Learning Sciences :: Course Descriptions

Course Descriptions

LRN_SCI 401		Cognition and Learning Examines the content and structure of memory and the cognitive processes whereby information is acquired and manipulated in a range of cognitive tasks from remembering to problem solving. Includes attention to educational applications of cognitive learning principles.

LRN_SCI 402		Social Dimensions of Teaching and Learning Students' relationships with one another and with teachers in school and non-school settings. Implications for classroom instruction of social learning theory, student diversity, classroom climate, cooperative and competitive goal structures, and the processes of attribution and achievement motivation.

LRN_SCI 403		Learning in Context: Cognitive Science Foundations of the Learning Sciences Cognitive and social science theories of how people learn to understand, reason and solve problems. Implications for the design of classroom learning environments; learning in real scenarios for investigating central issues in cognitive science. Learning in mathematics, science, reading/writing and informal reasoning.

LRN_SCI 425		Introduction to Design for the Learning Sciences: Designing Educational Experiences Building the skills and knowledge necessary to support the design of educational experiences. Exploration of general design principles and learning sciences theoretical perspectives through examination of existing cases of instructional design, and a design project focused on conducting a needs analysis, specifying learning objectives, and designing a new educational experience.

LRN_SCI 426		Technological Tools for Thinking and Learning Constructionist approach to design. Participants discuss learning design literature, critique software, and design and build computer-based learning environment (CBLE). Student LE designs can include microworlds, goal-based scenarios, games, robots, and complex systems models among many others working primarily in Logo, NetLogo, and NetLogoLab.

LRN_SCI 427		Teaching and Design of Learning Environments An introduction to issues in the design, enactment, and study of innovative classroom-based learning environments; focus on teachers' and administrators' work as acts of design.

LRN_SCI 428		Introduction to Quantitative Research Methods and Design This course is designed to teach students the fundamental concepts of quantitative research design, how to develop scientific hypotheses, and how to design experimental, quasi-experimental, or correlational studies to test hypotheses. The course will also introduce students to basic statistical concepts such as the logic of hypothesis testing, t-tests, ANOVAs, correlation, and regression. Research examples from education, human development, and social policy will be highlighted.

LRN_SCI 429		Design of Learning Environments Issues in designing and studying innovative learning environments. New models of classroom interaction, particularly using technology to enable new cognitive and social roles for students. Topics include simulations, tutors, computer-mediated communication and project-based learning approaches. Theoretical motivations in cognitive and social interaction learning theories, empirical studies evaluating their effectiveness and prospects for propagation of such innovations.

LRN_SCI 434		Teacher Thinking and Learning Recent research on teacher cognition, how teacher knowledge is organized and accessed and relationship between knowledge and practices. Investigate novice and veteran teachers learning.

LRN_SCI 435		New Approaches to Science Teaching This course will review current ideas about reforms in science education, drawing on recent research on science learning and instructional innovation, and on reform documents such as national standards. We will examine approaches that attempt to teach science throughout K-12 as a knowledge-building practice, i.e., by engaging in scientific investigations and participating in scientific practices such as argumentation, explanation, and working with scientific model. The course will provide experience in understanding student thinking, articulating learning goals, and analyzing and adapting curriculum materials in light of current research-based view of science learning.

LRN_SCI 438		Teaching with Technology Conceptual strategies for integrating technology into effective pedagogy and practical strateties for employing technology in classrooms. Includes hands-on experience with technology and a design project. Visit course web site.

LRN_SCI 451		Topics in Learning Sciences Current research topics in the learning sciences. Topics vary. May be repeated for credit with change in topic.

LRN_SCI 451		Journal Club Journal Club is an opportunity for academic communities to get together to read and discuss research articles from the literature. Articles are chosen, read, and discussed because those involved are interested in keeping up with current literature in the field and not because the articles are required reading for a course. When Louis Gomez and Brian Reiser began Journal Club several years ago, it was in order to support an intellectual community of researchers in learning sciences across project groups while supporting students in learning to read journal articles critically. Journal Club is designed to be an informal (yet informative) activity. To that end, students are required to read the article for the day and be prepared to substantively contribute to a discussion of it.

LRN_SCI 451		Curriculum, Culture & Policy Current research topics in the learning sciences. Topics vary. May be repeated for credit with change in topic.

LRN_SCI 451		Field Methods Current research topics in the learning sciences. Topics vary. May be repeated for credit with change in topic.

LRN_SCI 451		Advanced Qualitative Methods Current research topics in the learning sciences. Topics vary. May be repeated for credit with change in topic.

LRN_SCI 451		Digital Literacies & Learning This course is designed to provide a deliberative space for education researchers and professionals to explore the "new literacies" and key sociotechnical practices that constititue life online for many young people, and to do so with an eye toward what these practices mean for learning and schooling. Besides engaging in in-depth discussions of the most current research literature in the field, you will have an opportunity to conduct a course project that could be either (1) an empirical study of some topic related to new media literacy and learning or (2) developing a piece of educational design that incorporates new media to promote particular learning or educational goals.

LRN_SCI 451		Professional Development in Teacher Learning Current research topics in the learning sciences. Topics vary. May be repeated for credit with change in topic.

LRN_SCI 451		Changing Conceptions of Science Learning Current research topics in the learning sciences. Topics vary. May be repeated for credit with change in topic.

LRN_SCI 451		Field Methods This course is designed to introduce students to qualitative research, including field work, interviewing, and document analysis. Students will explore qualitative research approaches by undertaking their own research study as well as reading and discussing relevant writing on the subject.

LRN_SCI 451		Topics in Organizations, Institutions, and Society: Persistence and Change Among Public, Private, and Non-Profit Settings This new graduate seminar will introduce theories of institutional persistence and change in the context of public, private, and nonprofit settings. The course is organized as a seminar and will blend foundational studies in institutional theory with contemporary work from sociology, organization sciences, education, and nonprofit studies. An overarching theme of the course addresses how new practices and organizational forms spread (diffusion), how they stick (institutionalization), and how they take the form that they do (emergence). Topics covered will include accountability and performance; organizational learning; contemporary debates about social mechanisms; and micro-foundations of institutional theory. Ideally, this course will provide a platform for students to develop and advance their own research projects, in the form of a research proposal for beginning doctoral students, or an empirical analysis for more advanced students.

LRN_SCI 451		Statistical Natural Language Processing for Education Research In educational research, our data frequently consists of large bodies of text, often in the form of transcriptions of spoken language. Currently, analysis of these texts is normally done by hand. However, an increasing number of computer-based tools and techniques now make it possible to automate analysis of texts, and to perform analyses that were previously not possible. The purpose of this course is to introduce graduate students in educational research to these new tools. We will start with an introduction to the Python programming language, and some very basic techniques from statistical natural language processing. We will then explore a range of specific approaches that have particular promise for educational research. Throughout, the approach will be practical and hands-on. Unlike most graduate courses in education, there will be few course readings. Instead, weekly assignments will consist of programming and analysis tasks that make use of real text corpora. No prior programming expertise is required, but a willingness to learn and engage in programming is an absolute necessity.

LRN_SCI 451		Educational Policy: Design, Implementation, and Effects School reform has become a regular fixture in public, professional, and academic deliberations about our nation's schools. In the past couple of decades, educational reform proposals have grown significantly as both state and federal governments have become increasingly interested in developing education policies. This course will provide students with an introduction to key issues in K-12 educational policy. The course is designed to develop students’ abilities to examine, analyze, and critique education policies, education policy-making, and education policy implementation. Further, students will develop an appreciation for issues relating to policy effects. Given the vastness of the terrain, the course will be grounded in three education policy/reform initiatives that have gained considerable currency over the past decade: (1) Standards and Accountability (2) Teacher Quality (3) School Choice - Vouchers and Charter Schools

LRN_SCI 452		Constructionist Learning Close reading of constructionist sources and of sources that have had significant impact on constructionist thought.

LRN_SCI 463		Topics in Research Methods Methodological approaches to research on learning-teaching environment implementation. Methods for examining processes of change and adoption of educational interventions in various settings.

LRN_SCI 477		Philosophical and Historical Foundations of Education Reform In this course we will investigate the patterns that emerge in major reform movements of the past century. After considering the early evolution of universal schooling in America, we turn to the scientific management reforms of the early 20th century, John Dewey and the Progressive school movement, the curricular critiques of math and science education of the Sputnik era, the critiques of American schooling from the 1960's to 80's, and the resurgence of the constructivist teaching movement and the hopes for educational technology in the current milieu.