Proceedings of the 1996 international conference on Learning sciences

Abstract

ICLS 96, the Second International Conference on the Sciences, follows on the extremely successful First International Conference on the Sciences held at Northwestern in 1991. In a world in which political and economic leaders alike are calling for educational reform, and pushing for an increased role for technology in teaching and learning, research in the Sciences is going to be increasingly important.The goal of this conference series is to provide a much-needed opportunity for researchers and practitioners concerned with learning and instruction in a broad range of disciplines to come together in one community. Historically research on learning and instruction has been conducted in the fields of education, cognitive psychology, artificial intelligence, instructional technology, and others, with little interchange across disciplinary boundaries. The Sciences encompass the diverse range of approaches to the study of teaching and learning; the International Conference on the Sciences is designed to bring together researchers and practitioners at the forefront of these fields to share their challenges and insights.The theme of ICLS 96 is Learning for the Real World. The emphasis on the real world captures the need for theory and implementation that meet the challenges of real world education and training. This emphasis reflects the need for researchers in the Sciences to consider learning and teaching not just under ideal conditions, but also under the realistic conditions in which schools, corporations, and other organizations attempt to educate diverse populations of learners. Papers that reported results from research conducted in real world educational and training settings were given preference in the review process and are well-represented in these proceedings.With ICLS 96, we are establishing the International Conference on the Sciences as a biennial conference. ICLS 98 will be hosted by Georgia Tech in Atlanta, GA. The work reported in these proceedings will contribute to the ongoing dialogue within the fields of the Sciences that will be continued in Atlanta in 1998.The conference has received generous financial support from a number of organizations. The conference is being partially supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation's Program in Advanced Applications of Technology. Andersen Consulting is the sponsor of the ICLS 96 Doctoral Consortium. The Northwestern Committee on Cognitive Science provided additional support for the Doctoral Consortium.