Funding research into how humans learn

Thanks to $16 million from the Australian Government, the Science of Learning Research Centre will open this year.

Funded through the Australian Research Council’s Special Research Initiatives scheme, the Centre will use neuroscience, education and psychology to better understand how students learn.

The Centre, led by the University of Queensland, the University of Melbourne and the Australian Council for Educational Research, will draw on the expertise of education professionals and researchers from 16 organisations, including six Australian universities, in areas ranging from cognitive development to educational technology.

The centre will initially focus on school-age students; however, research at the centre will also look at learning across the life stages from early childhood to tertiary education to old age.

One aim of the research will be to develop better ways of assessing learning. Learning outcomes are currently assessed with behavioural tests that involve question and answer assessments - get the answers right and you are deemed to have learned something. But lack of performance does not necessarily mean lack of learning.

Research will include looking at issues relating to Indigenous learners, learners in regional and remote locations, learners from diverse backgrounds as well as the role of digital technology in education.

The scientific evidence will then be used to inform teachers’ practice in classrooms and ensure that the research agenda draws upon teachers’ expertise and experience.