The projects of the Learning Science Research Institute at Seoul National University are large-scale, involving a diverse group of researchers and are long-term projects aimed at solving challenging problems.
AI Collaboration
Recently, artificial intelligence that thinks and acts like humans has emerged significantly, and cases of collaboration with AI are gradually increasing in fields such as medicine, law, business, education, and arts.
Thus, while teaching programming skills in AI literacy education is essential, it is also crucial to teach how to coexist with artificial intelligence.
This research aims to define the competencies required for humans to collaborate with AI and develop teaching and assessment methods to enhance those competencies.
Supported by the Korea Research Foundation,this project has received funding for mid-career researchers in the humanities and social sciences for three years starting from 2022. Recognizing that collaborating with AI is a core competency required for everyone in the future society, this research will provide significant insights to the educational community.
Learning Data
Research on Learning and Development Using Multimodal Data
With the rapid advancement of digital technology, the lives and learning environments of adolescents are undergoing significant change. In this context, it is essential to gain an in-depth understanding of their developmental processes to ensure that they grow healthily and acquire the necessary competencies.
This study aims to comprehensively examine the diverse characteristics and developmental stages of early adolescents (6th grade to 8th grade) in order to understand their holistic growth. Moving beyond traditional, fragmentary research approaches, it seeks to integrate and analyze various types of data—including brain waves, video recordings, internet usage logs, and psychological states—to gain a multidimensional understanding of adolescents’ learning and development in the digital age.
This study is expected to provide practical implications for the design of future education by offering a comprehensive understanding of adolescents’ developmental characteristics in the digital age.
Learning data
With the nationwide implementation of AI digital textbooks beginning in 2025, the volume of learning data is expected to increase significantly. However, research on how to systematically collect, sstore, manage, analyze, and utilize this data remains insufficient.
The Learning Sciences Research Institute has been selected for the Humanities and Social Sciences Research Institue Support Program by the National Research Foundation of Korea. Starting in 2024, the institute aims to establish the educational, technological, and institutional foundations necessary to build a sustainable learning data ecosystem over the next six years.
This study seeks to establish national standars for learning data, design a public education learning data ecosystem, and identify its key components. Furthermore, it aims to address major issues surrounding learning data and propose concrete strategies for the effective national-level analysis and utilization of learning data.
Learner’s Diversity and Equity
Theoretical Review and Field-Based Topic Derivation on Academic Failure
Academic failure is recognized as a complex issue that extends beyond mere underachievement, influencing the learner’s cognitive, emotional, and social development. It is not solely attributable to an individual’s lack of ability or effort but rather emerges from the interaction of multiple factors, including family and community environments, socio-emotional conditions, and the education system itself.
The Learning Sciences Research Institute seeks to reexamine this multifaceted issue from a learning sciences perspective, focusing on inclusive concepts such as slow learners and students below basic academic standards. This study aims to analyze the causes and patterns of academic failure through a comprehensive review of domestic and international literature and expert interviews. Additionally, a field-based needs analysis will be conducted with elementary and secondary school teachers and students to explore practical directions for support.
Through this process, the study will establish a follow-up empirical research plan on the diagnosis, prediction, and support of academic failure, and develop a practice-oriented research foundation that reflects the needs of the educational field, thereby contributing to promoting learner diversity and educational equity.
Learner's Diversity and Equity
Some teachers hold misconceptions—neuromyths—believing that passive learning or rote memorization is more effective than higher-order thinking activities for students who fall below basic academic standards..
Such neuromyths not only hinder the development of effective support strategies for underachieving students but also influence teachers’ acceptance and utilization of new educational technologies such as AI in the digital transformation era.
This study aims to explore the neuromyths elementary school teachers hold about students below basic academic levels and examine how these misconceptions relate to their perceptions of AI-based education. The findings are expected to provide implications for teacher education and the development of effective AI-integrated educational practices.
AI Collaboration
Development of an AI-Based EdTech Evaluation Framework
The adoption of AI-based educational technologies is rapidly expanding in school settings. However, evaluation frameworks that ensure these technologies are used safely and effectively for educational purposes remain insufficient. As AI technologies advance at an unprecedented pace, there is a growing need for systematic evaluation criteria and procedures to verify their educational appropriateness, safety, and learning effectiveness.
This study aims to develop a framework for evaluating AI-based EdTech and AI-enhanced teaching practices, and to validate its validity and applicability through empirical data collected from real school environments.
Based on the validated evaluation framework, this research seeks to contribute to: ① supporting decision-making at the school and policy levels, ② improving the quality of domestic EdTech and enhancing learning outcomes, and ③ building a trustworthy AI EdTech ecosystem for teachers and parents.
Learning Data
The importance of Multimodal Learning Analytics (MLA) has rapidly increased in recent learning sciences research, as it enables an integrated analysis of learners’ cognitive, emotional, and behavioral data—thereby allowing for more precise understanding of learning processes and personalized instructional support.
To effectively conduct multimodal learning analytics research, equipment such as eye-trackers, electroencephalography (EEG), functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), and heart rate variability (HRV) sensors is required. These tools make it possible to analyze learners’ visual attention, affective responses, and neurophysiological changes in real time.
Ensuring the reliability of collected multimodal data requires clear and systematic guidelines for the safe and effective use of such equipment. Additionally, to promote active utilization of these technologies, it is essential to identify and share concrete research cases that demonstrate their application.
The guidelines and case studies developed through this project on multimodal data collection and analysis will provide valuable insights for graduate students and early-stage researchers who have limited experience in learning sciences research, thereby contributing to the advancement and wider adoption of learning sciences methodologies.
AI Collaboration
With the increasing demand for AI-supported teaching and learning, this project aims to develop a multimodal AI Agent-based educational chatbot to support personalized learning that transcends time and space.
This project develops a practical teaching and learning support system through a collaborative framework involving subject education expert groups, teaching and learning data evaluation expert groups, AI technology researcher groups, and a teacher advisory group focused on the field.
Currently, chatbots supporting learning in five subjects: Korean, English, Mathematics, Social Studies, and Science, are in operation. Additionally, two non-subject chatbots targeting the development of creativity and self-directed learning are being utilized. Plans are underway to expand this support to all subjects in the future.
Project
Year
2023.2 ~ 2023.12
The primary objective of this project is to holistically support and operate a system where the national government, local educational offices, universities, experts, and the private sector communicate, open up, and collaborate to strengthen the AI and digital competencies of current and prospective teachers.
The AIEDAP project executor manages and operates tasks through research and development institutions, and supervises and manages pilot projects by region. Based on the research results of the AIEDAP project that started in 2022, this project aims to derive deeper research results and operate pilot projects considering regional characteristics and conditions. Additionally, it establishes a training system to enhance the AI and digital competencies of regional customized current and prospective teachers.
Meanwhile, as the AIEDAP research and development institution, research on [subject/topic not provided] is currently underway. Building upon the improvements made in the teacher training and mathematics subjects in 2022, the subjects targeted for enhancement in 2023 are English and Science.
Project
Development of a Future-oriented Curriculum for Incheon's Innovative Future School
Year
2023.3 ~ 2023.12
This project conducts research to strengthen teachers' competencies in developing a future-oriented curriculum. To achieve this, it aims to expand the autonomy of individual school curriculums to develop a future-oriented curriculum. Additionally, the project aspires to promote an upward research approach for school curriculums through the operation of professional learning communities.
Project
Curriculum Development Consulting for the International Vaccine Institute (IVI)
Year
2023.3 ~ 2023.12
This research aims to systematically develop and maximize the educational effectiveness of the vaccine and biopharmaceutical production curriculum operated by the International Vaccine Institute (IVI). It conducts stakeholder needs assessments, develops modules introducing future-oriented educational methodologies, and creates guidelines and communication systems for effective operation.
Project
Google Albus Project
Year
2023.4 ~ 2023.12
This research addresses the impact of digital innovation and changes in educational methods in the classroom using Google for Education Products (Chromebooks and Google Workspace for Education).
Project
Online Traditional Korean Medicine Education Project
Year
2023.5 ~ 2023.12
This project is aimed at promoting online education in traditional Korean medicine. In collaboration with the traditional Korean medicine company "7 Days," it conducts educational forums and workshops to train distinguished instructors in the field of traditional Korean medicine. Moreover, the project focuses on developing effective content for teaching traditional Korean medicine.
Project
Gangwon Provincial Office of Education Metaverse Library
Year
2023.9 ~ 2023.12
The objective of this project is to establish a metaverse library under the Gangwon Provincial Office of Education. It seeks to ensure the theoretical feasibility of setting up the metaverse library and aims for its systematic and substantive operation.
Project
Operation of the Future Education Center for Teacher Training Institutions in 2023
Year
2023.7 ~ 2023.12
This project, with the support of the Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science & Creativity, focuses on the primary and specialized tasks of operating the Future Education Innovation Center. To enhance the AI and digital competencies of prospective and current teachers, it provides support to faculty members of teacher training colleges, operates various programs related to AI and digital competencies, develops diverse teaching models, and improves the digital infrastructure of schools.
FT Task 1. Research on Strengthening Digital Utilization and Field Competencies for Prospective Teachers
This project aims to enhance the digital-based educational competencies and on-field competencies of prospective teachers. With the prototype curriculum from the 2022 AIEDAP project for enhancing AI and digital competencies as a basis, it will develop regular courses for teacher training colleges and provide consulting and support to improve existing courses. A collaborative system, the Preservice-Inservice Network (PIN), is being established and operated to connect prospective teachers at teacher training colleges with current secondary school teachers. The project aims to enhance AI and digital-based instructional design competencies by establishing a one-to-one mentor-mentee system between prospective and on-field teachers, followed by mentoring activities and lesson contests.
FT Task 2. Primary and Secondary Education Collaboration Support Project
The project aims to develop and implement a platform to enhance the digital utilization abilities and future-oriented teaching methodologies of current teachers. In collaboration with city and provincial educational offices, it operates creative experiential activities. It also produces and distributes forums and resource books to help current teachers explore the direction of future education. The project plans and operates a training program for primary and secondary teachers who want to use the metaverse for educational purposes, based on guidelines co-produced with KERIS in 2022. Training includes lectures as well as hands-on experiences with various metaverse devices and platforms.
FT Task 3. Building a Regional Future Education Ecosystem
The project aims to build a regional future education ecosystem through the composition of regional future education innovation platforms and enhancement of teacher competencies. In collaboration with local governments and educational offices, it develops a future-oriented innovative school curriculum, focuses on the development and operation of school digital infrastructure, course design, and content development. It promotes the enhancement of teacher competencies through coaching and workshops. The project aims to develop and validate an AI-STEAM teaching-learning model for enhancing primary students' computing thinking, data literacy, and core competencies in science and math subjects. Also, it develops a teacher's dashboard for AI courseware application in the context of primary math education.
FT Specialized Task. EdTech-Based Digital Expertise Enhancement Specialized Research Project
This project aims to develop and apply teaching design models using subject-specific ed-tech. Firstly, it carries out the development of a virtual world-utilizing game-based instructional design model in the context of secondary education, aiming to enhance learners' problem-solving abilities. Secondly, it develops an instructional design model using a generative AI-based chatbot to enhance the English communication skills of learners in the context of secondary English education.
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Learning Sciences Interdisciplinary: Combined Minor