The UIC Faculty of Education is bringing together renowned international experts from the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard and Wisconsin for the First International Scientific Seminar in the Learning Sciences, the first conference of its kind held in Spain. The interdisciplinary programme will highlight leading thinkers on the subject matter, including Anne Edwards, Courtney Cazden, Linda Hargreaves and Carol D. Lee.
The seminar was inaugurated on Friday, 1 February 2013, and will run until May. It will focus on the analysis of scientific learning methodologies based on dialogue and interaction that can help improve academic performance, reduce the school dropout rate and promote social cohesion.
The learning sciences is a pioneering line of research in the United States dedicated to furthering scientific understanding of the learning process so that findings can be used in the design of evidence-based learning environments. This interdisciplinary field of study is strongly connected to cognitive and socio-cultural psychology and also draws on knowledge areas such as anthropology, neuroscience and linguistics.
Little work has been done on the learning sciences in Europe and the field is practically unknown in Spain. For the first time, the leaders in this field, such as Anne Edwards from the University of Oxford, Courtney Cazden from the Harvard University and Linda Hargreaves from the University of Cambridge, will meet on the UIC's Barcelona campus to discuss this topic in Spain for the first time. The seminar was inaugurated on Friday, 1 February 2013, with the session by Anne Edwards.
Dr. Sandra Racionero, the Scientific Director of the seminar and Head of Research at the Faculty of Education, said, "There is a real need to transfer this scientific knowledge to educational practice with the aim of rejecting superstitions and improving learning in the classroom to ensure the educational success of all students". Racionero has a double Doctorate Degree in Educational Psychology and Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and her research focuses on the analysis of communicative interaction in dialogic-learning environments, with special emphasis on interactive groups.
Dr. Albert Arbós, the dean of the UIC Faculty of Education, said, "The Faculty believes strongly in this line of research. Seminars like this one help consolidate our curriculum and train future teachers and researchers through top-level international activities”.
