Meltzoff, A. N. (2007, September). The social nature of the preverbal mind. Invited address presented at the international conference of Developing Brain, Emerging Mind, sponsored by the Academy of Finland, Helsinki, Finland.
Kuhl, P. K. (September, 2007). Language, bilingualism, and the infant brain. University of Helsinki Conference, Developing Brain, Emerging Mind, Helsinki, Finland.
Kuhl, P. K. (September, 2007). Neuroplasticity for language in infancy. NSF Workshop, Opportunities and Challenges for Language Learning and Education, Washington, DC.
Mertl, V., McCarthy, L., Levias, S. & Stevens, R. (2007, August 30). “‘The way she does? NO.”: Intergenerational Influences in Everyday Family Financial Matters.” Paper presented at the 12th Biennial European Association for Learning and Instruction (EARLI) 2007 Conference in Budapest, HUNGARY as part of the session entitled “Situated Learning.”
ABSTRACT: This study explores how families make financial decisions, focusing on the knowledge, resources, and practices shared between family members. Using ethnographic methods, we examined everyday discussions and activities about finances in the homes of eight families. These ranged from routine bill-paying practices and budgeting to major decisions, such as the selection of high-premium insurance policies and saving for a child’s college education. Individual and group observations and interviews permitted us to assess the dynamics of the family as well as the perspectives of each family member. Studies have shown that what people learn and how people learn differs in important ways across informal and formal settings (Bransford et al., 2006). Therefore, it is important to understand how individuals create their own activities and pathways to learning. In this proposal, we explore how family members construct narratives around their financial practices and the intergenerational influences that affect these narratives. How has upbringing oriented both parents’ and children’s learning around money and finances? How do parental practices shape children’s conceptions and practices around money matters? Our findings suggest multiple ways of learning that occur in family financial practices including an apprenticeship model where young children adopt parental financial practices (Rogoff, 2003). We also found young people using their parents’ practices reflexively as a resource for developing alternative practices.
Researcher: Andrew N. Meltzoff
Dr. Andrew Meltzoff presented a keynote address and led a discussion with 450 industry leaders, policymakers, and educators in Clark County, Washington. This event pulled together business leaders, educators, and librarians with high impact on the learning sciences in pre-K to 12th grade in this county.
Researchers: Patricia Kuhl
Governor Christine Gregoire sponsored a conference on “Early Learning in Washington State” on the University of Washington campus on September 24-25 for 500 educators, policy-makers, and scientists. Patricia Kuhl gave the keynote addresses at the opening day of the conference. Dr. Kuhl’s address concerned new developments in the science of early learning and its implications for society. She presented studies on language learning, bilingualism, and brain measures of the future that will have implications for policy and our nation’s schools and workplaces.
Researcher: Patricia Kuhl
The science of learning is changing how architects design spaces for learning. Classrooms, businesses that require group collaboration as well as private contemplation are increasingly looking for architectural designs that allow social interaction during work and learning activities. Dr. Patricia Kuhl gave a keynote address to the more than 700 attendees on the science behind language learning in children and adults to increase awareness of the value of social exchange during communication. Dr. Kuhl led a discussion on designs for communication, particularly when participants who are engaging in collaborative work speak different primary languages.
Philip Bell and the Everyday Science and Technology Group presented their research findings to the University of Washington’s Teacher Education Program (TEP) annual faculty retreat on September 17, 2007. The talk, entitled “Discovering and supporting successful learning pathways of children in and out of school”, sparked discussion between the ESTG group and the TEP faculty on implications of diverse out of school learning pathways for in school teaching and learning. Since the retreat, Bell and members of his team have been asked to lead discussions about their work in courses in the Teacher Education Program.
Researchers: Patricia Kuhl, Toshiaki Imada
The development of brain imaging technology that is completely safe, noiseless, and noninvasive for young, awake children will promote advances in the science of development learning. I-LABS scientists Patricia Kuhl and Toshi Imada are collaborating with scientists at the Helsinki Technical University and Elekta Neuromag to develop MEG technology for infants and children. Dr. Kuhl presented information to a group of 50 Finnish scientists from studies and methods used to test awake infants on cognitive tasks, and scientists from the University’s Low Temperature lab shared the latest in head-tracking software that can be used in measurements of children.
Bell, P., Reeve, S. & Zimmerman, H. T., (2007, August 25). Understanding Children’s Everyday Science Learning Through Analysis of Home Science Kit Activity. Paper presented at the European Science Education Research Association (ESERA) 2007 Annual Meeting as part of the session “Everyday, unstructured talk that explains scientific phenomena.” (Molly Reisman, chair), Malmo, Sweden.
Abstract. As part of a larger ethnographic research project on children’s everyday learning of science and technology, twelve upper elementary and early middle school children were videotaped working on commercial science kits at home. The informal home setting, combined with the formal, designed nature of the kits, gives unique insight into how children learn scientific content and processes, both in and out of school. This paper focuses on two of the children, an 11-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl. The cases were selected from the broader set as examples of how the science kit activity highlighted aspects of learners’ identities as well as the diverse learning arrangements in which the child participated. We found interesting connections between the scientific practices the children adopted while using the science kits at home and their practices in other contexts. We also found that the involvement level of peers and family members differed in ways that reflect broader interactions in the home, and seem to affect children’s ideas about learning and hands-on science. This work has implications for how children engage with science activities in a variety of formal and informal contexts.
Download: CONFERENCE PAPER: Understanding Children’s Everyday Science Learning Through Analysis of Home Science Kit Activity
