The goal of this CAP project was to conduct the Doctoral Consortium (DC) and Early Career Workshop (ECW) at the annual meeting of the International Society of the Learning Sciences, which in 2015 was the Computer Supported Collaborative Learning Conference (CSCL 2015) held in Gothenburg, Sweden. The Learning Sciences is an interdisciplinary field that draws on multiple theoretical perspectives and research paradigms, with the goal of advancing knowledge and the application of knowledge about human learning and development in formal and informal educational settings. Researchers in the learning sciences attempt to understand the nature and conditions of learning, cognition, development, and related areas of human performance, and they investigate cognition in its material, social, and cultural contexts. The intention of learning science research is to develop evidence-based claims about how people learn that have theoretical, practical, and pedagogical implications. Capacity building is a central concern within the Learning Sciences community. In difficult financial times, nurturing the research and career choices of the next generation of researchers becomes especially important. The International Society for the Learning Sciences has historically addressed these needs, in part, through specialized workshops held in conjunction with the Society’s two major conferences. The Doctoral Consortium workshops host PhD students who are grappling with their dissertation research, while the Early Career workshops are designed for recent PhDs (post-docs, faculty in early tenure track, and others) who are shaping career paths. Organizing the workshops in conjunction with the flagship conferences in the field gives the workshop participants further access to new research, other researchers in the field and prospective employers, and revitalizes the community with fresh faces and ideas.

Intellectual merit:

The DC and ECW workshops at CSCL 2015 helped to advance research on how people learn through the exchange of ideas and mentoring, relative to the new capacities required of learning sciences researchers. As part of the exchange of the workshops, researchers explored innovative ideas about how to analyze learning interactions and outcomes in formal and informal educational practices, develop compelling evidence-based arguments in design-based and other forms of learning research, and foster research-practice partnerships. The workshop organization built on a successful model documented in past evaluations but extended this focus with a targeted focus on these new ideas and with opportunities to interact with international researchers and practitioners. The workshops served to enhance the capacity of the learning sciences as a field; and to address important challenges associated with the transformation of education and broadening participation in the digital age.

Broader impact:

A total of 12 doctoral students (four US-based and eight from other countries) and four faculty mentors participated in the DC activities. A total of 13 early career researchers (ten US-based and three from other countries) and four additional mentors participated in the ECW activities. This NSF CAP grant sponsored a total of four US-based doctoral students, ten US-based early career researchers, and six faculty mentors. Complementing the funding from NSF, the International Society of the Learning Sciences devoted additional funds to support the eight DC participants and three ECW participants who were from other countries and to provide stipends for two additional faculty mentors. The workshop activities included panels on career and research, publishing, and granting; small group discussions about research design, writing, and the dissertation (for DC); and research networking. At the end the workshop, the participants were asked to c...

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