Project illuminatED empowers teachers with cognitive neuroscience informed educational practices. The objective is to raise the quality of teaching and learning in school education through focusing on the practical skill development of teachers through in-service training activities that are informed by cognitive neuroscience and supported by a formative assessment tool. THE CHALLENGE A gap exists between teaching practice and cognitive neuroscience-supported teaching and learning practices [2, 3] despite the identification of “proven practices that promote learning for all students” and continued efforts by the scientific community to disseminate such knowledge [3]. A cause of this gap can be attributed to inadequate teacher training – “aspiring teachers are not being taught — in textbooks or in their coursework and training — the foundational knowledge about cognitive strategies that can help ensure children will learn” [2]. A study published in 2016 reviewing teacher training programs concluded that there was a “near total absence of emphasis on research-driven strategies in any of the reviewed textbooks” and equally concerning was the finding that “many of the topics featured prominently have little research support or have been found to have little effect” [2]. This finding highlights a potential obstacle to the statement by the Council of the European Union that “initial teacher education should provide prospective teachers with the core competences required to deliver high quality teaching” [5]. Yet teachers have expressed their desire to have interventions based on neuroscience in their teaching toolkits [4] and, recently, the value of short modules for improving the understanding of teachers’ knowledge about the brain and learning has been demonstrated [5]. THE APPROACH Project illuminatED narrows the above mentioned gap by delivering training activities for educators that will empower them with knowledge, informed by cognitive neuroscience, on how durable knowledge is constructed so that they can better design learning, evaluate various teaching approaches, and guide students towards the selection of effective study strategies; and a prototype of an innovative technological tool aimed at the learning-teaching-assessment nexus allowing teachers to collect and make use of data to immediately inform subsequent instruction and to iteratively improve their learning designs through a form of deliberate practice. The project outputs are directed toward school teachers and trainers who will benefit with access to Continuing Professional Development with regard to innovative teaching methods and the adoption of ICT; access to a prototype tool for formative assessments; and access to a MOOC and workshops by Educational Trainers to reinforce what they have learned. The three key outputs are: 1) illuminatED Teaching Trainers’ Toolkit A toolkit for educational trainers comprised of three continuing professional development workshops resulting from the transnational collaboration between experts in the fields of education technology, teacher development and cognitive neuroscience. 2) illuminatED Teaching MOOC A MOOC, based on the workshop content, that serves to reach teaches across Europe and to ensure the content remains accessible beyond the life of the project through its open-access videos. 3) illuminatED Teaching Formative Assessment Tool (prototype) An ICT tool that allows teachers to evaluate their own lesson designs through the collection and analysis of learner data. In sum, Project illuminatED includes the direct delivery of training to in-service and pre-service teachers through pilot workshops and a MOOC; and facilitates the continued delivery of indirect teacher training by educational trainers by providing trainers with Open Educational Resources that can be reused without restrictions. Finally, the project includes an event, The illuminatED Teaching Symposium, that brings together teachers, educational trainers and experts in the fields of research featured in the project to help establish long-term collaborative relationships. [1] Council conclusions on effective teacher education (2014): http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/educ/14269 0.pdf [2] Pomerance et al. (2016). Learning about learning: What every new teacher needs to know. Washington, DC: The National Council of Teacher Quality. [3] Roediger et al. (2012). Inexpensive techniques to improve education: Applying cognitive psychology to enhance educational practice. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition [4] Simmonds, A. (2014). How neuroscience is affecting education: Report of teacher and parent surveys. Wellcome Trust. [5] Dekker, S., & Jolles, J. (2015). Teaching about “brain and learning” in high school biology classes: Effects on teachers' knowledge and students' theory of intelligence. Frontiers in psychology.
Project IlluminatED empowers teachers and students with cognitive neuroscience informed educational practices (i.e. the Science of Learning). In the project, experts in education technology, teacher development, and cognitive neuroscience were brought together to develop open educational resources (OER) aimed at raising the quality of teaching and learning in school education. THE CHALLENGE --------------- A gap exists between teaching practice and cognitive neuroscience-supported teaching and learning practices [1] despite the identification of “proven practices that promote learning for all students” and continued efforts by the scientific community to disseminate such knowledge [2]. A cause of this gap can be attributed to inadequate teacher training – “aspiring teachers are not being taught — in textbooks or in their coursework and training — the foundational knowledge about cognitive strategies that can help ensure children will learn” [1]. This finding highlights a potential obstacle to the statement by the Council of the European Union that “initial teacher education should provide prospective teachers with the core competences required to deliver high quality teaching” [3]. Yet teachers have expressed their desire to have interventions based on neuroscience in their teaching toolkits and the value of short modules for improving the understanding of teachers’ knowledge about the brain and learning has been demonstrated in research studies. THE ILLUMINATED APPROACH --------------- IlluminatED iteratively developed OER to train teachers and students. The materials focus on cognitive principles that underlie durable learning and strategies to support durable learning with the aim of supporting teachers so that they can better design learning, evaluate various teaching approaches, and guide students towards the selection of effective study strategies. Further, a student workshop was created on the Science of Learning (SOL) and effective study strategies so that teachers could share knowledge of SOL with their students. IlluminatED produced four main outputs: 1) The Neuroscience of Learning for Teachers (Online Course) The self-paced online course features neuroscientists from the University of Helsinki who share insights into understanding and enhancing learning. The course consists of three modules: (1) Introduction to SOL; (2) Empirical Evidence on Learning; (3) Good Habits to Enhance Learning and is available in EN, ES, GR and PT. > https://tidex.upf.edu/ 2) Science of Learning Concepts for Teachers (eBook) The open access booklet introduces teachers to key concepts from SOL and provides an extensive list of references for those looking to deepen their knowledge about SOL. It is available in EN, ES, FI, GR, and PT. > http://illuminated.pressbooks.com/. 3) Illuminated Trainers’ Toolkit for Teacher Workshops The toolkit provides resources for trainers to deliver workshops on the neuroscience of learning to teachers. The toolkit includes speaker notes, activities, and a facilitator’s guide for three continuing professional development workshops for teachers and is available in EN, FI, ES, GR, and PT. > https://epale.ec.europa.eu/en/node/160896 4) Science of Learning Strategies for Students (Workshop) The digital materials are for teachers to teach their students about evidence-based learning strategies that align with SOL. The workshop materials (slides with speaker notes, online surveys) are appropriate for high school and undergraduate students. The materials are available in EN, ES, GR, and PT. > https://epale.ec.europa.eu/en/node/160898 5) Research Studies 5 publications in international conferences were made. Papers evaluated the Illuminated workshops and also studied evidence-based teaching and learning strategies. ACTIVITIES & RESULTS --------------- All in all, 4 schools participated as associate partners, 12 educators from partner countries (Spain, Finland, Portugal, and Greece) participated in a 3-day train-the-trainer workshop, and 18 educators participated in a (COVID-19 altered) virtual multiplier event. Also, from 2017 to 2020, the IlluminatED team organised 29 different workshops across partner countries and Egypt involving more than 400 participants. Two projects are continuing the work of IlluminatED – Spotlighters (2018-1-ES01-KA201-050646) and ILLUMINE (2020-1-ES01-KA201-082504). To access the OER and learn more about the project, please visit: http://www.illuminatedproject.eu/ References [1] Pomerance et al. (2016). Learning about learning: What every new teacher needs to know. Washington, DC: The National Council of Teacher Quality. [2] Roediger et al. (2012). Inexpensive techniques to improve education: Applying cognitive psychology to enhance educational practice. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition [3] Council conclusions on effective teacher education (2014): http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/educ/142690.pdf