The Science Learning Activation Lab is a national research and design effort to learn and demonstrate how to activate children in ways that ignite persistent engagement in science learning and inquiry. Led by LRDC and the Lawrence Hall of Science, the ActLab is conducting research to identify the characteristics of late elementary and middle school aged children that are predictive of successful science learning and future participation in science, as well as to design learning environments that promote such outcomes. Our research uncovers the elements of an activated learner, the trajectory of predicted outcomes, and the learning experiences that support or maintain activation. Current theorizing has found four dimensions of activation: Fascination in science, Valuing science knowledge and ways of thinking, Competency beliefs for science learning situations, and Scientific sensemaking

Digital badges represent a new vision of learning that combines the hot and cold of learning. On the one hand, badges represent what learners actually can do, based on rich evidence that is more authentic than test performance alone. On the other hand, badges shape learner motivations, potentially in positive and negative ways. Despite all the attention to badges for a half-decade, very little is known empirically about their validity or their affects. We are studying and refining a badge ecosystem embedded with an online teaching environment for formal and informal robotics instruction that seeks to teach computational thinking skills: cs2n.org

The most common place of difficulty for university students is the large introductory class, especially in STEM. Although the content is relatively basic, many topics are covered quickly and students struggle to pass, resulting in students dropping out of college, expanding debt via additional years of study, or giving up on initial career goals to settle for something else. The inherently passive nature of large lectures has often been named as particularly problematic, and reform instruction has sought to pursue more active learning projects. Some promising results have been found, but much remains to be learned about how to fully support an active learning ecosystem (physical spaces, effective undergraduate and graduate TA support, TA and instructor training), what long-term outcomes result from improvements within early introductory courses, and the underlying mechanisms by which these outcomes are obtained. Learning scientist from the Learning Research and Development Center are collaborating with instructional support services at the Center for Teaching and Learning and faculty from discipline departments in Incubator projects that transform instruction at the University of Pittsburgh and serve as a model for instructional reform through the university and beyond. Current efforts include Chemistry (General Chemistry 1), Biology (Introduction to Biology 1), and Economics (Micro and Macro-economics).