Workshop: Cognitive Science for the Sustainable Development Goals

Session Submission Type: Workshop

Description of Session

The SDGs raise expectations for universal education by 2030. Yet, many donor-financed projects have shockingly poor outcomes. Low-income classrooms have limited teaching time, lack of textbooks, and poorly educated teachers, leading to illiteracy and early dropout. What more can be done? Scientific research has much to offer. Understanding how memory works can help you evaluate policy options and offer valid advice governments and donors. The workshop will present the applicable neurocognitive concepts through simplified illustrations, videoclips taken during World Bank missions, and policy documents. You will get several exercises of real-life situations and examples of common cognitive biases. A bonus topic will be reading science from the perspective of perceptual learning. New and counterintuitive research will show how to make nearly everyone literate in a few months.

Sub Unit

• General Pool

Workshop Organizers

• Helen Abadzi, University of Texas at Arlington

• Aglaia Zafeirakou, Chemonics International

• Ana Eugenia Garduno, University of Texas at Arlington