Research Areas Projects
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Education

Our objective is to harness the empirical tools of cognitive science and related social scientific disciplines to improve educational outcomes.

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We specialize in studying the sociocultural context of learning and development. Topics of study include cognitive and social development and academic achievement. We are particularly interested in teaching and learning in the context of family, teacher, and peer interaction.

We have active international research programs examining the impacts of education on individual and community outcomes. For example, we have studied cultural variation in teaching practices and social learning in twelve countries ranging from Ghana to Colombia to Malaysia. We are currently studying the impact of education on beliefs and behaviors surrounding topics of pressing global concerns, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and resource conservation.

Education Projects

Featured
Harnessing Global Science Networks to Accelerate Cultures of Learning
Harnessing Global Science Networks to Accelerate Cultures of Learning

Designing a network of networks to address problems in global education.

Explaining, Exploring, and Scientific Reasoning in Museum Settings
Explaining, Exploring, and Scientific Reasoning in Museum Settings

Investigating how modifications to museum exhibit design and facilitation by museum staff influence family interaction and increase children’s causal learning

PLAY Project
PLAY Project

Recording and revealing the behaviors of infants and mothers during natural activity in their homes, providing an unprecedented corpus of data

Thinkery Connect: A Museum-University-Community Research Partnership
Thinkery Connect: A Museum-University-Community Research Partnership

A museum-university-community research partnership

Culture of Schooling
Culture of Schooling

Studying the changes that take place when individuals, communities, and societies become exposed to formal education

The Development of Teaching and Social Learning Across Cultures
The Development of Teaching and Social Learning Across Cultures

Studying how culture influences the development of cognition over childhood

 

Related Articles

Articles
Schools as cultural reproduction devices (PDF)

Fong, F.T.K., Erut, A., & Legare, C.H. (2023). Schools as Cultural Reproduction Devices. In J.J. Tehrani, J. Kendal, and R. Kendal (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Cultural Evolution (online edn). Oxford Academic. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198869252.013.75.

Teaching Controversial Topics Such as Evolutionary Theory: Tips and Tools (PDF)

Legare, C.H. & Buss, D.M. (2023). Teaching controversial topics such as evolutionary theory: Tips and tools. In J. Stoner, P. Carrese, & C. McNamara (Eds.) Free speech and intellectual diversity in higher education (pp. 197-202). Lexington Books.  

Quantifying quality: The impact of measures of school quality on children’s academic achievement across diverse societies (PDF)

Rawlings, B.*, Davis, H. E.*, Anum, A., Burger, O., Chen, L., Morales, J. C. C., Dutra, N., Dzabatou, A., Dzokoto, V., Erut, A., Fong, F. T. K., Ghelardi, S., Goldwater, M., Ingram, G., Messer, E., Kingsford, J., Lew-Levy, S., Mendez, K., Newhouse, M., … Legare, C. H. (2023). Quantifying quality: The impact of measures of school quality on children's academic achievement across diverse societies. Developmental Science, 00, e13434. https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.13434. *Joint first authors.

 

Related Press

Press
Three Ways Kids Can Learn Through Play at Home

- Life & Letters, College of Liberal Arts, UT Austin
May 7, 2020

If Your Kid Keeps Asking ‘Why,’ Give Them an Answer

- The New York Times
March 27, 2020

Exploration, Explanation, and Parent-Child Interaction in Museums

- Monograph Matters, Society for Research in Child Development
March 16, 2020