College of Education to launch new learning sciences minor

Lehigh’s College of Education is launching a new learning sciences minor this fall — the first program in the college to be offered to undergraduate students. 

Open to all undergraduates, the minor will explore how people learn, communicate and problem solve. Allison Zengilowski, a professor in the College of Education and the organizer of the minor, said the program will also conduct research to design solutions in professional spaces. 

Combined with hands-on experiences, she said the program will provide an opportunity to explore how learning sciences can foster better learning environments and future careers. 

The curriculum for the program includes five three-credit courses focused on applied learning sciences and human-centered research. Through the completion of the minor, Zengilowski said students will study cognitive, motivational and environmental factors that shape the learning process. 

“I’ve always been interested in how people learn,” she said. “When I was in elementary school, I realized that my second grade teacher lectured a lot, and I was not learning anything. Then, I started having these questions. Are there good ways to learn?”  

Zengilowski said faculty at Lehigh who often work with undergraduates had similar questions. They also witnessed students seeking more experiences and resources in the education field, which inspired the idea for the minor. Zengilowski was then invited to help create it.

Zengilowski also said it’s very important to her that the program will draw students from all colleges.

“For me, the biggest thing with learning sciences is that it undergirds everything,” she said. “It is so foundational to every single class that you take, interactions you have, problems that you’re solving.” 

Zengilowski said she hopes the minor will be a “meaningful home” for students who want to study different approaches to problem-solving across different disciplines.

Ava Lack, ‘28, attended an information session that introduced the learning sciences minor to the Lehigh community, which was hosted by the College of Education on March 20. 

She said she likes how the program is applicable to real-world scenarios and her time as a college student.

“It is really interesting, because a lot of the classes I’ve been taking are to help me get a job outside of college,” Lack said. “But this one is for skills, like practicing study habits, which will help me right now as a student and in the future.”

Zengilowski is currently teaching a pilot applied learning sciences course that can go toward the minor requirements. She said much of the work in the class is hands-on and involves the students determining how to best communicate in hypothetical scenarios according to different contexts. 

For example, Zengilowski said students might explore how to convey a complex coding concept to a researcher or discuss vaccine efficacy with a patient. 

Sophia Pileri, ‘28, is currently enrolled in the applied learning sciences course and said she is enjoying the experience so far, as it provides both professional and personal development opportunities. 

She said the course is effective and useful, because it’s an advanced topic that is being taught by someone who is experienced in her field. 

“It’s important to take an interdisciplinary approach to your education,” Pileri said. “The whole world continues to develop and get more advanced, so going into teaching or anything in the learning world, you really have to advance with it so you don’t get left behind.”

Zengilowski said departments and curricula at universities are often pre-existing and embedded within a broader system, making this a rare opportunity for her to create something that would “outlast” her and support students in their future endeavors.

She said the program combines many of her interests and passions, including how to best teach students and ensure they know they can do meaningful things with what they learn in college.

The program will be helpful for the development of teacher and student relationships at Lehigh, Zengilowski said, and instructors have shown a growing interest in understanding the learning process by reaching out to her about the program

She said she believes this is indicative of professors across all colleges thinking intentionally about how to be better teachers for their students, which is something that makes Lehigh special. 

Zengilowski also said she is excited about students coming together and pushing one another to think more broadly. 

“I’m hoping this program becomes this lovely petri dish of space to explore and grow together,” she said.