 |
| |
10th
Annual Conference On Education
The LANL Foundation’s commitment to investing in
human potential begins with the vision of engaging northern
New Mexico communities in meeting long-standing regional
needs and educational excellence. For the past 10 years
the LANL Foundation has hosted free, annual conferences
with the goal of translating current educational and nonprofit
best practices into learning tools for northern New Mexico
communities and service providers.
Childhood Learning and the Brain: Making the Connection
The LANL Foundation hosted its 10th Annual Conference on
Education July 31, 2006 at La Fonda on the Plaza Hotel
in Santa Fe. This year’s conference was titled “Childhood
Learning and the Brain: Making the Connection” and
explored the role of brain-mind research in increasing
the learning potential of children, teens and young adults.
With recent advances in the study and understanding of
neuroscience and brain development, the science of learning
is being bridged by neuroscientists, psychologists, computer
scientists and educationalists. Through cutting-edge information
technology, multidisciplinary teams of experts are working
nationally to identify cognitive strategies and teaching
methods that will complement the brain’s natural
development while promoting the formation of highly efficient
neural connections.
Dr. Alison Gopnik, Professor of Psychology at the University
of California at Berkeley and co-author of The Scientist
in the Crib; Dr. George McCloskey, Professor of Psychology
at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine; and
Dr. Abigail Baird, Professor of Developmental Neuroscience
at Dartmouth College, presented their important and groundbreaking
work in cognitive development and learning.
Conference session speaker Dr. Alison Gopnik is an internationally
recognized leader in the study of children’s learning
and her research explores how young children come to know
about the world around them. Her work is informed by the “theory
theory”—the idea that children develop and
change intuitive theories of the world similar to the way
that scientists do. She is currently concentrating on young
children’s causal knowledge and learning across physical,
biological and psychological domains. In collaboration
with computer scientists, Dr. Gopnik and her colleagues
are working to help explain how children are able to learn
causal structure from patterns of data, which demonstrates
that young children have much more powerful learning mechanisms
than was previously supposed. Dr. Gopnik discussed her
research during a session is entitled “A Child’s
Mind: How Children Learn and What They Tell Us About the
Mind”.
Dr. George McCloskey is a national expert in the neuropsychology
of learning, cognition and executive function, neuropsychological
assessment, cognitive and academic assessment instruments,
and classroom interventions for cognitive process problems.
As a certified school psychologist, Dr. McCloskey works
with children diagnosed with ADHD, executive dysfunction,
memory problems, and reading, written expression and math
disabilities. He shared his knowledge during a session
entitled “The Role of Executive Function in Childhood
Learning and Behavior”.
Dr. Abigail Baird specializes in the application of neuro-imaging
techniques in the study of the developing adolescent brain.
She examines the neurophysiological mechanisms that may
underlie a teen’s behavioral inhibition, decision
making, and abstract thinking. Her research exploring adolescent
peer relationships, reasoning, affective processing, intergroup
relations, juvenile death
penalty and justice, and structural/functional changes
in the developing brain has been widely published. Her
research has also supported the connection between adolescent
brain science and behavior in relation to the issue of
death penalty cases involving minors. She presented her
research during a session entitled “The Teen Brain
and Behavioral Inhibition, Decision Making and Learning”.
Featured plenary keynote speaker Lt. Governor Diane Denish
shared her remarks on First Born and the importance of
creating a state where our children and youth are safe,
healthy, and well educated.
|
|
 |
 |
Dr.
Alison Gopnik, Dr. George McCloskey, and Dr. Abigail
Baird speak at the 10th Annual Conference on Education
(left to
right) |
|
|
|
Dr.
Abigail Baird Paper