In the US, the Science of Learning centers Program of the US National Science Foundation sustains 6 Science of Learning Centers:
- Center for Learning in Informal and Formal Environments (LIFE) (see older post)
- Pittsburgh Science of Learning Center for Robust Learning (PSLC) “The Science of Learning Centers Program supports multidisciplinary efforts to advance fundamental knowledge about learning in humans, other animals, and machines. The goals of the program are to make transformative advances in learning through integrated research, and to connect the knowledge to education, technology and workforce challenges.”).Specifically, The Pittsburgh Science of Learning Centers (PSLC) two main goals are to enhance scientific understanding of robust learning in educational settings and to create a research facility to support field-based experimentation, data collection and data mining. PSLC is advancing both basic research on learning in knowledge-rich settings and applied research by contributing to a scientific basis for the design and engineering of educational approaches that should have a broad and lasting effect on student achievement. In many studies of learning and in many educational settings, learning is assessed immediately following instruction using test items like those presented in instruction. In contrast to such immediate learning assessment, we seek methods to produce and measure robust learning, by which we mean learning that is retained for long durations, transfers to novel situations, or aids future learning (Barnett & Ceci, 2002; Bransford & Schwartz, 1999; Singley & Anderson, 1989). In contrast to the education wars that have plagued progress in the learning sciences and in educational practice, we do not pit foundational skill building against sense-making and conceptual understanding, but instead believe we must address both to improve robust learning. These wars continue, in part, because we do not have adequate scientific basis to guide educational decision-making. We need rigorous, sustained scientific research in education, as called for by the National Research Council (Shavelson & Towne, 2002), and a key part of such sustained research is to better unify and integrate the proliferating variety of todays educational and learning science theories. As the saying goes, many theories in the learning sciences are like your toothbrush: everyone has one and no one uses anyone elses. Amongst the group’s publications, a large number deals with tutoring systems.
- Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center (SILC). The Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center (SILC) brings together scientists and educators from Temple University, Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to pursue the overarching goals of Understanding spatial learning, Using this knowledge to develop programs and technologies that will transform educational practice, helping learners to develop the skills required to compete in a global economy.
- The Temporal Dynamics of Learning Center (TLC). TDLC is a Science of Learning Center (SLC), one of six SLCs funded by the National Science Foundation. The purpose of TDLC is to understand how the element of time and timing is critical for learning, and to apply this understanding to improve educational practice. Our aim is to achieve an integrated understanding of the role of time and timing in learning, across multiple scales, brain systems, and social systems. The scientific goal of the center is therefore to understand the temporal dynamics of learning, and to apply this understanding to improve educational practice.
- Visual Language and Visual Learning Center (VL2). The purpose of VL2 is to gain a greater understanding of the biological, cognitive, linguistic, sociocultural, and pedagogical conditions that influence the acquisition of language and knowledge through the visual modality.
- CELEST. Center of excellence for learning in education, science and technology. CELEST seeks to understand the fundamental processes that underlie human learning by studying dynamic interactions within and among brain regions. Interdisciplinary research teams study how the brain learns to Plan, Explore, Communicate and Remember...CELEST is creating a new paradigm for educating graduate and undergraduate students in systems neuroscience by connecting biological knowledge about brains to an understanding of intelligent behavior through neural and computational models. Project teams will combine efforts across the modalities of modeling, experimentation, and technology transfer.