The Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences

Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology

by R. Keith Sawyer (editor)

Learning sciences is an interdisciplinary field that studies teaching and learning. The sciences of learning include cognitive science, educational psychology, computer science, anthropology, sociology, neuroscience, and other fields. The Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences shows how educators can use the learning sciences to design more effective learning environments - including school classrooms and also informal settings such as science centers or after-school clubs, on-line distance learning, and computer-based tutoring software. The chapters in this handbook each describe exciting new classroom environments, based on the latest science about how children learn. CHLS is a true handbook in that readers can use it to design the schools of the future - schools that will prepare graduates to participate in a global society that is increasingly based on knowledge and innovation.

Genres: Education, Psychology, Reference, Nonfiction, Textbooks

746 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2005

Reviews

[Leonard Houx · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences gives a broad but rigorous view of the diverse themes in 'Learning Science'. Much of their research revolves around new research methods such as design-based research (which iterates as it observes), Microgenetic methods (that seek to find precise moments of learning within a teaching/learning intervention and not afterward) and data mining. Other big themes are collaborative learning, informal learning and technology-based learning. Among these topics, I could not tell you what educational topics this 775-page textbook doesn't include.

What is Learning Science? I can't tell you. The main narrative Learning Science people seem to maintain about themselves, unfortunately, is a hokey critique of 'instructionism', which never seems to go further than some loose epistemological claims. Most of the research papers only mention Learning Science in the most trivial peripheral ways (for example, what contribution their paper might make to Learning Science). I do wonder if the contributors were pressured to explain their work in terms of Learning Science since almost all only to mention learning science in their last three or so paragraphs. It smells of academic tribalism, of someone, somewhere who was able to get some money from an educational agency and – being 'ambitious' – decided to establish something 'programmatic', which is the academic equivalent of starting a secret club when you're five.

That said, the book covers a wide variety of contemporary topics in educational research and all the articles are well written and researched. I am not sure I would recommend it as a textbook, but you could do worse.

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good orientation to the field. The frameworks and techniques are well laid out, helping to understand the landscape for further learning. I particularly appreciated how much attention reflection and articulation get - lots of sharp observations there.
Just wish it dug deeper into note-taking techniques and testing approaches.

[Hezheng Yin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good overview of learning theory

[David Dâng]

开头对教授主义的抨击真是震耳欲聋。