AAAS hosts one-day symposium on neuroscience and education in Washington

On May 14, the American Association for the Advancement of Science hosted a one day symposium on neuroscience and education: “This day-long symposium, co-sponsored by AAAS and the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, exposed the AAAS Fellows, and other attendees, to the emerging field of Educational Neuroscience (also known as Mind Brain and Education or Neuroeducation) and how new research in neuroscience and psychology can make a difference in how we teach and learn. Neuroscience and its relationship to policy has also been a popular topic in the media recently, as seen by the multiple articles in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Time Magazine, Science, etc. following President Obama’s announcement of the BRAIN Initiative.”

The keynote presentation was given by Mariale Hardimanand speakers included Laura-Ann Petitto, Guinevere Eden, Brett Miller, Laurie Cutting, Robert Slavin, and Layne Kalbfleisch.

The program for the symposium can be found here, and materials from the symposium, including videos and slide presentations, can be found here.

Study launched into effects of mobile phone use in teenagers

CEN researchers Iroise Dumontheil and Michael Thomas are part of a team which this week launched a study to investigate the effects of mobile phone use in teenagers. The study, led by Imperial College, was commissioned by the Department of Health and funded by Government and industry. It will will investigate whether mobile phones and wireless technologies affect children’s cognitive development. The study will track 2,500 11- and 12-year-olds from September, examining their cognitive ability – thinking skills, memory and attention – and then repeat the tests in 2017. See here for BBC coverage of the study launch.

 

New: 1-day workshop on 14 March

The CEN is running a 1-day workshop on current research in educational neuroscience, aimed primarily at PhD students working in education, psychology, neuroscience, and related areas. Themes will cover literacy, mathematics, science, and intervention studies. For further information, see main menu above.

Bishop blogs on educational neuroscience

Professor Dorothy Bishop at the University of Oxford writes a much-followed blog on psychology and cognitive neuroscience. Recently she wrote about her scepticism with respect to claims made for educational neuroscience. See her blog here. Read the comments underneath her blog for responses from researchers working within educational neuroscience, including among others Daniel Ansari, Chloe Marshall, and Michael Thomas, as well as psychologists such as Frank Ramus, and authors who have written on education such as Daniel Willingham.

Here is the cartoon Dorothy used to accompany her piece!

cartoon rats

 

Educational neuroscience around the world

The Royal Society of Canada (RSC), the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) have collaborated to organize a timely symposium on the topic of “Brain Plasticity, Learning and Education.” The symposium will take place from June 14 to June 16 at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. See here for further information.

Currently, Canada and Israel have a number of groups investigating issues related to brain plasticity, learning, and education, from animal models, to research on the development of cognitive abilities in the human brain. Such research is becoming increasingly important as nations begin to appreciate the role of education in the knowledge economy.

See here and here for recent CEN publications on brain plasticity and education.

Swiss Cottage Special School website now live

Swiss Cottage School is an outstanding school in the London Borough of Camden, accommodating 232 children aged 2-19 with complex learning difficulties, emotional, behavioral and communication difficulties and those with Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC).

It is also a Teaching School, leading an alliance of schools and other partners to develop quality of teaching and learning and pupil progress across a number of schools in the borough and beyond.

The CEN is collaborating with the School to further the dialogue between educators and neuroscientists.

See http://swisscottage.camden.sch.uk/