program

At the historic Fairmont Hotel, atop Nob Hill, San Francisco, CA
 

Neuroscientists are discovering strategies that make learning easier, more effective, and that can boost long-term memory,
thinking and academic performance. By using mnemonics, movement, active learning, discussions, gestures and varied practices, teachers can improve their students’ ability to learn, reflect and remember. Discover how the “Science of Learning” can help boost student retention, recall and retrieval of information.
 

Download conference brochure (pdf)
 

Learning Objectives:

 
  • Explore the brain science of memory, emotions and learning
  • Use strategies to increase retention, thinking and problem solving
  • Apply gestures, movement and action to language and mathematics
  • Teach students “how to learn” and ways to make them more “active”
  • Achieve mastery over complex knowledge and avoid the wrong ways to study
  • Use brain training and technology to improve working memory and reasoning
  • Explain the advantages of test-enhanced methods, spaced practices and forgetting
  • Examine the benefits of kinesthetics and hands-on activities for longer memory
  • Understand how sleep, exercise, movement, dance and gestures boost recall
  • Apply desirable difficulties and discussions to enhance comprehension
  • Discover strategies for mnemonics, metacognition and metamemory
  • Connect Common Core Standards to memory and active learning

Who Should Attend:

  • Educators, Parents
  • Curriculum, Staff Developers
  • Speech-Language Pathologists
  • PreK-12 Teachers, Administrators
  • Learning Specialists, Special Educators
  • Psychologists, Social Workers, Counselors
  • Active Learning, Common Core Specialists
  • Language, Arts, Math, Science Teachers
  • Superintendents, Principals, School Heads
  • Occupational, Fitness, Health Professionals
  • College, University, Teen Educators
  • School Reformers, Policy Makers

Co-Sponsors:

  • School of Education, Stanford University
  • Building Blocks of Cognition, University of California, Berkeley
  • Gazzaley Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, University of California, San Francisco
  • The Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara
  • Mind, Brain and Education Program, Harvard Graduate School of Education
  • Comer School Development Program, Yale University School of Medicine
  • The Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, The Dana Foundation
  • National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP)
  • National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP)
  • Edutopia, The George Lucas Educational Foundation
  • Laboratory of Educational NeuroScience, University of California, San Francisco
  • LEARNING & the BRAIN® Foundation


FEATURED SPEAKERS

Day One: The Science of Learning

 

carey Benedict J. Carey, MA, Award-Winning Science Reporter at The New York Times, who writes on subjects such as psychology, neuroscience and psychiatry; Author, How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where and Why it Happens (2014)
Roediger Henry L. Roediger, III, PhD, James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor, Department of Psychology; Principal Investigator, Memory Lab, Washington University in St. Louis; Co-Author, Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning (2014) and “Applications of Cognitive Science to Education” (2012, Neuroscience in Education)
Beilock Sian L. Beilock, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Chicago; Author, How the Body Knows Its Mind: The Surprising Power of Physical Environment to Influence How You Think and Feel (2015) and Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To (2011)


Day Two: The Science of Memory

 
chapman Sandra B. Chapman, PhD, Founder and Chief Director, Center for BrainHealth; Dee Wyly Distinguished Professor in Brain Health; Professor, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas; Co-Author, “Shorter Term Aerobic Exercise Improves Brain, Cognition, and Cardiovascular Fitness in Aging” (2013, Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience) and Make Your Brain Smarter (2013)
squire Larry R. Squire, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry, Neuroscience and Psychology, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine; Research Career Scientist, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Diego; Co-Author with Eric Kandel, Memory: From Mind to Molecules (2008)
klemm William R. Klemm, DVM, PhD, Professor of Neuroscience, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University;Author, Mental Biology: The New Science of How the Brain and Mind Relate (2014), Memory Power 101 (2012) and Better Grades, Less Effort (2011)

 

CONFERENCE PROGRAM

 

 

SCIENCE OF LEARNING:
BOOSTING LEARNING & REMEMBERING

Roediger Making It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning and Memory

Henry L. Roediger, III, PhD, James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor, Department of Psychology; Principal Investigator, Memory Lab, Washington University in St. Louis; Co-Author, Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning (2014) and “Applications of Cognitive Science to Education” (2012, Neuroscience in Education)
chapman How the Brain Best Learns and Remembers

Sandra B. Chapman, PhD, Founder and Chief Director, Center for BrainHealth; Dee Wyly Distinguished Professor in Brain Health; Professor, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas; Co-Author, “Shorter Term Aerobic Exercise Improves Brain, Cognition, and Cardiovascular Fitness in Aging” (2013, Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience) and Make Your Brain Smarter (2013)
carey How We Learn: Insights into the Neuroscience of Memory

Benedict J. Carey, MA, Award-Winning Science Reporter at The New York Times, who writes on subjects such as psychology, neuroscience and psychiatry; Author, How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where and Why it Happens (2014)
ostroff

Born to Learn: Motivating and Engaging Learners from the Developmental Perspective

 

Wendy L. Ostroff, PhD, Associate Professor of Cognitive Science and Developmental Psychology, Hutchins School of Liberal Studies, Sonoma State University; Author, Understanding Children’s Learning: Bringing the Science of Child Development to the Classroom (2012)

bjork

The Increasing Importance of Learning How to Learn

 

Robert A. Bjork, PhD, Distinguished Research Professor, Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles; Co-Author, “Why Interleaving Enhances Inductive Learning” (2013, Memory & Cognition), “Desirable Difficulties Perspective on Learning” (2013, Encyclopedia of the Mind) and “Why Tests Appear To Prevent Forgetting” (2011, Journal of Memory and Language)

shimamura How Students Learn: Active Learning, Testing and Long-Lasting Memories

Arthur P. Shimamura, PhD, Professor, Psychology Department; Director, Shimamura Lab on Learning and Memory; Faculty Member, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley; Co-Author, “Remembering the Past: Neural Substrates Underlying Episodic Encoding and Retrieval” (2014, Current Directions in Psychological Science) ); Co-Editor, Metacognition: Knowing About Knowing (1994)
daniel Translating Learning Sciences to the Classroom

David B. Daniel, PhD, Professor, James Madison University; Managing Editor, Mind, Brain and Education Journal; Featured in Princeton Review’s 300 Best Professors; Author, “Promising Principles: Translating the Science of Learning to Educational Practice” (2012, Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition)

SCIENCE OF ACTIVE LEARNING:
BOOSTING MATH & SCIENCE THINKING

abrahamson.jpg A Body of Knowledge: Grounding Mathematical Concepts in Embodied Interaction

Dor Abrahamson, PhD, Associate Professor of Secondary Mathematics Education, Cognition and Development; Director, Embodied Design Research Laboratory; Research Partner, Transformative Learning Technologies Lab, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley; Co-Author, “Embodiment and Embodied Design” (2014, 2nd Edition, The Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences)
nathan

Body Based Resources When Reading-to-Learn in Science: Gestures and Model Enactment for STEM Literacy
 

Mitchell J. Nathan, PhD, BSEE, Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Director, Center on Education and Work; Director, IES Postdoctoral Fellowship Program in Mathematical Thinking, Learning and Instruction; Co-Author, "Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques" (2013, Psychological Science in the Public Interest), "Students Learn More When their Teacher has Learned to Gesture Effectively" (2013, Gesture), "Embodiment in Mathematics Teaching and Learning: Evidence from Learners’ and Teachers’ Gestures" (2012, Journal of Learning Sciences

oakley Mind For Numbers: How to Excel in Math and Science—and Anything Else You Study

Barbara A. Oakley, PhD, Professor of Engineering, Industrial and Systems Engineering Department, Oakland University; Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineers; Lecturer of MOOC Course “Learning How to Learn”; Author, A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel in Math and Science—Even if You Flunked Algebra (2014)
wenderoth Active Learning and Assessment in the STEM Classroom: How They Improve Student Performance

Mary P. Wenderoth, PhD, Principal Lecturer, Department of Biology; Co-Director, UW Teaching Academy, University of Washington; Co-Author, “Active Learning Improves Student Performance in Science, Engineering and Math” (2014, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) and Assessment in the College Science Classroom (2014)
Blikstein Flipping the Flipped Classroom: Reinventing Hands-on Learning in the K-12 STEM Classroom

Paulo Blikstein, PhD, Assistant Professor, Stanford University Graduate School of Education; Assistant Professor of Computer Science; Director, Transformative Learning Technologies Laboratory,  Stanford University; Co-Author, "Towards the Development of Multimodal Action Based Assessment (2013, Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge), "Digital Fabrication and ’Making’ in Education: The Democratization of Invention" (2013, FabLabs: Of Machines, Makers and Inventors) and "Preparing for Future Learning with a Tangible User Interface: The Case of Neuroscience" (2013, Learning Technologies)
oakley Lessons from a Basement Studio on How to Make—and Use—a “Sticky” Online Course to Enhance Student Learning

Barbara A. Oakley, PhD, Professor of Engineering, Industrial and Systems Engineering Department, Oakland University; Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineers; Lecturer of MOOC Course “Learning How to Learn”; Author, A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel in Math and Science—Even if You Flunked Algebra (2014)

SCIENCE OF MEMORY:
MAKING LASTING MEMORY

squire The Structure and Organization of Memory

Larry R. Squire, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry, Neuroscience and Psychology, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine; Research Career Scientist, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Diego; Co-Author with Eric Kandel, Memory: From Mind to Molecules (2008)
klemm Memory in the Age of Google

William R. Klemm, DVM, PhD, Professor of Neuroscience, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University;Author, Mental Biology: The New Science of How the Brain and Mind Relate (2014), Memory Power 101 (2012) and Better Grades, Less Effort (2011)
ghetti Developing Brains and Memory: How Memory Improves During Childhood

Simona Ghetti, PhD, Professor of Psychology and Center for Mind and Brain; Director and Principal Investigator, Memory and Development Laboratory, University of California, Davis; Co-Author, “Strength of Coupling Within a Mnemonic Control Network Differentiates Those Who Can and Cannot Suppress Memory Retrieval” (2013, Journal of Neuroscience)
dehn

Evidence-Based Strategies that Enhance Long-Term Memory Encoding, Consolidation and Retrival

 

Milton J. Dehn, EdD, NCSP, Co-Founder and Program Director, Schoolhouse Educational Services; Former Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse; Author, Essentials for Processing Assessment (2013), Helping Students Remember (2011), Long-Term Memory Problems in Children and Adolescents: Assessment, Intervention and Effective Instruction (2010) and Working Memory and Academic Learning (2008)

walker Sleep, Learning and Memory

Matthew P. Walker, PhD, Principal Investigator, Sleep and Neuroimaging Laboratory; Professor, Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley; Co-Author, “Nocturnal Mnemonics: Sleep and Hippocampal Memory Processing” (2012, Frontier of Neurology)
koski How Memory is Encoded and Its Role in Imagination

Kenneth S. Kosik, MD, Co-Director, Neuroscience Research Institute; Harriman Chair and Professor of Neuroscience Research, Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara
Schenck Using Personal Experiences to Build Stronger Memory

Jeb Schenck, PhD, Adjunct Professor, College of Education, University of Wyoming; Leader of mountaineering expeditions including Mt. Everest and Mt. McKinley; Author, Teaching and the Adolescent Brain (2011) 
klemm Memory Power: A Guide to Better Learning for Teachers and Students

William R. Klemm, DVM, PhD, Professor of Neuroscience, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University; Author, Mental Biology: The New Science of How the Brain and Mind Relate (2014), Memory Power 101 (2012) and Better Grades, Less Effort (2011)
kryza

Think Smart – for School and for Life

Kathleen M. Kryza, MA, Education Consultant; Former Adjunct Professor in Special Education, University of Michigan; Co-Author, Winning Strategies for Test-Taking, Grades 3–8: A Practical Guide for Teaching Test Preparation (2014) and Inspiring Middle and Secondary Learners (2007)
Jack A. Naglieri, PhD, Research Professor, Curry School of Education, University of Virginia; Emeritus Professor of Psychology, George Mason University; Co-Author, Comprehensive Inventory of Executive Function (2012) and Helping Children Learn (2010)

SCIENCE OF EMBODIED MINDS:
GESTURES, LANGUAGE & THINKING

Beilock How the Body Knows Its Mind: The Surprising Power of the Physical Environment to Influence How You Think and Feel

Sian L. Beilock, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Chicago; Author, How the Body Knows Its Mind: The Surprising Power of Physical Environment to Influence How You Think and Feel (2015) and Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To (2011)
lakoff How the Brain Thinks: Embodied Minds, Metaphors and Learning

George P. Lakoff, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics, University of California, Berkeley; Co-Author, Metaphors We Live By (2003) and Where Mathematics Come From: How The Embodied Mind Brings Mathematics Into Being (2001)
goldin-meadow How Our Hands Help Us Think and Learn

Susan Goldin-Meadow, PhD, Distinguished Service Professor, Department of Psychology and Committee on Human Development, University of Chicago; Author, “How Gesture Helps Children Learn Language” (2014, Language in Interaction) and Hearing Gesture: How Our Hands Help Us Think (2003); Co-Author, “From Action to Abstraction: Using the Hands to Learn Math” (2014,Psychological Science)
immordino-yang Embodied Brains and Social Minds: Connecting Emotional Minds and Bodies to Learning, Thinking and Meaningful Memory

Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, EdD, Associate Professor of Education, Psychology and Neuroscience, Rossier School of Education; Associate Professor of Psychology, Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California; Author, Affective Educational Neuroscience: Embodied Brains, Social Minds and the Art of Learning (2015)
edwards

The Role of Gestures and the Body in Learning & Teaching Mathematics
 

Laurie D. Edwards, PhD, Professor of Education; Chair of Teacher Education; Program Coordinator, Master of Arts in Teaching, St. Mary’s College of California; Former Lecturer, San Jose State University; Co-Author, “Gestures and Conceptual Integration in Mathematical Talk” (2009, Educational Studied in Mathematics); Co-Editor, Emerging Perspectives on Gesture and Embodiment in Mathematics (2014)

miller Children’s Embodied Learning: Exercise, Gestures, Executive Functions and Academic Achievement

Patricia H. Miller, PhD, Professor, Developmental Psychology, College of Science and Engineering, San Francisco State University; Co-Author, “A Show of Hands: Relations Between Young Children’s Gesturing and Executive Function” (2014, Developmental Psychology) and “Exercise Improves Executive Function and Academic Achievement and Alters Neural Activation in Overweight Children” (2011, Health Psychology)

gibbs

Embodied Meaning, Thinking and Communicating


Raymond W. Gibbs Jr., PhD, Professor, Psychology Department, Social Sciences Division, University of California, Santa Cruz; Author, The Cambridge Handbook of Metaphor and Thought (2008), Embodiment and Cognitive Science (2005) and The Poetics of Mind: Figurative Thought, Language, and Understanding (1994)

anguera Role of Video Games in Enhancing Cognitive Control and Motor Skills

Joaquin A. Anguera, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Neurology and Physiology, Gazzaley Laboratory, University of California, San Francisco; Associate Specialist, UCSF School of Medicine; Co-Author, “Video Game Training Enhances Cognitive Control in Older Adults” (2013, Nature) and “Neurocognitive Contributions to Motor Skill Learning: The Role of Working Memory” (2012, Journal of Motor Behavior)

SCIENCE OF REMEMBERING: TRAINING MEMORY, MATH AND LEARNING

mccandliss Developing Minds for Numbers: Integrating Brain Systems for Number Sense and Symbols

Bruce D. McCandliss, PhD, Professor, Stanford Graduate School of Education; Faculty Affiliate, Center for Mind, Brain and Computation, Stanford University; Author, "Foundational Changes in Number Representation Induced by Early Elementary Education" (2014, American Association for the Advancement of Science); Co-Author, "The Emergence of “Groupitizing” in Children’s Numerical Cognition (2014, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology) and "Educational Neuroscience: The Early Years" (2010, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)
mccloskey The Neuropsychology of Memory and Classroom Learning

George McCloskey, PhD, Professor and Director, School Psychology Research, Department of Psychology, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine; Co-Author, “Neuropsychology of auditory processing disorders” (2011, Handbook of Pediatric Neuropsychology), Essentials of Executive Function Assessment (2010) and Assessment and Intervention for Executive Function Difficulties (2009)
harris Surprisingly Simple Ways to Boost Memory and Recall: Strategies for Every Teacher

Bryan C. Harris, EdD, Director of Professional Development and Public Relations, Casa Grande Elementary School District; Educational consultant; Author, Creating a Classroom Culture That Supports the Common Core: Teaching Questioning, Conversation Techniques and Other Essential Skills (2013); Co-Author, 75 Quick and Easy Solutions to Common Classroom Disruptions (2012)
rosenberg-lee

Math and Memory Training: Understanding the Brain Basis of Children's Problem Solving

Miriam Rosenberg-Lee, PhD,
 Instructor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Stanford University School of Medicine; Co-Author, “Fractionating the Neural Correlates of Individual Working Memory Components Underlying Arithmetic Problem Solving Skills in Children” (2013, Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience)

jaeggi

Malleable Minds: Working Memory Training, Math and Reasoning

 

Susanne M. Jaeggi, PhD, Principal Investigator, Working Memory and Plasticity Laboratory; Assistant Professor, School of Education, University of California, Irvine; Co-Author, “The Role of Individual Differences in Cognitive Training and Transfer” (2014, Memory and Cognition)

zwiers

Meeting New Standards with Oral Language Activities that Build Academic Thinking and its Language


Jeff A. Zwiers, EdD, Senior Researcher, Stanford University School of Education; Author, Building Academic Language: Meeting Common Core Standards Across Disciplines, Grades 5-12 (2014) and Building Reading Comprehension Habits in Grade 6-12 (2nd Edition, 2010); Co-Author, Common Core Standards in Diverse Classrooms: Essential Practices for Developing Academic Language and Disciplinary Literacy (2014)

SCIENCE OF MOTION:
BOOSTING THOUGHT THROUGH MOVEMENT

oppezzo

Walk for Thought: The Link Between Physical Movement and Creative Thinking


Marily A. Oppezzo, PhD, RD, Adjunct Faculty, Biology and Psychology Departments, Santa Clara University; Postdoctoral Scholar, Stanford Prevention Research Center and Health Improvement Program, Stanford University; Co-Author, “Give Your Ideas Some Legs: The Positive Effect of Walking on Creative Thinking” (2014, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition)

blaydes-moize Movement, Action Based Learning and Common Core

Jean Blaydes Moize, MEd, Co-Creator, Action Based Learning Lab; Internationally-known pioneer in kinesthetic teaching strategies; Education Consultant; Author, Thinking on Your Feet (2004)
katz

Moving Ideas: Using Dance and Embodied, Arts-Based Approaches to Enhance Classroom Learning and Instruction

 

Mira-Lisa Katz, PhD, Professor, Literacy Studies, English Education and Applied LinguisticsSonoma State UniversityProfessional Dancer, SoCo Dance Theater; Expert on embodied, multimodal learning; Author, Moving Ideas: Multimodality and Embodied Learning in Communities and Schools (2013)

chand o'neal Memory and the Muse: How Arts Integrated Instruction Can Improve Student Engagement, Creativity and Content Retention in Your Classroom

Ivonne Chand O'Neal, PhD, Director of Evaluation, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; Author of JFK Center’s Research Study: An Impact Evaluation of Arts-Integration Through the Changing Education Through the Arts (CETA) Program (2014)
perez The Brain Science of Teaching: Using Mind-Body Connections to Optimize Learning

Kathy Perez, EdD, Professor of Education; Director of Outreach and Professional Development, Saint Mary's College of California; Author, New Inclusion: Differentiated Strategies to Engage ALL Students (2013) and More Than 100+ Brain-Friendly Tools and Strategies for Literacy Instruction (2008)