Conference: Improving K-12 education with cutting-edge cognitive neuroscience research

New discoveries in the field of cognitive neuroscience hold great promise for improving current teaching methods. Yet there is a significant gap between such scientific discoveries and the application of this knowledge in the classroom. The New York Academy of Sciences and the Aspen Brain Forum Foundation will present a landmark conference on September 22-24, 2011 in Aspen, Colorado, "Cognitive Neuroscience of Learning: Implications for Education." The goal of this conference is to facilitate the translation of scientific discoveries about how children learn into new teaching methods, and will include a careful review of the current obstacles to applying these methods in the classroom, along with related emotional, sociological, and environmental issues.

The conference will feature a keynote lecture by Nobel Laureate Carl Wieman of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and a lecture for the public by Goldie Hawn, actress and founder of the Hawn Foundation. Plenary sessions and panel discussions during the three-day conference will address early childhood development and school readiness; reading and language learning and associated disorders such as dyslexia; acquisition of mathematical reasoning and how to effectively teach mathematics; development of executive functioning and how to improve attention; effects of poverty on learning and brain development; and how to effectively translate research findings about optimal learning into the classroom. For a full list of speakers and topics, visit www.nyas.org/Neuroeducation.

The scientific organizers of the conference are Drs Daphne Bavalier, University of Rochester; Adele Diamond, University of British Columbia; Bruce McCandliss, Vanderbilt University; and Kenneth Pugh, Haskins Laboratories.

Aspen Brain Forum Prize in NeuroEducation

The Aspen Brain Forum Foundation will award two prizes of $7,500 each in unrestricted funds to recognize innovation and excellence in translating discoveries from cognitive neuroscience into innovative curricula or tools that enhance learning. The prize categories are: 1) young investigator (at the post-doc/assistant professor level) and, 2) senior scientist. Applications will be reviewed by a multi-disciplinary committee of experts and are due by Friday, August 5, 2011.

WHAT: A two-day symposium: 'Cognitive Neuroscience of Learning: Implications for Education'

WHO:

Keynote Speakers:

• Goldie Hawn, actress and founder of the Hawn Foundation
• Carl Wieman, PhD, Nobel laureate, Associate Director of Science, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

Other presenters include cognitive neuroscientists, developmental psychologists, and education researchers and practitioners.

WHEN:

September 22 - 24, 2011 | 5:00 PM - 5:30 PM

WHERE:

The Aspen Institute

845 Meadows Road

Aspen, CO 81611

Media must RSVP:

Sonya Dougal, (212) 298-8682 sdougal@nyas.org

Provided by New York Academy of Sciences