CAREER: Flexible Learning Inside and Outside the Classroom

University Of Texas At Austin, Austin TX

Investigators

Abstract

Imagine a child who encounters a sea lion for the first time and learns that it is a mammal. What do they retain and abstract from this experience? How do they use this knowledge to make sense of future examples? With the funding of an NSF CAREER Award, Dr. Bradley Love will develop a general model of human learning to account for learning from examples and direct instruction. The model represents human knowledge in terms of natural bundles of information, referred to as clusters. For instance knowledge of mammals might consist of several clusters to include primates, four-legged mammals, sea lions and whales, bats, and so on. The models learning procedures alter clusters to suit learners' variety of goals. For instance the goals with respect to sea lions of a marine biologist and fishing-vessel captain can be quite different and knowledge is organized to reflect such differences. Behavioral studies involving undergraduate and primary school students will test the model's predictions. The integration of research and education figures prominently in this CAREER project. Dr. Love's undergraduate research courses will center on the actual experiments that involve primary school students. For instance classroom lessons in experimental design will involve considering and critiquing the designs of these primary school studies. Undergraduates will assist in the actual research and undergraduate students will participate in outreach activities to provide primary school students, teachers, and parents with an understanding of psychology as a science. These combined activities are all aimed to advance our understanding of human learning, increase the effectiveness of classroom learning, and educate undergraduates and the community at large about the science of learning.