Dr Adam John Privitera publishes three journal articles and joins UNESCO’s Global Alliance on the Science of Learning for Education

Dr Adam John Privitera, Education Research Scientist at the Science of Learning in Education Centre (SoLEC), co-published a journal article titled “Cognitive and neural mechanisms of learning and interventions for improvement across the adult lifespan: A systematic review” in the journal of Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. This is a systematic review that aimed to identify and synthesise all recent cognitive and brain research investigating learning during healthy aging in adulthood. The project described in the article was funded by the Ministry of Education, Singapore, with Dr Adam John Privitera as the Principal Investigator during his time at the Centre for Research and Development in Learning (CRADLE). The project was conducted in collaboration with Dr Sally Ng, Research Fellow at CRADLE and Professor Annabel Chen, Director of CRADLE.

He published another journal article titled “Bringing the Brain into Teacher Education: Supporting Neurotechnology Adoption and Effective Teaching in China” in the Beijing International Review of Education. Educational trends in China point to an interest in the adoption of neurotechnology to support learning. Although these tools hold tremendous potential, their adoption and use may be negatively impacted by teachers’ lack of knowledge about how the brain learns. In this article, he present an argument for providing teachers in China with training in the Science of Learning in preparation for the potential adoption of neurotechnology. While the specific professional development requirements needed to prepare teachers to use neurotechnology are unknown, teacher deficits in neuroscience knowledge, along with previously reported benefits make training in the Science of Learning an attractive solution. This training may also pave the way for school-university research collaborations that further our understanding of how the brain learns in the real world. Ethical considerations, and recommendations for training development and implementation are also discussed.

Dr Adam co-published another journal article titled “What do Chinese psychology majors know about brain research?” in the journal of Trends in Neuroscience and Education. China has recently emerged as a neuroscience leader. Given the absence of undergraduate neuroscience programs at most Chinese universities, future neuroscientists are likely to be recruited from psychology departments. Consequently, the question of whether these students possess neuroliteracy, an understanding about the brain and its functions, that may support their future training is an interesting topic for investigation. To investigate this question, we administered a neuroliteracy survey to a sample of undergraduate psychology majors enrolled in Chinese public universities (n = 546). Students were more accurate when identifying true statements, especially those related to plasticity, but performed worse when evaluating the authenticity of false statements. News reading was associated with higher overall neuroliteracy, and higher accuracy on false statements. This is the first investigation of neuroliteracy conducted in a student sample in China, with implications for the design of undergraduate psychology programs to support the development of this competency.

Lastly, Dr Adam was invited by UNESCO to join their Global Alliance on the Science of Learning for Education. The Global Alliance on the Science of Learning for Education is an international group of experts that speaks with a common and independent voice representing the scientific arm of UNESCO at high-level global political events to advocate for evidence-based policy formulation, planning and implementation. It also serves as a platform that brokers between scientists, policymakers and practitioners for global partnership-building and for synergising national fragmented efforts into a global knowledge ecosystem for the translation of scientific knowledge into applications for education policy and practice. Finally, it is an international community of practice for knowledge sharing, mutual learning, collaboration and capacity building, with a focus on supporting the development of professionals in Africa and other low- and middle-income countries. More information can be found at: https://glhconnect.unesco.org/launch-global-alliance-science-learning-education.