Research in Practice!

By Megan Sumeracki

The Learning Agency has created videos of researchers and teachers working together to implement the science of learning into the classroom. These videos are brand new today!! You can check out Learning Agency Videos here.

As a researcher deeply interested in student learning, it is extremely exciting for me to see decades of research put into practice in classrooms. We Learning Scientists are also very strong advocates for bidirectional communication between those conducting research on learning and those engaging in student learning in classrooms and other settings. So, imagine my excitement about a project that brings researchers and teachers together in real live classrooms to work together to implement science-backed learning strategies… to say the project has been fun and rewarding is still an understatement!

For about a year and a half, the Learning Agency has been working on a project to bring the science of learning into classrooms around the US, and to create videos about the experience. I’ve written about this project before, discussing lessons from bringing the science of learning into the field and about nuanced issues surrounding learning styles and dual coding in practice. Working closely with these teachers and being able to observe the classrooms has really helped me to learn about the challenges of implementing the science of learning in the classroom.

Working together as a team from diverse backgrounds and expertise has really made for a strong project. Researchers included myself, Dr. Yana Weinstein-Jones, one of the Learning Scientists co-founders), Dr. Regan Gurung, and Dr. Stephen Chew. We even figured out how to use Dual Coding in an English classroom. Before this project, I might not have been so quick to recommend this particular strategy for English and related subjects, but together we made it work very well.

Example, dual coding video

Check out the Learning Agency website to see the BRAND NEW videos about how the science of learning strategies can be put into practice!!