Hot Topics Workshops

In addition to developing and testing principles about the social foundations of learning through primary research, the LIFE Center promotes engagement with a variety of “Hot Topics” in the learning sciences by sponsoring workshops that address important issues in the field.

About Hot Topics Workshops
Past Workshop: Diversity as a Research Construct
Upcoming Workshop: Implementation Research
Upcoming Workshop: LIFE Research Commons

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About Hot Topics Workshops

LIFE Hot Topics Workshops bring together experts in the field to:

  • Spark conversations in the learning science community on how to conceptualize and frame the context of the research
  • Increase the knowledge base and capacity in the field regarding of complex topics that need to be treated appropriately to advance research and learning, such as culture, race, language, economic status and language
  • Expand learning science research to bring such issues into the mainstream
  • Create a forum for new collaborations that bring diversity issues to the forefront of learning science research.
  • Develop tools and standards to guide research to ensure results can be aggregated across studies.
  • Create guidelines that (a) reviewers can follow to judge the merits of proposed research in terms of how well it addresses or studies diversity, and (b) provide criteria for reporting and writing about diversity
  • Create a web-based resource on diversity and research for the field at large.

The LIFE Center’s first Hot Topics Workshop focused on Diversity as a Research Construct and was held in January 2008 at the University of Washington. More information on past and planned Hot Topics workshops is provided below.

Past Workshop: Diversity as a Research Construct

Bringing issues of culture, race, diversity, and language into the mainstream of learning science research was at the forefront of the LIFE Center’s first Hot Topics workshop, which was held January 11-12, 2008 at the University of Washington.

Participants at were asked to share relevant findings from their own work and juxtapose them with findings of other participants in order to identify points of agreement and disagreement. Participants generated key questions for conceptualizing the context of learning science research and discussed how these questions could shape the design of new learning environments.

The conference grew out of LIFE’s longstanding commitment to diversity. The concept is woven into projects by including subjects from a range of ethnic and economic backgrounds, and by emphasizing opportunities for women and minorities and the institutions where they study or work. LIFE also collaborates with external partners, such as schools and universities, which enable research in economically and racially diverse populations.

“We’re seeing that diversity gives you innovation and creativity,” said LIFE Co-Director John Bransford. In some arenas, “diversity is seen as a problem. We see it as an opportunity if people can break through the barriers and see things that are invisible to one group that are visible when people come together and share experiences.”

Upcoming Workshop: Implementation Research

Implementation Research is a line of work with tremendous potential for supporting the translation of research into practice. The LIFE Implementation Research workshop aims harness this potential for the learning sciences field by addressing the issues involved in conducting such investigations.

Implementation Research is multilevel and must consider phenomena such as individual and group prior knowledge, formal organization and informal social structure, and institutional pressures. IR can move the field toward a “science of broader impact (or a science of context)” by studying the translation of principles into practice in different contexts and by adding an innovation lens to theories of diffusion. By describing the conditions necessary for sustainable adoption and how innovations may generalize across schools, IR can enable a more enlightened interaction between research and policy.

Upcoming Workshop: Research Commons

There is exciting work growing around the “open source” approach to designing, developing, and distributing scientific tools and knowledge upon which LIFE will build in its upcoming Research Commons workshop. LIFE is exploring the scientific and educational potential of an “open-source” styled research commons for the learning sciences that supports:

  • Researchers in sharing and collaborating on rich data and analyzes of learning along with the underlying methodological protocols and coding frameworks—as an infrastructure for theoretical synthesis; and
  • Formal and informal educators to professionally engage with pedagogically structured rich case studies of learning — as an infrastructure for professional development

Concrete work being contemplated consists of looking across projects and methodologies to focus on the development and use of (a) data capture tools and techniques for following learning across settings; (b) tools and techniques for representing learning phenomena across settings and different times scales; and (c) bridging tools for educators allowing them to make learning visible and coordinate learning across settings.


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