Educational Neuroscience | The University of Alabama

Dr. Firat Soylu presents in Istanbul about the Use of A.I. in Cognitive Neuroscience

10/21/2023

Dr. Firat Soylu was invited to talk on the "Use of Artificial Intelligence in Cognitive Neuroscience Research and Education" at the 9th Turkish Medical Congress in Istanbul on October 21.

To learn more, click here for their English website. You can also find the conference program in Turkish here: https://tt dk.tuseb.gov.tr/

Communities Cultivating Character Conference

9/28/2023

On September 25 - 27, over 200 people attended the Leadership for Character Conference hosted by The University of Alabama, in collaboration with The Hope Institute, Samford University, and the University of West Alabama. Teachers, educational leaders, higher education scholars, and others interested in moral and character development were invited to attend. The Communities Cultivating Character (CCC) Conference brought together interested parties to connect, inform, and further motivate communities wanting to cultivate character in Alabama, as well as across the United States.

According to Professor David Walker, Director of The Center for the Study of Ethical Development, this conference was a space where participants and presenters were encouraged to think beyond basic character education, including for example, how adults and leaders in a school can develop moral growth mindsets involving a commitment to their own continuous growth and development. "After all, it might be said that character development starts by looking in the mirror. Another way to think about communities cultivating character is to emphasize how different communities can come together around the aims of character development. Indeed, this conference is an example of just that for bringing together practitioners and leaders in schools with scholars and researchers at universities."

Please click here for more information about the list of keynote speakers, topics covered at the CCC conference, and other pertinent information.

Dr. Firat Soylu interviewed by the Dana Foundation Neuroscience Career Network

9/20/2023

Dr. Firat Soylu was recently interviewed about pursuing careers in Educational Neuroscience by NeuroxCareers of the Dana Foundation.
(https://neuroxcareers.org/)

Whether you're a fan of Dr. Soylu or you wish to learn more about careers in Educational Neuroscience, you can CLICK HERE to see the full interview.

Julia Leskow from the Elden Lab wins first place at the 2023 URCA Conference!

4/11/2023

Congratulations to Julia Leskow from the Elden Lab (PI: Dr. Firat Soylu) on receiving the 1st place award at the 2023 UA Undergraduate Research and Creativity Conference on April 11, 2023! Julia's poster was titled "Neural Processing Differences for Social and Number Gestures," and Raegan's "EEG/ERP Differences in Processing Facial and Hand Gestures." Julia is about the graduate and will start her master's in Neuroimaging at the University of Southern California in Fall 2023.

Julia Leskow with Dr. Firat Soylu after winning first place at URCA 2023.

Undergraduate seniors in the Elden Lab, Raegan Windham and Julia Leskow presented their research at the 2023 UA URCA Conference.

PUBLICATION UPDATE: Read Dr. Macarena Suarez Pellicioni's latest review on the Neurocognitive mechanisms underlying multiplication and subtraction performance

12/15/2022

To read Dr. Macarena Suarez Pellicioni's latest review on the Neurocognitive mechanisms underlying multiplication and subtraction performance, CLICK HERE.

Suárez-Pellicioni, M., Prado, J., & Booth, J. R. (2022). Neurocognitive mechanisms underlying multiplication and subtraction performance in adults and skill development in children: a scoping review. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 48, 101228.

"WBRC" Interviewed Dr. Hyemin Han

10/18/2021

Dr. Hyemin Han talks about the increased framing effect during the COVID -19 pandemic. His study shows how to frame the messaging better about how to persuade people to get vaccinated and take preventive measures to deal with COVID-19 spread, which could be a perfect way for the policymaker and health organization to release information better in the future. So, people will be more likely to take action on COVID-19 or some other types of diseases.
Here is the WBRC news link: https://bit.ly/3Fo962k

Congratulations to Dr. Hyemin Han for his research work on " Replicating the disease framing problem during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic: A study of stress, worry, trust, and choice under risk".
Here is a link to the research: https://bit.ly/3tydcQg

Graduate Student Mentorship Leads to Undergraduate Research Award

4/21/2021

This past academic year, PhD student Cailee Nelson has been mentoring undergraduate student Madelyn Armstrong in the NERD Lab. Madelyn presented her research at UA's annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (URCA) Conference, where she was awarded "First Place Work in Progress" for the "Education" category. In collaboration with Dr. Laura Morett, director of the the NERD Lab, the group has been researching "The effect of transitioning to online classes on students with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder” (also the title of their project). Congratulations to Madelyn, Cailee, and Dr. Morett on their work.

See the University's official news announcement here.

Graduate Students Showcase their Research this Year!

3/23/2021

Throughout the 2020-2021 academic year, numerous graduate students have presented (or will present) their research at various conferences. Due to COVID-19, many conferences have been virtual, but that hasn't stopped our students from continuing their great work. Congratulations to students on their research!

Jacob Feiler presented a poster at the Annual Meeting for the Association for Psychological Science in May 2021.
- Feiler, J.B., Scofield, J. (2021, May). (STEM)bodying Cognition.Presented at the Annual Meeting for the Association for Psychological Science (Virtual).
Cailee Nelson presented a research talk at the Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA) annual conference on March 20, 2021.
- Transitioning Online: Challenges for College Students with ASD. Cailee Nelson, Laura Morett, Laura Stoppelbein, & Susan White, University of Alabama
Kaitlyn May presented at the University of California, Berkeley's Graduate School of Education Research Day.
- May, K.E. & Guyotte, K.W. (April 2021). Teaching Abstract Scientific Concepts Through Dance: The Perfect Pas de Deux?
Sarah Hughes Berheim presented at the 61st Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society during November 2020.
- Hughes-Berheim, S. S., Morett, L. M., & Shelley-Tremblay, J. F. (2020, July). Representational Gesture's Impact on Integration of Newly-Learned Words into Read Sentential Contexts.

This post will be updated to reflect student presentations during the 2020-2021 academic year, so please check back.

Kaitlyn May Places as Finalist in Regional 3MT Competition!

3/23/2021

After being awarded first place in the annual 3-Minute Thesis (3MT) competition at the University of Alabama (click for post), Kaitlyn May went on to place as a finalist in the Council of Southern Graduate School's regional 3MT competition. Her talk is titled “Frontoparietal Network in Executive Functioning in Autism Spectrum Disorder" and represents Kaitlyn's ongoing interests in executive functioning and autism spectrum disorder. Congratulations to Kaitlyn!

Dr. Firat Soylu is featured on NPR's "The Pulse"

2/20/2021

Dr. Firat Soylu talks to Maiken Scott about the role of neuroscience research in education. Among other things, Dr. Soylu discusses how our brains and bodies interact with the environment to create a robust learning system. If you're interested in how neuroscience research relates to education and how our brains (and our kid's brains) learn and remember things in school, check out the article and listen to the full podcast here.

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