Several academic fields of study focus on understanding how people learn best, each with its own unique approach and perspective. Here are some of the most prominent found online:
- Educational Psychology: This field explores how people learn in educational settings, the effectiveness of educational interventions, the psychology of teaching, and the social psychology of schools as organizations.
- Cognitive Science: This interdisciplinary field studies mind and intelligence. It involves psychology, artificial intelligence, philosophy, neuroscience, linguistics, and anthropology. Cognitive scientists work to understand cognition (thought processes), which includes learning.
- Neuroscience / Cognitive Neuroscience: These fields study the brain and how it influences cognition and learning. Cognitive neuroscience bridges the domains of neuroscience and psychology to understand the neurological processes behind learning and memory.
- Instructional Design & Technology: This field is particularly interested in designing and implementing effective instructional materials. It involves the study of how people learn from informational resources and how best to create those resources.
- Pedagogy / Andragogy: Pedagogy is the discipline that deals with the theory and practice of teaching. Andragogy is the method and practice of teaching adult learners. Both explore different strategies and methods of instruction and learning.
- Educational Technology: This field studies the effective design, implementation, and use of technology and its impact on learning and teaching.
- Learning Sciences: An interdisciplinary field that looks at the nature of learning from cognitive, social, and technological perspectives. It aims to better understand the processes of knowledge and skill acquisition.
- Sociology of Education: This examines how social institutions and individuals’ experiences affect education and its outcomes. It is mostly concerned with the public schooling systems of Western industrial societies.
- Linguistics / Applied Linguistics: Linguistics is the scientific study of language and its structure. Applied linguistics uses this information in teaching, learning, and assessment of language.