Learning sciences

The term Learning Sciences (LS) refers to an interdisciplinary field that works to further scientific understanding of learning as well as to engage in the design and implementation of learning innovations, and improvement of instructional methodologies. Research in the learning sciences traditionally focuses on cognitive-psychological and social-psychological foundations of human learning, as well as on the design of learning environments. Major contributing fields include cognitive science, computer science, educational psychology, and anthropology. Over the past decade, researchers have also expanded their focus to the design of curricula, informal learning environments, instructional methods, and policy innovations.

As an emerging discipline, Learning Sciences is still in the process of defining itself. Accordingly, the identity of the field is multifaceted, and varies from institution to institution. However, the International Society of Learning Sciences (ISLS, [1]) summarizes the field as follows: "Researchers in the interdisciplinary field of learning sciences, born during the 1990’s, study learning as it happens in real-world situations and how to better facilitate learning in designed environments – in school, online, in the workplace, at home, and in informal environments. Learning sciences research may be guided by constructivist, social-constructivist, socio-cognitive, and socio-cultural theories of learning." ISLS has a large worldwide membership, is affiliated with two international journals: "Journal of the Learning Sciences", and "International Journal of Computer Supported Collaborative Learning", and sponsors the biennial Computer Supported Collaborative Learning conference and International Conference of the Learning Sciences on alternate years."

Science by its very nature is evidence based, therefore researchers developing the Learning Sciences often consider the efficiency or efficacy of instructional strategies that encourage learning. So in additon to socio-cultural theories of learning, several other theories like cognitive load theory or the cognitive theory of multimedia learning have contributed to the this growing field and are often discussed in journal like Cognition and Instruction or Instructional Science, An International Journal of the Learning Sciences

Although controlled experimental studies and rigorous quantitative research have long been employed in Learning Sciences, LS researchers sometimes utilize Design-Based Research methods. Interventions are conceptualized and then implemented in natural settings in order to test the ecological validity of dominant theory and to develop new theories and frameworks for conceptualizing learning, instruction, design processes, and educational reform. LS research strives to generate principles of practice beyond the particular features of an educational innovation in order to solve real educational problems, giving LS its interventionist character.

History

Several significant events have contributed to the international development of the Learning Sciences. Perhaps the earliest origin can be traced to the cognitive revolution. Several influential thinkers emerged from this event, who have significantly shaped the field over the following decades: Jerome Bruner, Seymour Papert, Alan Collins, Jan Hawkins - to name a few.

In the United States, an important effort to create a graduate program in the Learning Sciences took place in 1983 when Jan Hawkins and Roy Pea proposed a joint program between Bank Street College and the New School for Social Research. Called "Psychology, Education, and Technology" (PET), the program had a planning grant supported by the Sloan Foundation. In the end the program would have required new faculty, though, and the institutions involved never established such a program. Roger Schank's arrival at Northwestern University in 1988 helped start the Institute for Learning Sciences. In 1991, Northwestern initiated the first Learning Sciences doctoral program, designed by and launched by Roy Pea as its first Director. The program began accepting students in 1992, and after Pea became Dean the program directorship was taken over by Brian Reiser.

The Journal of the Learning Sciences was first published in 1991, with Janet Kolodner as founding editor. Yasmin Kafai and Cindy Hmelo-Silver took over as editors in 2009. The International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning was established as a separate journal in 2006, edited by Gerry Stahl and Freiderich Hesse.

The first biennial meeting of the International Conference of the Learning Sciences took place at Northwestern University in 1994. The International Society of the Learning Sciences was established in 2002.

What distinguishes the Learning Sciences from other related fields?

By integrating multiple fields, the Learning Sciences extends beyond other closely related fields in distinguishable ways. For example, the Learning Sciences extends beyond psychology, in that it also accounts for, as well as contributes to computational, sociological and anthropological approaches to the study of learning. Similarly, the Learning Sciences draws inspiration from Cognitive Science, and is regarded as a branch of cognitive science; however, it gives particular attention to improving education through the study, modification, and creation of various interacting and emergent factors that potentially influence the learning of humans.

It is common for Learning Sciences researchers to employ Design-Based Research methodology. The growing acceptance of Design-Based Research methodology as a means for study is often viewed as another way in which Learning Sciences can be distinguished from many of the fields that contribute to it. By including Design-Based Research within its methodological toolkit, Learning Sciences qualifies as a Design Science, with characteristics in common with other Design Sciences that employ Design Science (methodology) such as engineering and computer science.

However, it should be emphasized Design-Based Research research methodology is by no means the only research methodology used in the field. Rather, computational modeling, experimental and quasi-experimental research, and non-interventionist ethnographic-style qualitative research methodologies have long been and continue to be employed in Learning Sciences.

Associations and Journals

• Cognition and Instruction
• Instructional Science, An International Journal of the Learning Sciences
• International Society of the Learning Sciences
• The Journal of the Learning Sciences
• The International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning

Major Research Centers

• Carnegie Mellon University
• Center for Learning and Knowledge Technologies , CeLeKT, Växjö University
• Centre for Learning Sciences and Technologies, Open University of the Netherlands CELSTEC
• Learning Research and Development Center - University of Pittsburgh
• Learning Sciences Institute - Vanderbilt
• Learning Sciences Research Institute - University of Illinois at Chicago
• Learning Sciences Research Institute - University of Nottingham, UK
• LIFE Center (Learning in Informal and Formal Environments)
• Learning Sciences Lab, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
• Pittsburgh Science of Learning Center
• Science Assistments and Math Assistments, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Alphabetical Listing of Graduate Programs that Specialize in the Learning Sciences

• Carnegie Mellon University's PIER and HCII
• Georgia Institute of Technology
• Indiana University
• McGill University
• Northwestern University
• Open University of the Netherlands
• Pennsylvania State University
• Rutgers University
• Stanford University
• Tufts University
• University of California, Berkeley
• University of California, Los Angeles
• University of Illinois, Chicago
• University of Maryland, College Park
• University of Michigan – CARAT Learning Sciences Program
• University of Minnesota
• University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
• University of Pennsylvania
• University of Pittsburgh – Learning Sciences and Policy Program
• University of Sydney
• University of Utah
• University of Washington, Seattle - Learning Sciences Graduate Program
• University of Wisconsin, Madison
• Utah State University
• Vanderbilt University

See also

• Cognitive Science
• Computer-supported collaborative learning
• Artificial intelligence
• Instructional technology
• Educational psychology
• Cognitive psychology

References

• Anderson, J. R., Reder, L. M., & Simon, H. A. (1996). Situated learning and education. Educational Researcher, 25(4), 5-11.
• Brown, A. L. (1992). Design experiments: Theoretical and methodological challenges in creating complex interventions in classroom settings. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 2(2), 141-178
• Greeno, J. G. (2006). Learning in activity. In K. Sawyer (ed.) Handbook of the Learning Sciences (pp. 79–96), Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
• Greeno, J. G., Collins, A. M., & Resnick, L. (1996). Cognition and learning. In D. Berliner and R. Calfee (Eds.) Handbook of Educational Psychology, (pp. 15–46). New York: MacMillan.
• Lave, J. (1996). The practice of learning: The problem with "context." In S. Chaiklin & J. Lave (Eds.) Understanding practice: Perspectives on activity and context (pp.3–32). Boston , MA: Cambridge University Press.
• Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. New York: Cambridge University Press.
• Sfard, A. (1998). On two metaphors for learning and the dangers of choosing just one. Educational Researcher, 27(2), 4-13.
• Stahl, G., Koschmann, T., Suthers, D. (2006). Computer-supported collaborative learning: An historical perspective. In K. Sawyer (ed.) Handbook of the Learning Sciences (pp. 79–96), Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.