Learning in the age of AI

Since the mid-1970s, IQ scores have been declining across Western nations—reversing decades of cognitive gains. This presentation examines evidence that today's popular "guide on the side" teaching methods and increased reliance on external memory aids may be undermining the very cognitive abilities they aim to enhance.

Drawing from neuroscience research, Barbara Oakley, PhD—Coursera's inaugural "Innovation Instructor"—shows how our brains build neural connections through two distinct but complementary memory systems: the declarative system for conscious knowledge and the procedural system for automatic skills. You'll discover why internal knowledge remains crucial even in the digital age, and how these dual memory systems interact during learning. This research suggests traditional teaching approaches may better align with our neural architecture than commonly believed.

The session provides practical strategies for using generative AI to enhance learning while maintaining the internal knowledge development crucial for deeper understanding. You'll leave with concrete techniques that balance technological integration with proven cognitive development methods for mathematics, science, and language arts.

Join us to explore how neuroscience, AI, and evidence-based teaching methods can work together to create more effective learning experiences for your students.

About Professor Barbara Oakley

Barbara Oakley, Ph.D., is Distinguished Professor of Engineering at Oakland University and a globally recognised expert in the science of learning. Her groundbreaking Coursera course "Learning How to Learn" has enrolled over four million students worldwide, making it one of history's most popular online courses. Her seminal book A Mind for Numbers has sold over a million copies and has been translated into more than two dozen languages.

A recipient of the prestigious McGraw Prize in Education (called the colloquial "Nobel Prize of Education"), Professor Oakley combines insights from engineering, neuroscience, and education to transform how we understand learning. Her research has been published in leading journals including the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, while her perspectives on education have appeared in the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.