Education

Entrance into NAPLeS aids college’s visibility

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Members of Penn State’s College of Education, in their quest to advance the learning sciences project, are learning how to learn about learning, and they want colleagues at other institutions — domestic and worldwide — to learn about the process by which that is occurring.

One method to increase international visibility and opportunities for international collaborations with other learning sciences sites is membership in the Network of Academic Programs in the Learning Sciences (NAPLeS).

NAPLeS attempts to foster high-quality learning sciences programs internationally through several mechanisms that support teaching and learning. According to its website, they are:

Examples of syllabi used in existing learning sciences programs; resources prepared by renowned learning scientists on specific topics in the learning sciences; visiting scholarships for students in learning sciences programs other than their own; and international supervision of doctoral research.

Penn State’s recent acceptance into NAPLeS fulfilled a College of Education goal to have a footprint within the association and begin to have some leadership roles. Richard Duschl, the Kenneth B. Waterbury chaired professor in secondary education, is spearheading with Scott McDonald the learning sciences program initiative at Penn State.

“If I had to pick one phrase that would sort of get at this, it’s that over time we have learned how to learn about learning,” Duschl said.

“And we have learned how to learn about learning both as the process of young children but we’ve also learned about how to learn about the world that we’re living in. There’s been a rapid pace in technology that’s given us a whole new set of tools to observe and measure the world, and that has opened up the opportunity to learn how to learn about the world and learn about learning.”

Membership within NAPLeS already has aided Marcela Borge, assistant professor of education. “I’ve had at least two Ph.D. students contact me because they found our school and the research that I do from NAPLeS,” Borge said.

Last Updated October 24, 2017

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