Teaching and training as “communication”: leveraging cognitive and communication theories to strengthen learning
December 10, 2025 @ 10:00 – 12:00 CET
Invited speaker: Professor Rochelle E. Tractenberg, Georgetown University
SciLifeLab as a Research Infrastructure incorporates people across a variety of technically complex fields. Staff-scientists and researchers often need to communicate about their complex work to people who are not fully familiar with all the details. Swedish universities offer training or support for scientists to help them communicate complex ideas for the public. However, we don’t often consider that these communication theories and strategies might be equally useful for promoting or strengthening a learning culture across the organization or that such communication strategies are useful in the training and teaching staff-scientists and researchers are involved in. This talk by Professor Tractenberg from Georgetown University will outline two theories – one for communication and one for change management – which have been augmented with cognitive theories so that they can optimize teaching and training and with this strengthen learning.
Welcome to a seminar where Professor Rochelle Tractenberg will present her recent work combining communication with change management strategies. We will learn how we can more efficiently can promote change around complex information – such as encouraging researchers to utilize a new method or tool, or instructing students about a complex aspect of the field they’re studying.
For registrants wishing to participate online, please indicate this in the registration form. For people attending onsite there will be a light lunch provided after the seminar.
Scientific abstract
Tractenberg’s augmented Diffusion of Innovation (aDOI, Tractenberg, 2023) is a theoretical framework for understanding and leveraging the cognitive complexity of messages so as to optimize uptake of the new information by any hearer. aDOI is adapted, through cognitive theory, from Rogers’ DOI communication model (1965/2003). A concrete, stepwise theory of change management (ToCM, Kotter 2012) originated in business, and has been widely used across business and leadership programs. This theory has also been augmented with cognitive theory (aToCM, Tractenberg 2024). Together, these two revised models provide a strategy for promoting change around complex information – such as encouraging scientists to utilize a new method or tool, or educating students about a complex aspect of the field they’re studying. Tractenberg’s augmented Diffusion of Innovation and Theory of Change Management make encouraging uptake of new ideas, or new knowledge, more consistent with human reasoning. These can support instructors’ adaptation of existing courses to include new information/technology or techniques, and can also help instructors to learn new evidence-based methods of teaching and assessing.
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