Speaker: Dr. Sean Kang

Title: Applying Cognitive Science Principles to Promote Durable and Efficient Learning

Date: Friday, February 19, 1-2 pm 

Venue: AS4/02-08 (Psychology Department Meeting Room) 

Abstract:

Do tests only measure learning, or can they also promote learning? Should students review/practise the material they are trying to learn soon after they encounter the material or should they wait a while? During practice, should items of the same type/topic be grouped together or should they be interspersed among items of other types/topics? How we learn best may not correspond to how we think we learn best. I will talk about how basic research in cognitive psychology has yielded (nonobvious) principles about human learning and memory that have practical implications for instruction.

About the Speaker:

Sean Kang is an assistant professor in the Department of Education at Dartmouth College (USA). His research is focused on applying the cognitive science of human learning and memory towards improving instructional practice, and he currently serves as an associate editor for the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology. He received his undergraduate education at the National University of Singapore, and subsequently obtained his Ph.D. in cognitive psychology at Washington University in St. Louis. Prior to joining Dartmouth in 2012, Sean was a post-doctoral research scholar at the University of California, San Diego.