landb – Education & Teacher Conferences

On Task: How Our Brains Get Things Done by David Badre

landb

June 20, 2025

On Task: How Our Brains Get Things Done by David Badre

I’ve been staring at my to grade pile—essays, exams, books I’ve been meaning to read, skills I want to develop—and honestly, it’s not that I don’t want to begin. I just… can’t. I open a document, then blink, and suddenly it’s dinner time. I’ve read all the Getting Things Done books, but what is it that gets me On Task when I already know what to do? Sound like a familiar question? That tension between desire and initiation is exactly at the heart of David Badre’s On Task: How Our Brain Gets Things Done.

Badre, a cognitive neuroscientist, invites us into that murky space between knowing and doing. He shows how our brains—particularly the prefrontal cortex—juggle goals nested inside other goals (make coffee, generate a lesson plan, grade essays), and why that juggling sometimes comes crashing down. He doesn’t promise a self‑help checklist; instead, he offers compassionate clarity: our executive function is powerful and fragile, built for hierarchies, stability‑vs‑flexibility trade‑offs, and moment‑to‑moment cost‑benefit calculations. Badre is willing to wade into the philosophical and biological depths of what it means to have a mind at all.

Throughout the book, Badre asks: are we really steering our lives, or are we just riding the rails of our biology and past conditioning? When my students and I discuss biopsychology or epigenetics, we circle the same tension: with so much shaped by brain circuitry, classical conditioning, even the hidden influence of our genes and society—what does it mean to choose? Badre is honest about these boundaries. He uses case studies—like patients who, after prefrontal brain injury, can explain their intentions but can’t act on them—to explore the razor-thin margin where knowledge ends and true agency might begin. He draws on neuropsychological history, from Penfield’s sister to the famous EVR, and roots these questions in the living, vulnerable architecture of the brain.

You will get a strong foundation along with these great stories: Badre digs into computational models and the messy, ongoing debates about how cognitive control is organized. He walks us through the brain’s hierarchies—how the prefrontal cortex can set broad, abstract goals and then decompose them into practical action—and then pulls back to ask what these models do (and don’t) explain about everyday life. You get stability and flexibility, multitasking, inhibition and switching, the information retrieval problem, the limits and benefits of control across the lifespan. Some readers call the book demanding or dense in spots, but that’s part of the payoff: Badre trusts us to join the scientific conversation, not just spectate. And even just getting the gist of tough parts will change your thinking.

In my daily life, all this plays out like driving home on autopilot—forgetting the road, feeling the inertia of routine, and ending up somewhere unintended. In classrooms, I see students wrestling with the same forces: between conditioned knowledge of what to do, procrastination, and action. In pandemic classrooms and the distractions of current politics, we all feel a deficit in our cognitive systems—our routines unravel, our attention frays, and our brains realize how much effort it takes to get On Task when the scaffolding disappears. If you’ve ever wondered why a simple act like making coffee can feel so complicated—or what happens in a brain when you try to stop one task and start another—this book offers insight, not just explanation.

What stays with me is that Badre refuses false optimism. He doesn’t say, “just build more willpower.” Instead, he hands us a mirror: our executive function is shaped—and we can shape it too, through environment, practice, small routines. That kind of insight feels hopeful because it’s real. It demands curiosity, not quick fixes.

So here’s my punch at the end, inspired by his closing: On Task feels less like a how‑to‑guide and more like an invitation—to observe our own hidden machinery, to notice how easily routine can slide into unawareness, and to ask: Who am I when my executive function is truly steering? What small moments—making coffee, grading papers, reading a chapter—might I reclaim to bring more awareness, more agency, more grounded action?

If your familiar with “I know what I should do, but I just can’t!”—this is a book to read. It doesn’t diagnose you. It doesn’t sell you magic. It helps you see the space where your choices live—and getting to know me, feels like a foundation worth building on.

landb

December 24, 2018

A Festive Holiday Present for You

We don’t focus a lot on seasonal cues here at the blog, but…

Given that many of us are celebrating holidays about now, perhaps you’d like a present.

(Trust me: it’s information every teacher wants…)

Inventing Ourselves: The Secret Life of the Teenage Brain by Sarah-Jayne Blakemore

landb

November 20, 2018

Inventing Ourselves: The Secret Life of the Teenage Brain by Sarah-Jayne Blakemore

More than any other life stage adolescence is derided and characterized as an unpredictable, turbulent storm. In Inventing Ourselves: The Secret Life of the Teenage Brain, University College London cognitive neuroscience professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore argues that we need to stop disparaging adolescence and instead recognize it as a critical time for building identity. Further, we need to support young people in this process. Blakemore explains how adolescents develop socially and neurologically, how that development shapes behavior, and how it impacts who young people will become. Inventing Ourselves will be useful for educators wishing to understand better people who are between puberty and adulthood (roughly ages 12-25) and for developmental psychologists wishing to explore how brain and behavior develop after childhood.

Adolescence is a distinct period of life observable across all human cultures and across numerous animal species. During adolescence most people develop a stable sense of who they are and how they would like to be viewed by others. Identity development is shaped by environment and by some of the social changes that occur during adolescence. For example, adolescents are more likely to engage in social comparison, value others’ opinions, attend to cultural norms, spend less time with parents and more time alone or with friends, experience embarrassment, and wrongly assume others care or notice their own behavior.

Interestingly, the pattern of brain activity that supports the ability to think about oneself changes during adolescence, which may correspond to these behavioral changes. Conversely, social experiences during adolescence can change the brain. For example, social exclusion results in more mood disturbance and anxiety for adolescents than for adults, and isolation during this period can have long lasting impacts on brain structure, hormone levels, and long-term behavior. For adults the effects of isolation on the brain are not as dramatic.

More generally, the brain undergoes substantial change during adolescence. Gray matter volume decreases and white matter volume increases. The prefrontal cortex, an area associated with decision-making, self-control, and self-awareness undergoes substantial, protracted development during adolescence. A network of regions that supports the ability to understand others’ minds undergoes anatomical maturation through early adulthood.

Blakemore also discusses the “mismatch hypothesis” of adolescent brain development. That is, the limbic system, which is involved in reward sensitivity, matures on average earlier than the prefrontal cortex. This mismatch may explain adolescents’ risk-taking because rewards may be especially alluring and self-control may be limited. Importantly, Blakemore notes that there is individual variability in the extent to which a mismatch exists. Although major changes in the brain level off by adulthood, brains can always continue to change with experience.

Adolescence can be a dangerous time. Adolescents’ penchant for risk-taking can lead them to have deadly accidents. Extensive consumption of cannabis and alcohol can reduce cognitive ability later in life and can cause more damage to the brain than an equal amount of consumption in adulthood would cause. Additionally, three-fourths of mental illnesses emerge by the end of adolescence. Fascinating brain research suggests that we may be able to detect differences in young peoples’ brains that would be predictive of whether they will go on to develop mental illnesses such as schizophrenia.

Informed by a body of research about the messages to which adolescents are responsive, Blakemore advises, “if we want to curb certain kinds of risk-taking in young people, it would be a good idea to focus on the immediate, social consequences of actions and decisions rather than, or as well as, delivering earnest warnings about long-term repercussions.” She argues also that mindfulness training might be a way to improve self-control and well-being and reduce mental health issues in adolescents.

Blakemore describes the value of understanding adolescents’ brains and behavior for supporting education. She suggests that adolescents’ proclivity for risk-taking should be harnessed in schools to push adolescents to take intellectual risks. She suggests that high schools should start later so that students are not deprived of sleep. Brain research shows that adolescents’ circadian rhythms are shifted later than adults, and behavioral evidence suggests that adolescents are not sleeping enough. A final suggestion is that in determining punishments for adolescents’ transgressions, we should remember that adolescents have tremendous potential for change, they are biologically disposed to riskiness, and they may be more likely to learn from rewards than from punishments.

Adolescents, more than people at other stages, are creative, passionate, and eager to learn from new people and experiences. All around us there are examples of inspiring young people making an impact in society, overcoming obstacles, and building better lives for themselves and others. We need to honor adolescence for what it is—a time of identity development—and support adolescents because of what they are—our hope and our future.

Blakemore, S.J. (2018). Inventing Ourselves: The Secret Life of the Teenage Brain. New York, NY: Public Affairs.

TOP RESEARCHERS TO EXPLORE THE BRAIN SCIENCE OF INNOVATION, CREATIVITY, CRITICAL THINKING, AND CURIOSITY

landb

January 30, 2018

TOP RESEARCHERS TO EXPLORE THE BRAIN SCIENCE OF INNOVATION, CREATIVITY, CRITICAL THINKING, AND CURIOSITY

MEDIA ADVISORY

January 29, 2017

Contact:

Kristin Dunay

(781)-449-4010 x 104

[email protected]

THE SCIENCE OF INNOVATION: TEACHING STUDENTS TO THINK, CREATE, INNOVATE, IMAGINE, AND INSPIRE

WHAT:	With jobs becoming increasingly automated, it has become more important than ever for our students to have a creative and innovative mindset for the future. Next month, a distinguished group of cognitive scientists, psychologists, and innovative educators will gather before 1,700 educators at the Learning & the Brain^® Conference in San Francisco, CA, to explore the “Science of Innovation” and how it can be applied to today’s education needs. The speakers will discuss new brain research on innovation, imagination, and creativity, and strategies to train creativity and innovation; will explain ways to develop innovative mindsets in students, schools, and leaders; and will show how promoting creativity, imagination, and daydreaming can improve student memory, motivation, and achievement.
SPONSORS:	The program is co-sponsored by several organizations including the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University, both Neuroscape and the Laboratory of Educational NeuroScience (brainLENS) at the University of California, San Francisco, The Building Blocks of Cognition Lab at the University of California, Berkeley; The Neuroscience Research Institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara, the Mind, Brain and Education Program at Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Comer School Development Program at the Yale University School of Medicine, The Dana Foundation’s Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, Edutopia and The George Lucas Educational Foundation, the Learning & the Brain Foundation and both national associations of elementary and secondary school principals. The event is produced by Public Information Resources, Inc.
FACULTY:	Renowned Neuroscientist David M. Eagleman, PhD, will present “The Runaway Species: How Human Creativity Remakes the World and Education” during a keynote on Thursday, February 15. Dr. Eagleman, Director of the Laboratory for Perception and Action at Stanford University School of Medicine, host of the Emmy-nominated PBS series The Brain, and author of The Brain: The Story of You (2017) and Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain (2012), will examine human creativity through the lens of brain science, will discuss the essential elements of this critical human ability, and will provide a pathway to more creative systems of education. In addition to Dr. Eagleman, the program features some other leading experts on the learning sciences including: Alison M. Gopnik, DPhil, Renowned Child Psychologist; Professor of Psychology and Affiliate Professor of Philosophy, Department of Psychology, University of California at Berkeley; Author, The Gardener and the Carpenter: What the New Science of Child Development Tells Us About the Relationship Between Parents and Children (2016); Co-Author, “Learning to Learn from Stories: Children’s Developing Sensitivities to the Causal Structure of Fictional Worlds” (2017, Child Development) and “What Happens to Creativity As We Age?” (2017, The New York Times George Couros, MEd, Division Principal of Innovative Teaching and Learning, Parkland School Division, Alberta, Canada; Former Classroom Teacher; Author, The Innovator’s Mindset: Empower Learning, Unleash Talent and Lead a Culture of Creativity (2015) Larry Robertson, MBA, Founder and President, Lighthouse Consulting; Author, The Language of Man: Learning to Speak Creativity (2016) and A Deliberate Pause: Entrepreneurship and Its Moment in Human Progress (2009) Charles K. Fadel, MBA, Founder and Chairman, Center for Curriculum Redesign; Senior Fellow at the Partnership for 21st Century Learning; Visiting Practitioner, Harvard Graduate School of Education; Co-Author, Four-Dimensional Education: The Competencies Learners Need to Succeed (2015) and 21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times (2009) Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, EdD, Professor of Education, Psychology and Neuroscience, Brain and Creativity Institute and Rossier School of Education; Associate Professor of Psychology, Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California; Co-Author, “How Social–Emotional Imagination Facilitates Deep Learning and Creativity in the Classroom” (2016, Nurturing Creativity in the Classroom) Todd B. Kashdan, PhD, Professor of Psychology; Senior Scientist, Center for the Advancement of Wellbeing; Director, The Wellbeing Lab, George Mason University; Author, “What Erroneous Beliefs Do You Have About Resilience: New Research on Resilience Around the World” (2017, Psychology Today), “Personality Strengths as Resilience: A One-Year, Multiwave Study” (2016, Journal of Personality), and The Upside of Your Dark Side (2014) Jonathan A. Gottschall, PhD, Distinguished Fellow, English Department, Washington & Jefferson College; Author, The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human (2013) and The Literary Animal: Evolution and the Nature of Narrative (2005) Tina Seelig, PhD, Neuroscientist; Executive Director, Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP); Professor of the Practice, Department of Management, Science and Engineering, Stanford University; Author, Creativity Rules: Get Ideas Out of Your Head and into the World (2017), Insight Out: Get Ideas Out of Your Head and into the World (2015), and Innovation Engine: A Crash Course on Creativity (2014)
WHEN:	Thursday, February 15 – Saturday, February 17. Conference begins 1:00 PM. General registration is $599 through February 2 and $619 after February 2. Contact Kristin Dunay at 781-449-4010 x 104 for media passes.
WHERE:	Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, CA

Learning & the Brain^® is a series of educational conferences that brings the latest research in the learning sciences and their potential applications to education to the wider educational community. Since its inception in 1999, more than 50,000 people in Boston, San Francisco, and New York have attended this series.

The 2017 Transforming Education Through Neuroscience Award Was Presented on Sunday at the Learning & the Brain® Educational Conference in Boston

landb

November 15, 2017

The 2017 Transforming Education Through Neuroscience Award Was Presented on Sunday at the Learning & the Brain® Educational Conference in Boston

Dr. Daniel T. Willingham from the University of Virginia was presented with the “2017 Transforming Education Through Neuroscience Award” for his contributions to the field of Mind, Brain, and Education during the Learning & the Brain® educational conference in Boston, MA.

A groundbreaking researcher whose work lies at the intersection of education and cognitive neuroscience was awarded the tenth annual prize for “Transforming Education Through Neuroscience.” The award was established to honor individuals who represent excellence in bridging neuroscience and education and is funded by the Learning & the Brain® Foundation. The $2,500 award will be used to support translational efforts bridging scientific findings and classroom practice.

Dr. Willingham is being honored for his work on learning and memory and the applications of cognitive psychology to education. He has devoted much of his career leveraging scientific findings to address important educational issues. Dr. Willingham received his BA from Duke and his PhD in Cognitive Psychology from Harvard University and is now a Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia. He writes the “Ask the Cognitive Scientist” column for American Educator magazine. Dr. Willingham is also the author of the following books Why Don’t Students Like School?, When Can You Trust the Experts?, Raising Kids Who Read, and The Reading Mind. His writing on education has appeared in fifteen languages.

David B. Daniel, PhD, Professor of Psychology at James Madison University and the 2013 winner of the award, had praise for the new recipient. “Dr. Willingham is one of the nation’s most responsible and effective translators of psychological science to educational practice. He is adept at synthesizing seemingly divergent literatures and working across multiple levels-of-analysis to construct evidence-based, usable knowledge for educational practices. Dr. Willingham’s impact across the field, from the classroom to policy, is both important and influential.”

According to John D.E. Gabrieli, PhD, the Grover Hermann Professor of Health Sciences and Technology and Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, “Daniel Willingham has been the leader in communicating concepts and advances in the science of learning to a broad community of educators and parents. He has created a bridge between the best of science and the most important challenges that teachers and students face in the classroom.”

Dr. Daniel presented the prize to Dr. Willingham at the Learning & the Brain® educational conference in Boston, MA on Sunday, November 12, held at the Westin Copley Hotel. The Learning & the Brain® Foundation wishes Dr. Willingham our heartiest congratulations.

landb

October 23, 2017

TOP RESEARCHERS TO EXPLORE WAYS TO CREATE ENGAGING SCHOOLS OF THE FUTURE

MEDIA ADVISORY

October 23, 2017

Contact:

Kristin Dunay

(781)-449-4010 x 104

[email protected]

MERGING MINDS & TECHNOLOGY: TRANSFORM SCHOOLS WITH NEUROSCIENCE, ROBOTS, MAKERSPACES, AND VIRTUAL REALITY

WHAT:	Neuroscience and technology are merging to transform schools, eliminating rows of desks, teacher-centered instruction, and bored students. The learning sciences, including cognitive neuroscience, are merging with teaching and technology for evidence-based curriculum and assessments; with virtual reality games to improve student engagement and learning experiences; with robotics to teach coding and create future ready students; and with gaming, makerspaces, and classroom redesign to transform classrooms into engaging, collaborative, learning spaces. Next month, a distinguished group of cognitive scientists, psychologists and innovative educators will gather before 1,000 educators at the Learning & the Brain^® Conference in Boston, MA, to examine how to transform schools, classrooms, and curricula for the future, and increase student engagement by merging neuroscience, augmented and virtual realities, robotics, makerspaces and classroom redesign.
SPONSORS:	The program is co-sponsored by several organizations including the Integrated Learning Initiative at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Neuro-Education Initiative at Johns Hopkins University School of Education, the Mind, Brain, and Education Program at Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Comer School Development Program at the Yale University School of Medicine, Neuroscape, University of California, San Francisco, the Neuroscience Research Institute at University of California, Santa Barbara, The Dana Foundation’s Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, the International Society for Technology in Education, the Learning & the Brain Foundation and both national associations of elementary and secondary school principals. The event is produced by Public Information Resources, Inc.
FACULTY:	Pioneer of social robotics and human-robot interaction Cynthia L. Breazeal, ScD, will present “The Rise of Personal Robots in Classrooms: Implications for Education” during a keynote on Friday, November 10. Dr. Breazeal, author of Designing Sociable Robots (2002), will present research that develops and examines the use and impact of social robots in Pre-K and kindergarten classrooms to foster early literacy skills. Dr. Breazeal is an Associate Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Founder and Director of the Personal Robots Group at the MIT Media Lab. In addition to Dr. Breazeal, the program features some other leading experts on technology and the learning sciences including: Adam Gazzaley, MD, PhD, Director, Neuroscape; Professor of Neurology, Physiology, and Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco; Co-Founder and Chief Science Advisor, Akili Interactive Labs; Creator of VR games, such as Engage, NeuroRacer, and the Glass Brain, a 3D brain visualization that combines neuroimaging technologies of MRI and EEG to display personalized, real-time brain activity while learning; Host, PBS special “The Distracted Mind with Dr. Adam Gazzaley”; Co-Author, The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World (2016) Daniel T. Willingham, PhD, Cognitive Scientist; Professor of Psychology, University of Virginia; Blogger, Science and Education Blog; Writer, “Ask the Cognitive Scientist” column for American Educator; Associate Editor, Mind, Brain, and Education Journal; Author, The Reading Mind: A Cognitive Approach to Understanding How the Mind Reads (2017), Raising Kids Who Read: What Parents and Teachers Can Do (2015), When Can You Trust the Experts? (2012), Why Don’t Students Like School? (2010), and “Have Technology and Multitasking Rewired How Students Learn?” (2010, American Educator) Eric D. Klopfer, PhD, Professor; Director, Scheller Teacher Education Program and The Education Arcade, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Co-Faculty Director, J-WEL World Education Lab; Co-Founder and Past President, Learning Games Network; Author, Augmented Learning: Research and Design of Mobile Educational Games (2008); Co-Author, Resonant Games (Forthcoming), The More We Know (2012), and Adventures in Modeling: Exploring Complex, Dynamic Systems with StarLogo (2001) Heidi Hayes Jacobs, EdD, Creator, Curriculum21; Founder and President, Curriculum Designers, Inc.; Co-Author, Bold Moves for Schools: How We Create Remarkable Learning Environments (2017); Author, Active Literacy Across the Curriculum: Connecting Print Literacy with Digital, Media, and Global Competence, K-12 (2017), and Curriculum 21: Essential Education for a Changing World (updated 2014); Author/Editor, Mastering Digital Literacy (2014), Mastering Global Literacy (2013), and Leading the New Literacies (2013) Jonathan Bergmann, MAEd, Co-Founder, Flipped Learning Network; Flipped Learning Pioneer; Former Lead Technology Facilitator, Joseph Sears School, Chicago, IL; Author, Solving the Homework Problem by Flipping the Learning (2017); Co-Author, Flipped Learning: A Guide for Higher Education Faculty (2017), Flipped Learning for Elementary Instruction (2016), and Flip Your Classroom: Reach Every Student in Every Class Every Day (2012)
WHEN:	Friday, November 10 – Sunday, November 12. Conference begins 1:00 PM. General registration is $599 through November 3 and $619 after November 3. Contact Kristin Dunay at 781-449-4010 x 104 for media passes.
WHERE:	Westin Copley Place, Boston, MA

Share Your LEARNING AND THE BRAIN Stories

landb

April 08, 2017

Share Your LEARNING AND THE BRAIN Stories

While you’re at Learning and the Brain, we’d love to hear your story.

What have you learned? What will you try when you get home? How will you measure results?

If you’d like to share your experience, please send me an email with:

Who you are and what you do.
The research and the researcher that inspired you (and, at which conference you heard this idea).
What you plan to do (or, already did) with this inspiration.
The results you will collect (or, have already seen).

Please be sure to include a specific source (a speaker, a book, or an article) for the ideas that you tried. And, keep in mind that you’re writing for a blog audience—short and punchy entries are especially welcome.

We won’t be able to publish every entry, but…we hope to hear from you!

[email protected]

For an example, check out this early LaTB Story by Alexander Wonnell. And, see yesterday’s example by Dr. Debbie Donsky.

landb

January 30, 2017

TOP RESEARCHERS TO EXPLORE WAYS TO IMPROVE INSTRUCTION, MOTIVATION AND MINDSETS THROUGH SCIENTIFICALLY BASED STRATEGIES

MEDIA ADVISORY

January 30, 2017

Contact: Kristin Dunay

(781)-449-4010 x 104

[email protected]

THE SCIENCE OF HOW WE LEARN: ENGAGING MEMORY, MOTIVATION, MINDSETS, MAKING AND MASTERY

WHAT:	Next month, a distinguished group of cognitive scientists, psychologists and innovative educators will gather before a sold out audience of 2,000 educators at the Learning & the Brain^® Conference in San Francisco, CA, to explore the latest research on the most effective instructional strategies and feedback; ways to improve student motivation, mindsets, and content mastery; the benefits of makerspaces, design thinking, hands-on exploration, and active student-directed inquiry on learning; and the effects of praise on achievement.
SPONSORS:	The program is co-sponsored by several organizations including the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University, both the Greater Good Science Center and the Building Blocks of Cognition Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, the Laboratory of Educational NeuroScience at the University of California, San Francisco, The Neuroscience Research Institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara, the Mind, Brain and Education Program at Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Comer School Development Program at the Yale University School of Medicine, The Dana Foundation’s Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, Edutopia and The George Lucas Educational Foundation, the Learning & the Brain Foundation and both national associations of elementary and secondary school principals. The event is produced by Public Information Resources, Inc.
FACULTY:	Renowned Researcher John A.C. Hattie, PhD, will present “A Meta-Synthesis on the Science of How We Learn” during a keynote on Friday, February 17. Dr. Hattie, co-author of Visible Learning Into Action (2015) and Visible Learning and the Science of How We Learn (2014) will outline a synthesis of meta-analyses relating to how people learn and show the differential effects of learning strategies on difference parts of the learning cycle. Dr. Hattie is the Director of Melbourne Education Research Institute at the University of Melbourne, Co-Director of the Science of Learning Research Centre. Daniel L. Schwartz, PhD, Dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Education; Professor of Educational Technology; Director, AAALab, Stanford University; Co-Author, The ABCs of How We Learn: 26 Scientifically Proven Approaches, How They Work, and When to Use Them (2016) and “How to Build Educational Neuroscience (2012, British Journal of Educational Psychology Roberta M. Golinkoff, PhD, Unidel H. Rodney Sharp Chair and Professor of Education, School of Education; Professor, Departments of Psychology, Linguistics and Cognitive Science, University of Delaware; Associate Editor, Child Development; Co-Author, Becoming Brilliant: What Science Tells Us About Raising Successful Children (2016) and Play = Learning (2009) Daniel Ansari, PhD, Cognitive Scientist; Professor, Department of Psychology & The Brain and Mind Institute; Principal Investigator, Numerical Cognition Laboratory, The University of Western Ontario; Co-Author, “Neuroeducation – A Critical Overview of an Emerging Field” (2012, Neuroethics) and “Culture and Education: New Frontiers in Brain Plasticity” (2012, Trends in Cognitive Sciences) Yong Zhao, PhD, Presidential Chair and Director of the Institute for Global and Online Education, College of Education, University of Oregon; Author, Counting What Counts: Reframing Educational Outcomes (2015), Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon?: Why China Has the Best (and Worst) Education System in the World (2014), World-Class Learners (2012) and Catching Up or Leading the Way (2009) Wendy L. Ostroff, PhD, Associate Professor, Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts; Cognitive Science and Developmental Psychology, Sonoma State University; Author, Cultivating Curiosity in the K-12 Classroom (2016) and Understanding Children’s Learning (2012)
WHEN:	Friday, February 17 – Sunday, February 19. Conference begins 1:30 PM. Contact Kristin Dunay at 781-449-4010 x 104 for media passes.
WHERE:	Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, CA
Learning & the Brain^® is a series of educational conferences that brings the latest research in the learning sciences and their potential applications to education to the wider educational community. Since its inception in 1999, more than 50,000 people in Boston, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., New York and Chicago have attended this series. Learning & the Brain^® is also the producer of summer institutes and one-day professional development seminars for educators.

The 2016 Transforming Education Through Neuroscience Award Was Presented on Saturday at the Learning & the Brain® Educational Conference in Boston

landb

November 19, 2016

The 2016 Transforming Education Through Neuroscience Award Was Presented on Saturday at the Learning & the Brain® Educational Conference in Boston

Boston, MA – Dr. Kou Murayama from the University of Reading was presented with the “2016 Transforming Education Through Neuroscience Award” for his contributions to the field of Mind, Brain and Education during the Learning & the Brain^® educational conference in Boston, MA.

A groundbreaking researcher whose research lies at the intersection of education and cognitive neuroscience was awarded the ninth annual prize for “Transforming Education Through Neuroscience.” The award was established to honor individuals who represent excellence in bridging neuroscience and education and is funded by the Learning & the Brain^®Foundation. The $2,500 award will be used to support translational efforts bridging scientific findings and classroom practice.

Kou Murayama, PhD, is being honored for his work on motivation and cognition from the neural level to the social level. Dr. Murayama received his Doctorate in Educational Psychology from the University of Tokyo in 2006 and did his post-doctoral work at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, the University of Rochester, the University of Munich and UCLA. Now at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom, Dr. Murayama is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience where he runs the Motivation Lab.

Dr. Murayama’s research on motivation has potentially large implications for the field of education. His research focuses on a number of questions about the function and the architecture of human motivation from both theoretical (especially focusing on the theories of achievement goals, intrinsic motivation, and reinforcement learning) and practical (especially educational) perspectives. Some of these questions revolve on how motivation can enhance learning, the nature of intrinsic motivation, and metamotivation. His laboratory uses a multi-method approach by drawing upon a variety of methodologies such as behavioral experiments, large sample surveys, neuroimaging (i.e., fMRI), experience sampling, meta-analysis, behavioral genetics analysis, mathematical modeling, and intervention in order to understand motivation from different perspectives.

According to Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, EdD, who is Associate Professor of Education, Psychology and Neuroscience at the Rossier School of Education and Associate Professor of Psychology at the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California, Dr. Murayama is “an exceptionally talented and prodigious scholar who is conducting groundbreaking interdisciplinary research integrating cognitive scientific, neuroscientific and educational research approaches.” She also said that “his work is remarkable for its creativity and innovation in both neuroscientific and educational domains.”

Last year’s award winner, Fumiko Hoeft called Dr. Murayama “…a truly talented researcher bridging many fields.” David B. Daniel, PhD, Professor of Psychology at James Madison University and the 2013 winner of the award, also had praise for the new recipient. “Dr. Murayama is engaging in important synthetic and complex scholarship that promises to encourage innovative theory as well as practical educational import.”

Dr. Daniel presented the prize to Dr. Murayama at the Learning & the Brain^® educational conference in Boston, MA on Saturday, November 19, held at the Westin Copley Hotel. The Learning & the Brain^® Foundation wishes Dr. Murayama our heartiest congratulations.

TOP RESEARCHERS TO EXPLORE WAYS TO EMPOWER AND ENGAGE STUDENTS IN CIVICS, SCHOOL, AND REAL-WORLD PROBLEM SOLVING

landb

October 26, 2016

TOP RESEARCHERS TO EXPLORE WAYS TO EMPOWER AND ENGAGE STUDENTS IN CIVICS, SCHOOL, AND REAL-WORLD PROBLEM SOLVING

MEDIA ADVISORY

October 25, 2016

Contact:

Kristin Dunay

(781)-449-4010 x 104

[email protected]

ENGAGED, EMPOWERED MINDS: USING BRAIN SCIENCE TO EDUCATE ETHICAL 21^ST CENTURY CITIZENS AND PROBLEM SOLVERS

WHAT:	Mind, brain and developmental researchers have found that students who feel empowered and are actively engaged in their learning and their community, perform better academically, have more positive social-ethical behaviors, and are more likely to be active citizens. Next month, a distinguished group of neuroscientists, psychologists, and educators will explore the science behind civic and school engagement, provide ways to foster student motivation, voice and choice, and how to empower kids to change the world. They will discuss how to create engaged learners, ethical citizens, and world problem solvers before 1,200 educators at the Learning & the Brain^® Conference in Boston, MA.
SPONSORS:	The program is co-sponsored by several organizations including the Mind, Brain & Education Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Athinoula A. Martinos Imaging Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, the Neuroscience Research Institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara, the Neuro-Education Initiative at Johns Hopkins University School of Education, Edutopia from The George Lucas Educational Foundation, the Learning & the Brain^® Foundation and both national associations of elementary and secondary school principals. The event is produced by Public Information Resources, Inc.
FACULTY:	Renowned Psychologist Howard E. Gardner, PhD, will present on “Beyond Wit and Grit: Thoughts on Nurturing Good Citizens?” during a keynote on Friday, November 18. Dr. Gardner, author of Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences (1983), will discuss how his theory of multiple intelligences and the concept of perseverance are not enough for academic success and stress the importance of ethics to benefits both students and society. Dr. Gardner is the John H. and Elizabeth A. Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education and Co-Founder of The Good Project, a group of initiatives that promotes excellence, engagement, and ethics in education. On Saturday morning, Kou Murayama, PhD, will receive the 2016 Transforming Education Through Neuroscience Award from the Learning & the Brain^® Foundation. This award has been presented annually since 2008 to a researcher who has made significant contributions to connecting neuroscience with education. Dr. Murayama is Associate Professor of School Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences and Director of the Motivation Lab at the University of Reading. In addition to Drs. Gardner and Murayama, the program features some other leading experts on the learning sciences including: ▪ Tony Wagner, PhD, Expert in Residence, Harvard Innovation Lab, Harvard University; Education Advisor to the documentary, Most Likely to Succeed; Author, Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World (2012); Co-Author, Most Likely to Succeed (2015) ▪ Sandra B. Chapman, PhD, Founder and Chief Director, Center for BrainHealth; Professor, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas; Co-Author, Make Your Brain Smarter (2014, Reprint Edition) ▪ Joel Westheimer, PhD, University Research Chair in Democracy and Education, University of Ottawa; Co-Director, “The Inequality Project”; Education Columnist, CBC Radio; Author, What Kind of Citizen? Educating Our Children for the Common Good (2015) ▪ Daniel J. Levitin, PhD, Cognitive Scientist; James McGill Professor of Psychology, Behavioral Neuroscience and Music, McGill University; Author, A Field Guide to Lies: Critical Thinking in the Information Age (2016), The Organized Mind (2014) and This Is Your Brain on Music (2006) ▪ Zoe Weil, MA, MTS, Co-Founder and President, Institute for Humane Education; Author, The World Becomes What We Teach: Educating a Generation of Solutionaries (2016), Above All, Be Kind (2013), Most Good, Least Harm (2009) and The Power and Promise of Humane Education (2004) ▪ Chris Lehmann, MA, Founding Principal, Science Leadership Academy; Co-Author, Building School 2.0: How to Create the Schools We Need (2015); Co-Editor, What School Leaders Need to Know About Digital Technologies and Social Media (2011)
WHEN:	Thursday, November 17 – Saturday, November 19. Conference begins 1:00 PM. General Registration is $599 through November 6 and $619 after November 6. Contact Kristin Dunay at 781-449-4010 x 104 for media passes.
WHERE:	Westin Copley Place, Boston, MA
Learning & the Brain^® is a series of educational conferences that brings the latest research in the learning sciences and their potential applications to education to the wider educational community. Since its inception in 1999, more than 50,000 people in Boston, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., New York, Orlando and Chicago have attended this series.

For more information about the conference, visit www.learningandthebrain.com

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