Imagining Educational Futures: How can Science of Learning Influence the Future of Education?

The second Imagining Educational Futures webinar was held on 24 April 2021. The main question this webinar sought to answer was “How can Science of Learning Influence the Future of Education?”

Educators are beginning to ask fundamental questions around how we learn and what helps us to learn. In the field of the Science of Learning, researchers seek to understand underlying mechanisms of learning, solve educational problems in practice, and maximise every learner’s potential. The webinar touched on how technological and scientific advances in the science of learning can be used to help translate the findings for more effective teaching and learning.

The speakers, in order of appearance, were:

1. Emeritus Laureate Professor John Hattie, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne, who spoke on “COVID-19 and the Science of Learning”;

2. Assoc Prof Gigi Luk, Associate Professor at the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology at McGill University, who discussed “Linguistic Diversity in Education: The Need for Transdisciplinary Research”; and

3. Asst Prof Teo Wei-Peng, Assistant Professor in the Physical Education and Sports Science Academic Group in NIE, who wrapped up the series of presentations by asking the audience to consider: “Is Neuroimaging Ready for the Classroom?”.

Dr Dennis Kwek, Centre Director of the  Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice and Assoc Dean (Strategic Engagement) at the Office of Education Research (OER), NIE, was the host for the session, and Asst Prof Azilawati Jamaludin, from the Learning Sciences & Assessment Academic Group, and OER Asst Dean (Science of Learning), NIE, moderated the engaging panel discussion at the end of the session. The webinar was attended by over 187 people across the world.

Watch the recording of the session here: