[Page 431]Learning sciences as a field emerged in the early 1990s from multiple areas of research (e.g., cognitive science, computer science, sociology, anthropology, and educational psychology) to focus on learning in real-world contexts, both in schools and in out-of-school settings. Research in learning sciences integrates multiple disciplinary perspectives and methodological approaches to address questions about how people develop and learn, what learning “looks like,” and how it can be supported. This entry further describes the learning sciences and the field’s application to a variety of settings. It then discusses how learning sciences research contributes to an understanding of the design of learning environments and the way in which interactions contribute to learning.

Learning sciences emerged in part from studies of problem solving occurring in out-of-school contexts ...