SRI International Collaborates with Leading Universities to Improve Educational Learning Environments

NSF-Funded Research Center to Focus on Innovative Learning Models

MENLO PARK, Calif.--October 20, 2004--SRI International, an independent nonprofit research institute, in collaboration with the University of Washington and Stanford University, has been awarded funding to establish one of three National Science Foundation (NSF) Science of Learning Centers that will each focus on different aspects of research on learning.

The LIFE Center will receive approximately $25 million from the NSF over the next five years. The group is led by John Bransford at the University of Washington, with Nora Sabelli of SRI International; Patricia Kuhl and Andrew Meltzoff, also of UW; and Roy Pea of Stanford.

The LIFE Center's researchers come from learning sciences, psychology, education, developmental cognitive and social neuroscience, communications, and computer science. Interdisciplinary teams will take an innovative approach to learning sciences research by integrating cognitive and developmental neuroscience, socio-cultural principles, and the design of technological learning environments to gain deeper insight into supporting learning.

The LIFE Center will have a simultaneous focus on implicit, informal, and formal (K-16) learning, including:

• Implicit Learning and the Brain: Documenting learning in the brain and discovering the underlying neural processes and principles associated with implicit forms of learning in the domains of cognitive, linguistic, and social learning

• Informal Learning: Studies of science, technology, engineering, and math learning in informal settings to develop comprehensive and coordinated accounts of the cognitive, social, affective, and cultural dimensions that propel learning and development outside of school

• Designs for Formal Learning and Beyond: Experimental studies of theory-based principles for design of high-quality K-16 learning environments

Researchers in the three areas will collaborate on inter-strand empirical studies—Signature Projects—to frame common testable hypothesis of the insights gained by their work.

Close interaction with the larger research and education community is a central component of the LIFE Center's mission. In its role, SRI will oversee several Education, Collaboration, and Outreach (ECO) activities, including research collaborations and workshops, K-12 testbed collaborations, and work with research and education partner organizations. These partners will include institutions interested in learning sciences research, courses and programs, including specifically accredited post-secondary minority-serving institutions (MSIs). ECO activities will include distributed learning courses, faculty and student visits to LIFE Center sites, seed money for research ideas and the development of joint proposals with partners, monographs and publications, and participation in conferences and other public events.

SRI's efforts will be led by Nora Sabelli, Ph.D., senior science advisor in SRI's Center for Technology in Learning and a co-principal investigator for the LIFE Center. "SRI's interdisciplinary and applied approach to research on learning processes is an excellent fit with the LIFE Center's mission. We are very pleased to be part of this new collaborative effort that will transform how we study learning and how we use research to inform practice," said Dr. Sabelli. "We are particularly excited by the impact that LIFE Center's Education, Collaboration, and Outreach activities will have on increasing the field capacity needed to engage in learning sciences research and practice."

About SRI International
Silicon Valley-based SRI International (http://www.sri.com) is one of the world's leading independent research and technology development organizations. Founded as Stanford Research Institute in 1946, SRI has been meeting the strategic needs of clients for almost 60 years. The nonprofit research institute performs contract research and development for government agencies, commercial businesses and private foundations. In addition to conducting contract R&D, SRI licenses its technologies, forms strategic partnerships and creates spin-off companies.