Minkang Kim is an Associate Professor at the University of Sydney.   Her research focuses on educational neuroscience, the science of learning and human development at the University of Sydney, Australia. She is particularly interested in the role of emotion, empathy and value in human development, learning and wellbeing, as evidenced in social and educational contexts and the functioning brain. Her research is underpinned by Dynamic Systems Theory (DST) and the Predictive Brain Framework.

Her work in bridging the fields of neuroscience and education has garnered international recognition. She was invited by Cambridge University Press (CUP) to co-author a novel introductory book on The science of learning and development in education: A research-based approach to educational practice (published in 2022). This book introduces educators brain science and the science of complex systems as they apply to education and human development. Also, she is currently the assistant editor of the multidisciplinary book series “New Perspectives on Learning and Instruction”, of the European Association of Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI) that is published by Routledge. Her EEG/ERP study of the moral and empathy development of young children in Australian preschools resulted in articles published in the Nature partner journal Science of Learning, special issues of Mind, Brain and Education (MBE) and British Journal of Educational Technology (BJET). Her latest article 'Beyond the theoretical and pedagogical constraints of cognitive load theory, and towards a new cognitive philosophy in education' published in the Educational Philosophy and Theory on 18 December 2024 has become the “most read” article in the journal. Invited talks on the contents of the paper have been requested by UC Berkeley Graduate School of Education, and The Heads' Conference in the UK (Association of Heads of Independent Schools in the UK).

At ICOLSEI 2025, Minkang Kim will deliver a talk titled "Towards a defensible science of learning and teaching in education: Beyond the chaos of education theory" Emerging insights from mainstream neuroscience and the science of complex systems, over the past 30 years, are coalescing into a readily identifiable and discrete science of learning and development, which is highly relevant to education. This new science challenges much previous and current education theory and provides an exciting and challenging foundation for present and future education research and practice. Not that educational researchers are yet aware that the theoretical ground is shifting beneath their feet, most remain wedded to theories that were produced in the twentieth century. Moreover, and importantly, this ‘shaking of the theoretical foundations’ in education is occurring at the same time as advances in so-called Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) have burst onto the educational scene. 

This presentation will posit that every teacher in every school, worldwide, should have a sound scientific understanding of the science of learning and development, as a hallmark of their professionalism. It will stress that the term ‘science of learning and development’ means sound neurobiological scientific evidence and real falsifiable science, not speculative theory and pseudo-science. It will argue that it’s high time education researchers and teacher educators in universities availed themselves of the science of learning and development. More importantly, it will emphasise that when applied in the context of education, the science of learning cannot be emotionally detached, rather it must be underpinned by a humanised appreciation of school students as neurobiological, sociocultural and emotional beings, and foster a concern for their emotional wellbeing. Moreover, it should be founded on a view of education as intrinsically worthwhile (concerned with achieving what is inherently good) and should thus be value-directed. These bold claims will be supported by reference to the educational neuroscientific research tradition that’s been developing at the University of Sydney, Australia, over the past fifteen years.