As a student in our learning sciences certificate program, you’ll study learning theories, methodologies, designs, and evidence-based practices central to teaching and conducting research that supports the learning process. You’ll take courses in educational psychology, curriculum and instruction, computer science, and broader areas of education and human development. Throughout your coursework, you’ll explore how individuals learn and develop across educational, social, cultural, and technological contexts. This understanding will help you inform effective and equitable educational research, instruction, and policies.
You’ll be exposed to a variety of learning science topics and methods, including:
The learning sciences: an interdisciplinary and global community of educational researchers dedicated to investigating and facilitating learning in real-world settings.
Learning scientists partner closely with teachers to develop, implement, and evaluate learning supports designed to address problems in education. By studying both the outcomes and process of these designs, learning scientists attend to what works for students, while contributing to learning theory.
The learning sciences community is increasingly committed to uncovering and tackling power and privilege in learning environments, with implications for persistent inequities in our society’s approach to fostering learning for all. Emerging from the disciplines of educational psychology, cognitive science, ethnography, sociology, and conversation analysis, learning scientists are applied researchers who embrace the complexity and heterogeneity of students, teachers, and the learning process.
This certificate is ideal for current University of Minnesota graduate students or anyone with a bachelor’s degree looking to gain better understanding of the learning sciences, including:
Most of the learning sciences certificate classes are taught in-person, during daytime hours at the University of Minnesota’s Minneapolis campus. Note: For course descriptions and schedules, refer to the University of Minnesota Class Schedule.
I came to graduate school with the goal of producing research that could be applied in learning contexts. Through my learning sciences classes and research, I've had opportunities to collaborate with students, parents, and educators and have been encouraged to learn from a wide range of perspectives and methodologies (social psychology, educational psychology, cognitive science, and sociology—to name a few). This has helped me approach my research in new (and sometimes unexpected) ways!
Ashley Hufnagle, PhD student and learning sciences researcher, psychological foundations of education program