Ecological Active Learning Across Development: Trajectories, Mechanisms and Opportunities for Intervention

• Event: Joint Linguistics-CLASP Seminar
• Presented by: Azzurra Ruggeri from the Technical University of Munich
• Date: 09 December 2025
• Time: 13:15-15:00
• Venue: Gothenburg University, Humanisten and online
• Address: Renströmsgatan 6, 412 55 Göteborg
• Room: J236
• Zoom link: https://gu-se.zoom.us/j/67063108947?pwd=kPpjvMLCekxNTBVzq4uYP5gFZ6Y6vd.1
• Slides:

Abstract

How do children become adaptive, curious, and effective learners in a world that is complex, uncertain, and ever-changing? In this talk, I introduce the ecological active learning framework—a perspective that moves beyond traditional, data-driven views of knowledge acquisition to highlight the dynamic, context-sensitive ways children actively seek, select, and use information. Drawing on a novel integration of developmental and computational methods, I present evidence that even young children are motivated, selective, and strategic explorers, whose learning is shaped by the structure of their environment, their goals, and their prior beliefs.