Upcoming Talks

Final LIVE Learning Innovation Seminar of the Semester

Domain-General Associative Learning Can Explain (What Looks Like) Sophisticated Action Understanding and Causal Reasoning in Children

Wednesday April 15 | 12p-1p | 1400 18th Ave S A2009

For our last LIVE Learning Innovation Seminar of the semester, Deon Benton (Peabody, Psychology & Human Development) will address a current unresolved issue in developmental cognitive sciences: When, and importantly how, do infants come to distinguish inefficient and efficient actions in the world. Deon suggests that behavior often interpreted as evidence for early, conceptually rich, adult-like knowledge can instead be explained by sensitivity to correlations between action kinematics and surface features. His work implementing a new computational model called ALIAS with this perspective could prove that it can account for a range of key findings in this literature.

 Deon will then examine a phenomenon in the causal learning literature called backwards blocking: a phenomenon often taken as evidence for rational, Bayesian inference and against associative learning processes. Research shows that as information-processing demands increase, children's performance shifts toward associative learning and remains so even when task features are designed to encourage more rational inference. Together, these findings highlight the central role of domain-general associative learning in early cognition.

Join us Wednesday to learn more. Pizza and drinks provided.

Fall 2026 Learning Tech Courses

Selected Offerings Across Campus

Each semester LIVE compiles a list of courses from across campus that may appeal to students interested in learning technologies. From Fundamentals of Learning Analytics to Playful and Creative Technologies for Learning and more, these courses provide a unique opportunity to learn from leading experts in the field. Explore the list of Fall 2026 course offerings on our website by clicking below.

Upcoming LIVE Affiliated Events

Research Talk & LLM-Code Session with Shreya Havaldar

Next week the HLAB (Human Language Analysis Beings) and LIVE are hosting Shreya Havaldar a Computer & Information Science PhD candidate at the University of Pennsylvania who specializes in how large language models (LLMs) understand and respond to social and cultural context—including implied meaning, social norms, emotion, linguistic style, and cultural variation.

Shreya will be doing a research talk on April 23 from 11a-12p about Evaluating LLMs in Context - Dependent Domains and is open on everyone. 

Additionally, Shreya will be hosting a targeted coding session on April 24:

LLM Code Assistance for AI Research

When: April 24, 2026

Time: 11am-1pm

The session is a tutorial aimed at AI/NLP Researchers, and registration is required. Those who attend must have coding experience, VU affiliation and install Cursor in advance of the event. Seats will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis and location details will be shared with those selected to attend the session. If you have any questions, please contact the HLAB. 

Human-Centered AI for Education Student Expo

Demystifying AI in Education

April 20, 2026 | 1p-3p | LIVE Lobby | 1400 18th AVE S

Graduate students from LIVE faculty member Golnaz Arastoopour-Irgens' Demystifying AI in Education  course will be presenting their final projects were they developed AI-focused apps for education/learning/educational research.

In the class, masters and PhD students critically examined AI as a socio-technical system shaping educational research, teaching, and policy. Through historical, theoretical, and ethical lenses, students analyzed how AI reconfigures learning, labor, data, and power in educational institutions, with particular attention to generative AI and data-driven systems. 

Drawing on these lenses, students were tasked with designing and creating AI-focused applications for use in teaching, learning, or educational research contexts. They will be presenting their work through interactive digital demonstrations. 

Please stop by to support the graduate students, hear about their work and enjoy some light refreshments. 

2026 JumpStart Conference

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Literacies and Practices in Schools, Universities, and Communities

This summer the Research in Education Applied to Development of Youth (READY) Lab will host the JumpStart Virtual Conference on July 28, 2026 - 9AM CST.

Join leading experts for an in-depth look at how AI is transforming education across K-12 schools, colleges and universities, and community organizations. 

LIVE Summer Skills Session

Seeking Graduate Student Leaders

This summer, LIVE will continue its tradition of hosting skills seminars on Wednesdays from 12:00–1:00 p.m., running from mid-May through mid-July. We are looking for PhD students, postdocs, and research scientists to lead sessions on practical skills that can support others in their learning technology research projects. Presenters will receive an honorarium.

You are welcome to suggest any topic you are knowledgeable about that you think could be useful to others. Past sessions have focused on topics such as rapid prototyping in Unity, various learning tech research applications of LLMs, approaches to open science and more. Students who have presented in the past are welcome to reuse or adapt a previous presentation.

Interested? Email live@vanderbilt.edu with your suggested topic and a brief overview of what the session would cover.

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