Science of Learning in Education Centre (SoLEC) hosts Assoc Prof Michela Marinelli from The University of Texas at Austin for a seminar on teaching and learning

On 15 October 2026, the Science of Learning in Education Centre (SoLEC) at the National Institute of Education (NIE) hosted Assoc Prof Michela (Micky) Marinelli, Associate Professor of Neuroscience at The University of Texas at Austin, for a seminar titled “Teaching How to Think and Thinking How to Teach”. 

A/P Teo Wei Peng, Deputy Centre Director of SoLEC, hosted the session, which was attended by colleagues from SoLEC and the Ministry of Education (MOE). Prof Marinelli, whose research focuses on the neurobiology of addiction and motivation, shared how she draws on the science of learning to improve teaching in higher education. She introduced Analytical Skepticism, her undergraduate course that helps students recognise how bias can shape the design and interpretation of scientific studies, and for which she has received three teaching awards. The course uses live demonstrations that reveal students’ own biases, hands-on activities, and exercises that build towards increasingly complex problems. She also presented classroom data showing that what students prefer does not always match what helps them learn. Many students know that early practice quizzes, practice questions and class attendance improve their performance, yet still postpone or skip them. This gap between knowing and doing led her to build these activities into the course itself. The session ended with a lively discussion on whether these approaches could be adapted for younger learners. The seminar offered valuable insights into evidence-based teaching and opened possibilities for future collaboration between NIE and The University of Texas at Austin in the science of learning.