Education and the Brain – what can neuroscience tell us about how and why we learn?

Please note, this page has been archived and is no longer being updated.

The Swansea Science Cafe offers opportunities for anyone to find out more about new, exciting and topical areas of science in an informal and entertaining way.

Title: Education and the Brain – what can neuroscience tell us about how and why we learn?

Speaker: Dr Phil Newton, Swansea University

Date: Wednesday 28th May 2014

Time: 7:30pm

Venue: The Dylan Thomas Centre, Swansea

Admission: Free, all welcome

This presentation discusses how the study of education has many things in common with the study of the brain – both are interested in understanding how we acquire and retain new knowledge and skills, how they are integrated with existing understanding and how it is all then applied. Despite this overlap, collaboration between educators and neuroscientists has, historically, been limited.

Dr Newton will describe how findings from the two fields have been integrated into the discipline of ‘educational neuroscience’, and what this might mean for the future of education.

Contact details: http://swansea.ac.uk/science/swanseasciencecafe/

About Science Cafe Wales

Each month, a leading expert in their field will give a brief introductory talk followed by a friendly informal chat. You can sit back, relax with a drink and listen or get involved in the discussion and debate. The Science Café organisers are committed to promoting public engagement with science and to making science accountable.

Science Café Wales are held in casual settings in Cardiff, Swansea and Bangor. They are informal and accessible and entrance is entirely free. They usually start with a short talk from the speaker, usually a scientist or writer, followed by a quick break and then an hour or so of discussion afterwards.

Previous topics have included dark matter, the common cold, Dr Who, the Big Bang and alternative therapies.

The first Cafes Scientifiques in the UK were held in Leeds in 1998. From there cafés gradually spread across the country.

Currently, some 40 or so cafés meet regularly to hear scientists or writers on science talk about their work and discuss it with diverse audiences.