Learning Agency Lab

THE LEARNING AGENCY LAB IS FOCUSED ON DEVELOPING SCIENCE OF LEARNING-BASED TOOLS AND PROGRAMS FOR THE SOCIAL GOOD. WE HELP EDUCATORS, RESEARCHERS AND OTHERS TO UNDERSTAND THE SCIENCE OF LEARNING AND HOW STUDENTS CAN LEARN HOW TO LEARN BETTER.

DURING THE 2021 FISCAL YEAR, THE LEARNING AGENCY LAB (LAB) ENGAGED IN A WIDE VARIETY OF WORK, PRIMARILY FOCUSED ON LEVERAGING DATA SCIENCE TO CREATE OPEN-SOURCE EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTIONS. SPECIFICALLY, THE LAB LAUNCHED ITS FIRST IN A SERIES OF DATA SCIENCE COMPETITIONS TO DEVELOP AUTOMATED FEEDBACK TOOLS TO IMPROVE WRITING IN STUDENTS IN MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL GRADES. TO PREPARE FOR THE COMPETITION, THE LAB COLLECTED MORE THAN 500,000 STUDENT ESSAYS AND SELECTED 20,000 OFFERING A STRONG REPRESENTATION OF GRADES, PROMPTS, REGIONS, DEMOGRAPHICS. THE LAB CONTRACTED A FIRM TO DE-IDENTIFY THE ESSAYS AND ANNOTATE THEM FOR ARGUMENTATIVE ELEMENTS (POSITION, CLAIM, EVIDENCE, COUNTERCLAIM ETC.). IN OTHER WORDS, THE FIRM READ EACH ESSAY AND IDENTIFIED AND EVALUATED THE ARGUMENTATIVE ELEMENTS. THE ANNOTATED ESSAYS SERVED AS THE BASIS FOR THE DATA SCIENCE COMPETITION IN WHICH DATA SCIENTISTS WILL USE THE ESSAYS TO BUILD AN ALGORITHM THAT CAN MIRROR THE ANNOTATIONS OF HUMAN RATERS.ALONGSIDE THIS WORK, THE LAB HAS LAUNCHED THE LEARNING ENGINEERING AMBASSADOR PROGRAM TO INCREASE THE GLOBAL UNDERSTANDING AND VALUING OF LEARNING ENGINEERING. UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE STUDENTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD HOSTED MONTHLY EVENTS SUCH AS DISCUSSION PANELS AND FIRESIDE CHATS WERE HELD FOR A VARIETY OF AUDIENCES (TEACHERS, CURRICULUM DEVELOPERS, GRADUATE STUDENTS, ETC.) TO EXPOSE EMERGING TALENT TO THE IMPORTANCE OF LEARNING ENGINEERING.THE LAB ALSO RAN AN INTERNSHIP PLACEMENT PROGRAM, HELPING TO CONNECT YOUNG PROFESSIONALS (PRIMARILY STUDENTS) IN THE FIELD WITH ESTABLISHED RESEARCHERS AND ORGANIZATIONS. THIS PROGRAM OFFERS STUDENTS A COMPETITIVE STIPEND FOR INTERNS TO ASSUME PART AND FULL-TIME ROLES IN THE SUMMER AND FALL OF 2021. FINALLY, THE LAB HELPED CREATED THE INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE ANALYTICS FELLOWSHIP (INLPF) TO DESIGN A POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP FOCUSED ON PROMOTING INCLUSION AND EQUITY AMONG RESEARCHERS IN THE FIELDS OF LANGUAGE ANALYTICS, NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING (NLP), AND CORPUS LINGUISTICS. POST-DOCTORAL CANDIDATES WERE SELECTED TO JOIN THE INLPF, RESULTING IN TWO PAPERS, ONE OF WHICH WAS SELECTED FOR A CONFERENCE.