Building Faculty Capacity Through the Learning Sciences

Discoveries in the learning sciences (especially in neuroscience) have yielded a rich and growing body of knowledge about how students learn, yet this knowledge is only half of the story. The other half is "know how," i.e. the application of this knowledge. For faculty members, that means applying the discoveries of the learning sciences to teaching in ways that improve and yield meaningful information about student learning. This article addresses three questions: (1) What do professors need to know about the science of learning to teach most effectively; (2) How can they find out if what they are doing is working; and (3) How can faculty-development efforts best help them apply the knowledge drawn from the research? In order to learn to apply the science of learning to their teaching and to assess the impact on student learning of the new teaching strategies this research recommends, faculty themselves need programs that make use of evidence-based teaching strategies. With generous support from the Teagle Foundation, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Consortium for Higher Education (SEPCHE) has developed a promising professional-development model to do just that. This article provides a summary of the knowledge gained over four generations of the program regarding how educators can collectively use the science of learning to strengthen teaching. Additional resources are provided.