Keynote Presenter Robert A. Duke
Why Students Don't Learn What We Think We Teach
Wednesday, August 11, 2021
Presentation (10:00 - 11:00 am)
Q&A (11:15 - 11:45 am)
In 1959, Jerome Bruner correctly observed that "The school boy learning physics is a physicist, and it is easier for him to learn physics by behaving like a physicist than doing anything else" (1960, p. 72). Since that time, research in psychology and neuroscience has deepened our understanding of the fundamental principles of human learning. Yet much of what we do in public and private education at all levels of instruction seems to effectively ignore these principles. What’s up with that? We will discuss the reasons why formal education often fails to make substantive and lasting changes in how learners think and behave, and we'll consider how to design learning experiences which lead to advantageous changes in cognition, affect, and behavior, all of which are components of expertise in every discipline.
About Robert A. Duke
Bob Duke is the Marlene and Morton Meyerson Centennial Professor and Head of Music and Human Learning at The University of Texas at Austin, where he is University of Texas and University of Texas System Distinguished Teaching Professor, Elizabeth Shatto Massey Distinguished Fellow in Teacher Education, and Director of the Center for Music Learning. He is also a clinical professor in the Dell Medical School at The University of Texas and was the founding director of the psychology of learning program at the Colburn Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles. Dr. Duke’s research on human learning and behavior spans multiple disciplines, and his most recent work explores the refinement of procedural memories and the allocation of attention in teacher-learner interactions. A former studio musician and public school music teacher, he has worked closely with children at-risk, both in the public schools and through the juvenile justice system. He is the author of Scribe 5 behavior analysis software, and his most recent books are Intelligent Music Teaching: Essays on the Core Principles of Effective Instruction, The Habits of Musicianship, which he co-authored with Jim Byo of Louisiana State University, and Brain Briefs, which he co-authored with Art Markman, his co-host on the public radio program and podcast Two Guys on Your Head, produced by KUT Radio in Austin.
