Current research about how students learn will be the topic of two talks open to the Emory community, set for Aug. 20 and Aug. 21. The presentations are sponsored by the Laney Graduate School.

"Connected Learning for a Networked World" will be presented by Gardner Campbell of Virginia Commonwealth University on Wednesday, Aug. 20, at 8:15 a.m. in the Woodruff Health Sciences Center Auditorium (WHSCAB).

"The New Science of Learning: How Recent Research Findings are Changing the Way We Teach" is the title of a talk by Todd Zakrajsek at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill to be given Thursday, Aug. 21, at 8:15 a.m. in WSHCAB.

The two events are plenary talks that are part of Laney Graduate School's Teaching Assistant Training and Teaching Opportunity program (TATTO). 

Campbell's talk examines the emerging field of connected learning as a way of addressing critical questions, both in research and in practice: What is learning? What is teaching? What is college for? Most crucially, he says, what difference does the digital age make to our practice as scholars, as teachers and as professors?

Zakrajsek's session is designed to provide a better understanding of how students learn; show teaching methods to get students more involved in the content; and demonstrate relevant applications from pedagogical research that can help overcome common challenges instructors face in the classroom. "Research provides clear evidence pertaining to what works best in the classroom with respect to human motivation and learning," Zakrajsek says.

Emory's TATTO program is a degree requirement for all PhD students, designed to introduce doctoral students to teaching in a graduated manner.

For more information, contact Sarah Peterson: sarah.a.peterson@emory.edu