This international venture aims to coordinate the US Science of Learning Center scientists with those from the Australian Science of Learning Centre through an exciting two day workshop and extended visits to the Australian laboratories for the purpose of planning collaborations and exchanging information. The two day workshop will bring together scientists, policy makers, and government officials for the purpose of introducing the scientific goals and progress from the Science of Learning communities and engaging in a rigorous day of scientific talks and discussions aimed towards gaining interdisciplinary perspectives on the role of attention in learning and formulating research topics designed to move this science into the educational setting. Finally, US trainees and scientists will spend extended time furthering their discussions and plans with Australian scientists through laboratory visits, meetings over data, and extended information exchange on topics relevant to their specific lines of work. Hence the intellectual merit of this activity rests in the exchange of ideas between the US scientists and the Australian scientists, focused on particular issues in the Science of Learning. Cyberinfrastructure will be developed to support the ongoing exchange of information and sharing of data from this workshop. The Australian Science of Learning Centre has graciously offered to incorporate the US community in their existing symposium on Attention and Learning, in addition to providing all facilities and organizational services. The broader impacts of this workshop will be in developing synergies between the scientists in the two countries as well as within the Science of Learning Centers itself. The workshop will serve as a foundation for developing an International Science of Learning Community. Gaining cross-cultural perspectives will enrich our science and be excellent an excellent experience for our trainees. A major challenge that faces every nation is how to provide effective and high quality education. This workshop will contribute to solving this problem and is likely to have an impact on the future of the global workforce and the global nature of science in general. The grass-root efforts of international collaborations can be transformational both to the education of the centers' trainees and to the future quality of the education this country provides children. These grass-root efforts are essential in this era of global science.
A major scientific movement towards establishing a rigorous, interdisciplinary and cohesive science of learning has emerged from the six National Science Foundation funded Science of Learning Centers. The US Centers have incorporated a global perspective and international partners in their movement and at this time other countries are beginning to consider the science of learning as a discipline worthy of national investment, as how best to educate their people is an important question that confronts every nation. The University of Queensland in Brisbane Australia has recently established a new Science of Center located at their cutting edge Queensland Brain Institute; a cross-disciplinary center to investigate learning in partnership with education professionals. In July 2011 scientists from the six US Science of Learning Centers convened with scientists from the Australian Science of Learning Center, leaders from Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), policy makers, and educators for a two-day workshop. The primary purpose of the workshop was to explore and plan collaborative activities, including student/faculty laboratory exchanges, for more extensive planning and interaction between the science of learning communities in the US and Australia. Following the workshop, ACER made the decision to invest in an Australian Science of Learning Center, thus enabling a transcontinental network of scientists studying the science of learning. Ultimately scientific ventures, in concert with policy and education provide the impetus in a grand move towards designing education for better learning.
