowing how to learn, thinking critically, and solving problems. This presentation gives highlights of 25 principles that facilitate complex learning and thinking.
Co-Authors:
Milton D. Hakel, Bowling Green University
Diane F. Halpern, Claremont McKenna College
Elizabeth R. Albro
National Center for Education Research, Institute for Education Sciences
Using Emerging Principles From Psychological Science to Inform Instruction: What We Are Learning From the Educational Research Programs of the Institute of Education Science
For decades, psychological researchers have examined questions of learning in controlled laboratory settings. We assume, but have not always explicitly addressed, if these scientifically validated principles are relevant to learning in school. Understanding how these principles generalize to school settings is the focus of several National Center for Education Research (NCER) programs. An overview of these programs will be presented.
Elizabeth R. Albro
National Center for Education Research, Institute of Education Sciences
Using Emerging Principles for Psychological Science to Inform Instruction: Sharing What We Are Learning
As what we know about learning grows, these principles should be shared with teachers and others who are responsible for ensuring that learning occurs. To meet this need, the Institute of Education Sciences has recently published several practice guides, summarizing these principles. The primary conclusions of these guides are described in this presentation.
Thomas E. Allen
Gallaudet University
Literacy and Deafness: Visual and Written Languages as Complex Learning
When deaf individuals learn to read, what do they do? The inextricable link between phonology and reading seems not to account for this phenomenon. In this NSF-funded Science of Learning Center, neuroscientists, psychologists, linguists, and social psychologists examine this phenomenon from different perspectives in order to understand this apparent conundrum.
Xiangen Hu
University of Memphis
Tuning Up the Workforce of the Future: The Advanced Distributed Learning Approach
Lifelong learning/training in the workforce presents unique theoretical and implementation challenges: Blended learning environments must accommodate learners with heterogeneous backgrounds. The Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative offers theory-driven technological solutions based on the reality that efficient training delivers the right skills, for the right job, in the right place, at the right time, in the right way.
Co-Author:
Robert Wisher, Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative
