Future of learning goes under the microscope

Fancy taking a peek inside the classroom of the future?

Australia's first Science of Learning Symposium, to be hosted by UQ's Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) next week, will shine a spotlight on how the latest advances in neuroscience can inform educational practice.

The two-day event will feature keynote addresses delivered by local and international experts, and the latest research in areas such as visual processing, auditory attention and cross-modal plasticity.

It will be held at QBI, based at The University of Queensland's St Lucia campus, on July 20 and 21, 2011.

Advances in technologies such as brain imaging have given neuroscientists a new understanding of brain function that has the potential to transform education in the same way biological understanding has transformed medicine, QBI Director Professor Perry Bartlett said.

“These new insights into how the brain learns provides the basis for developing new approaches and tools which could revolutionise the delivery of learning over the next decade,” he said.

“It has the potential to put Australia at the very forefront of innovation and to realise the education revolution.”

The event marks the entry into Australia of what is known internationally as ‘Science of Learning', a research initiative which aims to foster collaborations between educators and neuroscientists.

“It's about using the needs of classroom teachers to drive neuroscience research, and designing effective and practical learning techniques and tools based on neuroscientists' growing understanding of what happens in the brain when learning takes place,” Professor Bartlett said.

The US has already established a long-term Science of Learning program with a 500million USD budget over 10 years.

Many of the speakers at the July event will have flown in from the US to attend.

These include Professor Ennio Mingolla of the Center of Excellence for Learning in
Education, Science and Technology, Professor Kenneth Koedinger from the Pittsburgh Science of Learning Center, and Professor Gary Cottrell from the Temporal Dynamics of Learning Center.

QBI's Science of Learning Centre, launched last year, is one of the first steps towards building similar capabilities locally - but there remains an urgent need for Australia to increase its investment in this area.

“With the infrastructure in place to support collaborations between educators and neuroscientists, and increased investment in understanding the fundamental biology and physiology of the brain, we can look forward to an exciting time in learning discoveries,” Professor Bartlett said.

“This in turn leads to the very attractive prospect that the next generation of Australians will have the learning capacity to lead the world in discovery and innovation details.”

Provided by University of Queensland