LEARNING SCIENCES MINOR

Students choosing to minor in the learning sciences will develop a deep understanding about how people learn.  The learning sciences is an interdisciplinary field with its roots in both education and psychology.  The goal of research in the learning sciences is to understand the full range of human learning: in school classrooms, but also in informal settings like homes, communities, museums, after-school clubs, sports teams, and performance ensembles.

Students will be able to use what they learn in the minor in a wide range of settings after graduation.  For example, students will be better prepared to engage in tutoring or mentoring activities, and to prepare workshops or presentations in their jobs.  Students will also gain a deeper understanding of how they learn, and will be able to use this knowledge throughout their lives as they continue lifelong learning.  The minor is excellent preparation for students intending to pursue master’s degrees in teaching.

The learning sciences minor brings together current faculty strengths in several Arts and Sciences departments, centered around the deeper understanding of how learning occurs, and how learning environments (including school classrooms but also many other non-school environments where learning occurs) can be better designed to build on cognitive and educational research and the increasing potential of new technologies.  Learning sciences is an interdisciplinary field, based primarily in cognitive psychology and educational psychology, but also drawing on anthropology, sociology, neuroscience and related content areas.

The learning sciences minor will be housed in the Department of Education.  The Department of Education already has several complementary programs: a doctoral concentration in the learning sciences for its doctoral students, and a planned Graduate Certificate Program for doctoral students in other departments.  In addition to these synergies within the Department of Education, the learning sciences minor is interdisciplinary—like the field itself—and will draw on the expertise faculty in other departments, particularly in psychology.  The goal of the learning sciences minor is to provide students with an opportunity to gain a working knowledge of the latest research on how children learn, and to be able to use that knowledge to design more effective learning environments.

Courses

The minor requires 18 credits total.  At least 12 of the credits must be in courses not used to satisfy the requirements of any other major or minor.  At least six of the credits must be in core courses.

Core Courses

All students must take “Introduction to the Learning Sciences” (3 units), and the other 3 units can be satisfied by either of the two psychology courses.  Note that Psych 100B is a prerequisite for both of the psychology courses; therefore, students have to take Psych 100B to complete the minor although it does not count toward the 18 credit total.

(Required) ED 205: Introduction to the Learning Sciences. 

PSYCH 360: Cognitive psychology.  Prerequisite: Psych 100B.

PSYCH 4302: Cognitive psychology applied to education.  Prerequisite: Psych 100B.

Elective Courses

ED 338: Computer technology in education (Sawyer)

ED 304: Educational psychology (Sawyer)

PSYCH 361: Psychology of learning (Green)

PSYCH 380: Human learning and memory (McDermott)

ED 4033: Using digital video technology to analyze learning (Elmesky)

ED 4414 Learning Technologies for Math and Science (Confrey)

ED 4415: Introduction to the Learning Sciences in Math,Science and Technology (Confrey)

ED 4055: Central Topics in Learning Sciences Research (Sawyer)

Faculty

David Balota, Psychology
Joe Barcroft, Romance Languages
Cynthia Brantmeier, Romance Languages
Jere Confrey, Education
Janet Duchek, Psychology
Larry Jacoby, Psychology
Mark McDaniel, Psychology
Kathleen McDermott, Psychology
Steve Petersen, Psychology
Henry Roediger, Psychology
Keith Sawyer, Education
Mitch Sommers, Psychology
William Tate, Education
Rebecca Treiman, Psychology

For additional information or to declare a minor, contact Professor Keith Sawyer