This mini school is part of the UBC Future Global Leaders on-campus program for high school students ages 15–18. It is offered by the UBC Department of Psychology.
Why do we remember some things but forget others? Is there a way to make learning easier and more effective? In this mini school, you explore the science behind how we learn, how memories are formed, and why we forget things. You also learn about metacognition, how we judge our own knowledge, including the difference between feeling familiar with something and actually knowing it.
Through hands-on experiments and interactive games, you put different learning strategies to the test and discover what psychology tells us about improving your own memory. From retrieval practice and spaced repetition to understanding the role of attention and memory in learning, this mini-school gives you both practical and science-backed strategies to better understand the way we learn.
This mini school is an ideal choice if you are interested in psychology or education, and for anyone who wants to learn how the mind works and how to use that knowledge to learn more effectively!
Course format
This mini-school is held on the UBC Vancouver campus.
On the first Monday of the session, you attend Orientation Day from 9am–3pm, which helps you build friendships, connect with your learning community, feel comfortable on campus and prepare for university life.
Starting on the first Tuesday of the session, you attend your mini school classes from 9am–12pm and 1:30–3pm on weekdays.
On-campus student life activities are scheduled for all students from 3-5pm on weekdays.
Instructors
Maria Clara Brandão, B.Sc., Psychology (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro), M.A, Psychology (UBC). Maria is a Psychology Ph.D. Student at the Centre for Cognitive Development, studying how children use their innate number sense to learn, make predictions, and detect mistakes.
Residence and commuting options
Choose to live in a student residence on campus or commute daily to UBC Vancouver:
Commuter Option includes lunch in residence dining hall, Monday through Friday, and UBC Recreation Card.
Residence Option includes private room and full board, airport pick-up and drop-off, local medical insurance for all international students, weeknight and weekend social activities (e.g., trips to Grouse Mountain, English Bay and Robson Street), and UBC Recreation Card.
Who is eligible?
This course is for high school students ages 15-18 who have completed grade 10 or equivalent.
We also recommend students have:
- 78% average / 3.5 GPA / B average / IB 5 or higher
- IELTS of 6.0 / TOEFL 80 or higher (or equivalent) for students whose high school courses were taught in a language other than English.
Cost details
| Student type | Mini school fee* |
| Canadian and Permanent Resident | $2,175 CAD |
| International | $2,940 CAD |
Optional add-on
- Residence: $2,730 CAD
*All fees are subject to change.
To register
A Family Account in UBC’s Lifelong Learning registration system is required to register for UBC Future Global Leaders on-campus.
After you add the course to your cart and go to check out, you’re asked to create a new Family Account or log in if you already have a Family Account.
A parent or guardian needs to set up the Family Account with their primary email address. After the account is created, the parent/guardian adds the student as a family member to their Family Account using the student’s primary email address (the student’s email address cannot be the same as the parent/guardian email address).
Add the student to the course session in your cart and complete the checkout process.
After completing the checkout process, and while logged into your Family Account, select New Application to access the FGL information package. Your registration is not final until the information package has been completed and submitted. You may partially complete the information package and return to it at any time within your Family Account.