AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine presented at two high-profile research meetings during June. On June 3, Levine served on a panel that discussed international perspectives of advocacy for the social sciences and humanities at the 2015 Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences in Ottawa, Canada.
Joining Levine were James Wilsdon, professor of science and democracy at the University of Sussex and chair of the UK Campaign for Social Science; Chad Gaffield, professor of history at the University of Ottawa and past president of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council; and Stephen Toope, president of the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, who served as moderator.
On June 8, Levine provided remarks as part of the National Research Council’s (NRC) first public committee meeting for How People Learn II: The Science and Practice of Learning, in Washington, D.C. AERA is a sponsor of this important project to update the NRC report How People Learn.
The NRC committee is reviewing and synthesizing research that has emerged across the various disciplines that focus on the study of learning from birth through adulthood in both formal and informal settings. This meeting followed an AERA open forum symposium at the 2015 Annual Meeting to outline the charge for How People Learn II, as well as drive a conversation on findings that can inform the NRC study.
Speakers at the June 8 event included Robert Hauser, chair of NRC’s Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education; Sujeeta Bhatt, study director; and Heidi Schweingruber, director of NRC’s Board On Science Education. Three members of the committee for How People Learn—Penelope Peterson, Northwestern University; Jim Pellegrino, University of Illinois at Chicago; and Barbara Rogoff , University of California, Santa Cruz—and two commentators, Carol Lee, Northwestern University, and William Penuel, University of Colorado, also participated.