Designing new approaches to learning and development beyond "the basics”
In the coming decades, our workforce will need to acquire higher levels of literacy than ever before – they will need to go far beyond the three "R's" of reading, ‘riting and 'rithmetic. In addition, new kinds of literacies will be needed for individuals to succeed and excel as knowledge workers in the global economy. For example, those who possess "computational literacy" will be better equipped to navigate our technologically rich learning environments than those who do not. In addition to learning in formal environments such as K-12 schools, universities and workplaces, individuals will be exposed to multiple opportunities to learn in informal learning environments – virtual as well as actual. Those who take advantage of these elective learning opportunities will continue to grow and develop throughout their lifetimes. We seek to design new approaches to learning and teaching to respond to these challenges.
Examples
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Newly hired faculty member David Figlio, an expert on public economics and education policy and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, advances innovative policies for improving urban schools. His influential work on school accountability, standards, welfare policy and policy design has been published in leading journals and supported by major funders. |
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Associate professor David Rapp collaborates with Feinberg School of Medicine assistant professor Michael Wolf, a SESP Learning Sciences graduate, on a visionary program for health literacy. A current project to improve patients’ comprehension of medical information critical to their health received a $2 million grant from the National Institute of Aging and a $100,000 gift from the Satter Foundation. |
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Through the iLab network, SESP researchers are providing Illinois high school science students remote access to world-class scientific instruments at universities around the world. The iLab project in partnership with Massachusetts Institute for Technology received a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation. |