Learning Science Lab | Guiding Principles

Our mission

Our mission is to advance business school education through student-centered learning design, strategic partnerships, and the purposeful use of technology.

The Learning Science Lab takes a holistic approach to learning design, drawing from research and best practices from learning sciences and educational technology for business school education.

The Learning Science Lab’s team members offer expertise in learning design principles and the technical tools that enable them. Faculty make vital contributions both through their subject-matter expertise and teaching experience. Since you are an important part of both the design and the implementation, we strive to offer flexible approaches that can adhere to best practices while complimenting your personal content and style. Rather than offer prescriptive guidance, we serve as people to think with about your teaching.

There are several guiding principles that anchor our approach:

Students are at the center of the learning.

We start from student experience, examining their perspective. This includes students’ explicitly stated learning goals, as well as what we know from research about the cognitive processes that mediate learning. We consider the science around retention, recall, and processing that leads students from novice to expert. And we think about the student role, using an activity-centered approach.

Learning is a social process.

Productive learning has an essential social aspect. We know students learn better when they are a part of a rich, dynamic, and diverse learning community consisting of their peers, professors, practitioners and leading industry experts. In communities of practice, students greatly benefit from feedback that deepens their learning and refines their skill sets.

We aim to build educational experiences that fully leverage this from the beginning to end of learning design.

Learning outcomes drive the student experience.

Learning outcomes provide students with structure and guide the entire learning experience. By understanding objectives, students learn with intention and build on their foundational knowledge. This progression begins with skills outlined in Bloom’s Taxonomy, such as recalling concepts or citing definitions.

However, over time, learning outcomes–and thus students’ process of achieving–becomes more complex. When students reach–or surpass–these goal posts, they are able to successfully apply what they have learned by producing a unique work of their own.

This work demonstrates their unique expertise on the subject matter and reflects the outcomes driving the course experience.

Technology is a tool, not a solution.

It is tempting to expect a new tool will improve learning on its own. But unless its use is carefully considered and designed, technology alone is not enough. We work in partnership with technology to enhance learning experiences rather than dictate them.

Our team first works to understand your teaching and then lets it inform any tool recommendations we make or implementations we oversee. Evidence-based practices and relevant industry research guide us to select technology that works for you and with you in your course.

Experimentation leads to innovation.

We ground our design in the learning sciences literature and established best practices, but in order to innovate, it’s necessary to experiment. We’re always on the lookout to try new processes, media formats, technology tools, and teaching structures. We approach design with an eye toward assessing our results, learning from our own work, and adding to the options we can offer.

Looking to explore new teaching options?

Reach out! Contact us at learning.science@stern.nyu.edu. We collaborate on a range of learning interventions, from trying a new tool or activity, to full course redesigns, and we’re always available to discuss potential efforts.