• 9:00am
  • Friday,9:00 -10:00
  • Hollings Special
    Collections Library,
    Thomas Cooper Library

  • 12:00pm
  • Friday,12:00 - 1:30
  • Hollings Special
    Collections Library,
    Thomas Cooper Library

  • Robert A. Duke
Robert A. Dukes

We are pleased to have Robert Duke present the Plenary and Lunch Keynote Lectures. Robert 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 Distinguished Teaching Professor, Elizabeth Shatto Massey Distinguished Fellow in Teacher Education, and Director of the Center for Music Learning. He is also a member of the faculty and director of the Psychology of Learning Program at the Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles. His research on human learning and behavior spans multiple disciplines, including motor skill learning, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience. His most recent work explores procedural memory consolidation and the cognitive processes engaged during musical improvisation. He is the author of Scribe 4 behavior analysis software, and his most recent books are Intelligent Music Teaching: Essays on the Core Principles of Effective Instruction and The Habits of Musicianship, which he co-authored with Jim Byo of Louisiana State University.

What's Going on In That Head of Yours?

Opening Session:

In this session, Robert Duke will explain that changes in the functional capacities of learners are visible manifestations of changes in the physical structure of the brain. Although we seldom think of learning experiences as brain-reorganization activities, they most certainly are precisely that. We'll consider how to design learning experiences that lead to advantageous changes in cognition, affect, and behavior, all of which are components of expertise in every discipline.

Why Students Don't Learn What We Think We Teach

Lunch Keynote Lecture:

Robert Duke's talk is based on Jerome Bruner' observation 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. "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? Join us for lunch to hear what Dr. Duke has to say about teaching and learning.