National Science Foundation funds new Science of Learning Center
An interdisciplinary group led by researcher Michael Gazzaniga has received
a $21.8 million National Science Foundation
grant to establish the Center for
Cognitive and Educational Neuroscience (CCEN), as part of NSF's new Science
and Learning Center (SLC) initiative. Researchers and students involved in the
CCEN will work to understand the brain mechanisms of learning as well as build
collaborations to implement learning techniques among K-12 students and
teachers.
Michael Gazzaniga, David T. McLaughlin Distinguished Professor of Psychological
and Brain Sciences and the Director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience.
(photo by Joseph Mehling '69)
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This five-year award, which may be renewed, represents the largest
peer-reviewed research grant ever made to the College.
"We want to build bridges between the researchers who study brain
activity involved in learning and the teachers who need a deeper understanding
of learning processes," said Gazzaniga, the David T. McLaughlin
Distinguished Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences
and the Director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience. "Our goal is to
carry out basic research on how people learn and to connect scientists with the
practitioners to effect meaningful change in the lives of students."
Dartmouth's SLC, the Center for Cognitive and Educational Neuroscience
(CCEN) draws from numerous faculty experts and benefits from strong community
collaborations. The new center blends research initiatives with outreach
activities to capitalize on existing partnerships and forge new relationships
that resonate throughout the academic communities, for K-12 students, parents,
teachers and their counterparts in higher education.
"Dartmouth is pleased to play a role in developing this critical NSF
initiative," said Dartmouth
President James Wright. "We salute the leadership of a committed group
of faculty, led by Professor Michael Gazzaniga, in advancing this project. It
will meet an important national need and will build upon Darmouth's strengths
in the brain sciences, our interdisciplinary culture and our commitment to
learning and teaching."
More than 30 professors, students and staff will be involved with the
project and several departments and programs at the College will have ties to
the CCEN, including the departments of Education, Mathematics, Psychological
and Brain Sciences, the Native
American Studies program and the Dartmouth College Library. A
partnership with professionals at the Montshire Museum of Science, a rural,
hands-on science museum located in Norwich, Vt., ensures a valuable connection
to teachers and educators in the community.
Currently, the National Science Foundation's SLC initiative encompasses four
core projects based around the country to enhance understanding of the human
learning process. Dartmouth joins Boston University, Carnegie Mellon University
and the University of Washington in this effort.
Lynne E. Bernstein, the NSF program officer for the Dartmouth center, said,
"CCEN is coordinating research in four content areas-language, science,
reading and math-with close partnerships in education research and classrooms.
Advanced methods such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) will be
used to identify the brain mechanisms involved as people learn in these basic
content areas."
The four co-principal investigators, Scott Grafton, Director of the
Dartmouth Brain Imaging
Center and Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences; Laura-Ann
Petitto, Chair of the Department of
Education, Professor of Education and Research Professor of Psychological
and Brain Sciences; Kevin Dunbar, Professor of Education and Psychological and
Brain Sciences; and Todd Heatherton, Champion International Professor and Chair
of Psychological and Brain Sciences will be senior scientists involved in the
CCEN.
The heart of CCEN will support basic research projects at Dartmouth such as
investigations into language acquisition and bilingualism, reading and
literacy, the neurocognitive paths of number development and skill retention,
the social aspects of learning and adolescent brain development and social
behavior. The researchers will also work with leaders of Dartmouth's Native
American Studies program to further develop existing relationships with Native
American communities, encourage Native American students to become involved
with the center, and apply CCEN findings to Native American communities.
"Our approach turns the whole issue of how people learn on its
head," said Gazzaniga. "Instead of treating the brain as a black box
and asking what is the best type of learning environment, we ask what are the
optimal ways in which the human brain learns, including what types of
information does the brain require to learn effectively, when are the optimal
periods of learning in development, and what types of changes occur in the
brain that facilitate and promote learning?"
By SUSAN KNAPP
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