A Teacher's Guide to the Learning Brain

July 14-18, 2025

Boston, MA

The Program Schedule CE Credits Travel Registration

Cost: $1,695 per person through May 23, 2025 and $1,795 per person after May 23, 2025 Save $100 per person when registering a group of 3 or more.

Join Us This Summer in Boston for a Hands-on Workshop

From July 14 - 18, 2025, Learning & the Brain is offering a Summer Institute on the campus of Boston University.

How can we shape lessons that foster learning, engagement, focus, and deep knowledge? This lively and interactive institute explores current brain research through four essential topics: attention, working memory, long-term memory, and schema theory. You will begin with the little-recognized goal of all schooling, called schema formation: a concept crucial for understanding optimal teaching. With this goal in mind, you will dive into a scientific understanding of attention. A research-informed perspective of attention will help teachers rethink old assumptions and create more motivating lesson plans. Next, you will explore the core functions of working memory: the brain’s construction site that assembles small pieces into larger mental structures. You will then explore the cognitive steps essential to long-term memory: specifically, the encoding and retrieval strategies that best consolidate learning and overcome prior misconceptions. With all these topics, we balance an in-depth exploration of research with practical and flexible classroom strategies. This institute is hands-on and is limited to 50 participants.

At This Institute, You Will

Understand and apply the core concept of “schema formation” at the heart of learning

Develop insights and strategies to anticipate, identify, and mitigate working memory overload

Nurture long-term memory formation—that is, learning—with research on encoding, retrieval, and consolidation

Explore the science of attention to focus on alertness, orienting, and executive attention

Apply these concepts to your own professional work

Understand psychology and neuroscience research articles, with a particular focus on developing effective and informed skepticism

The Summer Institute Is for

K-16 Teachers and Academic Administrators

School Psychologists, Learning Specialists, and Counselors

Academic Support Staff

Independent Learning Consultants

Professional Development Credit

Earn up to 20 hours toward professional development credit for various professionals. For details on credit offered, visit our CE credit page or call our office at 857-444-1500 ext. 1. Note: credits are not provided by Boston University.

Accommodations and Meals

Interaction between faculty and participants outside the classroom is an integral part of the Institute. To foster this total immersion learning environment, participants are housed in shared apartments with their own bedrooms in a dormitory on the campus of Boston University in Boston, MA. The apartments contain four bedrooms and two bathrooms and are located at 10 Buick Street. The institute provides four nights lodging with an arrival date of July 14 and a departure date of July 18. Boston University is located in the city of Boston, close to Kenmore Square and Fenway Park and along the "T" with easy access to all the sites of Boston. All facilities are ADA compliant. If you are interested in making your own accommodations off-campus or would like to arrange an early arrival on campus, please call us at 857-444-1500 x1. Please check the online schedule for information on the meals provided.

Andrew C. Watson, MEd

Andrew C. Watson, MA, EdM, began teaching in 1988, studying psychology and neuroscience in 2008, and combining those interests in 2012. He currently works as a high-school teacher and as a consultant—explaining the classroom implications of brain science to teachers, students, administrators, and parents. Since 2016, Andrew has written and edited the Learning & the Brain blog. He has also written 3 books: The Goldilocks Map, Learning Begins, and Learning Grows.