Development of the learning sciences: Theories, pedagogies, and technologies

Abstract

This chapter introduces learning sciences research, focusing on scientific inquiry into how learning takes place and how learning can be facilitated by expanding theories, pedagogies, and technologies. Specifically, we discuss the development of the learning sciences field using a historical perspective, both internationally and highlighting Asia-Pacific research. Three phases are included, each with several unique aspects, including theory, method, and pedagogy. In Phase 1, the learning sciences field emerged from cognitive sciences going to schools, with several Asia-Pacific researchers as forerunners. Researchers developed novel research methods for theorizing learning, including design experiments and protocol-interaction analysis. In Phase 2, learning sciences continued to mature as a discipline, and design-based research was established as a robust methodological approach. Many programs were established, and knowledge building and productive failure are influential programs internationally and in the Asia-Pacific. In Phase 3, learning sciences researchers innovated technology-enhanced learning environments with powerful pedagogical approaches, such as scripting and argumentation in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). To meet emerging societal needs and to expand the study of learning, researchers developed design-based implementation research (DBIR) methodology for researching sustainable and scalable learning and extended interests to equity and social justice in learning sciences research. For implications and future development, three decades of theoretical and empirical research on pedagogical and technological advances will provide a strong foundation and inspire new questions on studying and designing learning for future education. The emphasis on researcher-teacher-stakeholder co-inquiry in learning sciences will encourage the bridging of research and practice for impacting educational change in the Asia-Pacific and internationally. Asia-Pacific researchers have made important contributions and will continue to cross linguistics, disciplinary, and epistemological boundaries to work with international scholars, creating new ideas and advancing inquiry into new forms of learning to meet changing societal and educational needs.