The learning sciences is an interdisciplinary field that studies how people learn and how to design effective learning environments. Drawing from cognitive science, educational psychology, computer science, anthropology, etc., it seeks to understand the processes of learning in real-world contexts and to apply that understanding to improve education. My goal for this blog series is to provide an overview of topics in the learning sciences and help education researchers think systematically about how to apply its theory and methods. I hope it will help researchers think about how students engage with complex concepts and how we can design instruction that supports deeper, more meaningful learning.