Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Dr. Steven G. Buzinski of the University of North Carolina will be presenting “The Social Cognitive Barriers to Learning, and What We Can Do About Them” at the 2020 ABMP School Forum, taking place April 17–18, 2020, at the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Dr. Buzinski is the associate director of Undergraduate Studies, director of the Karen M. Gil Internship Program, and teaching associate professor in the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience at the University of North Carolina. He is an award-winning instructor who teaches courses in the areas of social and cognitive psychology, including social psychology, attitude change, self-regulation, cognitive psychology, and cognitive science. He has presented and published research that broadly investigates the social determinants of learning, with specific interests in the ways in which social cognition—how people process, store, and use information about other people—can create barriers to student learning, and how instructors can help ameliorate those barriers.
“We are thrilled to have Dr. Buzinski join us for the ABMP School Forum,” says Les Sweeney, President of ABMP. “We feel that his background in researching student success, and the barriers to it, will have direct application for our attendees and will help start this year’s Forum on a high level.”
Dr. Buzinski’s keynote description: “When instructors consider how to improve student learning, they tend to focus on changing the course content, how it is delivered, or both. While this can be a fruitful exercise, it does not account for the diversity of forces that affect students. To gain a fuller understanding of what does, one must broaden their focus and situate the individual learner within the broader psychosocial context of learning. In his keynote address to the ABMP School Forum, Dr. Buzinski will lead a discussion of the social-cognitive barriers to student learning—including the development and consequences of illusory knowledge, how self-regulatory failures can affect learning, and maladaptive social comparison effects—as well as steps instructors can take to minimize the impact of these barriers in their own classrooms.”
In addition to the keynote, the 2020 ABMP School Forum will feature sessions dedicated to helping attendees identify and solve the challenges and opportunities facing their schools, with a specific focus on creating opportunities to share ideas and solutions with other attendees.
“Since its inception in 1997, the ABMP School Forum has long been recognized as the premier meeting for educators in the profession,” says Sweeney. “Much of that credit goes to the amazing educators who join us each year to join in the conversation about how we can help move the profession forward. We look forward to continuing that conversation in North Carolina.”
Registration is open for the 2020 ABMP School Forum at www.abmp.com/educators/abmp-school-forums, and ABMP Premier schools get one free registration and ABMP Enhanced schools save $100 on registration.