Oct. 29: Frontier Forum Lecture to Address ‘Enhancing Memory and Attention Through the Science of Learning’
Thursday, October 29, 2020
10:00 AM - 11:15 AM
Virtual Event
Mankato, Minn. – Minnesota State University, Mankato faculty member Karla Lassonde will discuss “Enhancing Memory and Attention Through the Science of Learning” in a virtual lecture from 10–11:15 a.m. on Oct. 29 via Zoom.
The 41st Annual Frontier Forum Lecture, sponsored by Minnesota State Mankato’s College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, is free and open to students, faculty, staff and the public. Registration is required at sbs.mnsu.edu/frontier-forum.
Following is a preview of Lassonde’s presentation provided by Minnesota State Mankato’s College of Social and Behavioral Sciences:
“Were you curious about bugs or space as a child? Intellectual curiosity makes learning easy. When we are curious, we are highly motivated to learn all we can about a subject. Traditional teaching and learning environments may strongly emphasis learning vast amounts of material, yet learners often lack motivation and curiosity. In addition, students are not taught the cognitive skills related to memory and attention that would make them more successful learners.
Experience teaching courses in cognition and memory has taught shown that students enjoy learning how to learn. They are often shocked to find out that many of their go-to strategies for learning, like re-reading notes, and cramming before test are ineffective for long-term retention of material. For most students, no one has stopped to teach them how to learn.
In this talk, Lassonde will discuss limits of attention and best strategies for long-term memory. Audience members will become participants by engaging in activities that test memory basics. Exciting research in learning myths and the benefit of sleep for memory will be discussed. The audience will leave with strategies to apply to their learning.”
For more information about the presentation, visit sbs.mnsu.edu/frontier-forum or contact Lassonde at 507-389-5827 or by email at karla.lassonde@mnsu.edu.
For more information about the Frontier Forum, contact Elyse Anderson, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, by phone at 507-389-1255 or by email at elyse.anderson@mnsu.edu.
Lassonde has been a professor of cognitive psychology in the Department of Psychology at Minnesota State Mankato for the past 11 years. Lassonde conducts research on the fundamentals of thinking and memory with a team of undergraduates. She believes that research mentoring is the very best way to support students for overall success. She served as the director for the Undergraduate Research Center from 2014-2017. Lassonde’s research focuses on methods for revising science misconceptions, knowledge change for controversial topics, and the LEARN method. She also serves on editorial boards for flagship journals in the Science of Teaching and Learning.
She is passionate about bringing psychology to the public. Lassonde is particularly proud of her departmental work developing Experiencing Psychology Day at the Southern Minnesota Children’s Museum, and curating, along with colleague Emily Stark, of the Communicating Psychological Science website.
Before joining the faculty at Minnesota State Mankato, she received her doctorate and master’s degrees in cognitive psychology from the University of New Hampshire, where she also received a master’s in college teaching.
Minnesota State Mankato, a comprehensive university with 14,604 students, is part of the Minnesota State system, which includes 30 colleges and seven universities.
