AccelNet-Design: Harnessing Global Science Networks to Accelerate Cultures of Learning

This global network of networks aims to fill critical gaps in knowledge regarding how principles of learning function in diverse cultural contexts. International data representing a diversity of people from a diversity of cultures would allow a deeper understanding of what works, for whom, where and when, and to what extent some scientific principles might generalize.

This design-track project will build an interdisciplinary network of networks addressing aspects of learning, development, and culture as they relate to global education needs. The initial focus of the network of networks will be on the self-regulation of the learner. Globally-inclusive, methodologically-rigorous data of this kind would allow the scientific community to better understand variation in self-regulatory behavior based on an individual’s environment, experience, and situational demands.

Educational researchers and policy-makers around the world would also gain new insights to inform the design effective educational interventions and implement effective educational policies. Forming a network of networks for the global science of learning will enable a scientific workforce with the intellectual agility to address current and future challenges, leverage the science of learning to promote a positive global technology climate at scale, and build a globally inclusive science of learning.

Considering best practices and foundational needs to promote sufficient scientific fluency for the next generation is a national and global priority.  

This design project will link the Global Science of Learning for Education Network and the Center for Applied Cognitive Science with partner networks that specialize in global development, learning, education, equity, and policy. These networks are generally interdisciplinary and include social scientists, engineers, designers, global development practitioners, philanthropists, educators, and policy makers.

Self-regulation is the initial focus for this design project because it is consequential for educational, social, and economic outcomes, yet little understood. The network of networks will be established through framework for collaborative planning, including design events, virtual workshops, and trainee workshops. Cross-functional teams or “bridge networks” comprised of members from multiple networks will engage in convergence science to create an ecosystem for integrating communities and scientific networks to tackle a variety pressing challenges in the science of learning.

With the digital divide impacting learners around the world, the networks will address the future of work at the human technology frontier, by leveraging the science of learning to create life-long learners.

The Accelerating Research through International Network-to-Network Collaborations (AccelNet) program is designed to accelerate the process of scientific discovery and prepare the next generation of U.S. researchers for multiteam international collaborations. The AccelNet program supports strategic linkages among U.S. research networks and complementary networks abroad that will leverage research and educational resources to tackle grand scientific challenges that require significant coordinated international efforts.

Co-funding for this award is provided by the Science of Learning and Augmented Intelligence Program in the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.