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Extended Deadline: Symposium on AI and Cognitive Sciences in Education (AICSED 2026)

By: Ronald Grau

Last updated: Monday, 2 March 2026

About the Symposium

This symposium will form part of the Convention of The Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and Simulation of Behaviour (AISB) 2026, which takes place at the University of Sussex in England, UK, on 1-2 July 2026. For details of the convention visit the AISB website .

Background

Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are transforming educational practice and raising both practical and theoretical questions about how learning, cognition, and agency develop in technology-rich environments. This symposium approaches education through an expanded conception of mind, informed by 4E cognition and predictive processing, and conceptualizes classrooms as cognitive niches in which tools, materials, and computational systems function as integral components of the learning process. From this perspective, educational environments do not merely deliver content; they systematically shape and reorganise learners’ cognitive, motivational, metacognitive, and affective dynamics over development.

Call for papers

We invite original contributions that develop and assess intelligent tutoring systems, adaptive and multimodal interfaces, and assistive technologies that scaffold attention, curiosity, self-regulation, self-efficacy, and critical reasoning, while supporting collaborative knowledge construction and productive, error-tolerant inquiry. Particular emphasis is placed on technically grounded approaches that integrate system architecture, instructional design, and empirical validation, and that demonstrate measurable gains in learner agency, accessibility, and learning outcomes through robust metrics.

We particularly encourage contributions that bridge human learning sciences with technical system design in domains such as music instruction, special education for people with sensory disabilities (e.g., sign language and tactile graphics), and inclusive approaches to instructional design. Across contexts, we conceptualize minds as hybrid and distributed across bodies, tools, and social practices; understanding how specific technological architectures shape these processes is key to building equitable, sustainable, and flourishing educational futures.

Important dates

Extended abstracts submission deadline: 28 February 2026 8 March 2026
Notification of acceptance: 31 March 2026 8 April 2026
Camera-ready paper submission deadline: 28 April 2026 6 May 2026

Submission link: https://cmt3.research.microsoft.com/AICSED2026

If you have trouble submitting, contact: r.r.grau@sussex.ac.uk

Topics of particular interest

Technical and Systemic Aspects

Systems for special education, esp. those for sign language education and those that use tactile graphics
Intelligent tutoring systems (e.g., music instruction or other embodied/creative domains)
Human–AI collaborative learning tools
Evaluation using computational metrics (accuracy, validity, reliability) and mixed human-centred assessment methods

Human Learning, Pedagogy, and Design

Pedagogical theories and instructional design for AI-rich environments
Cognitive, motivational, metacognitive, and affective processes in learning
Self-regulation, agency, error-monitoring, and critical AI literacy
Collaborative, informal, experiential, or game-based learning
Neurodiversity, accessibility, and inclusive design
Multi-modal and material learning ecologies (low-tech to AI-enhanced)

Societal and Environmental Dimensions

Equity and access in AI-supported education
Ecological and material costs of educational technologies
Sustainable and community-shared infrastructures
Responsible deployment of AI in schools

Program Committee

Dr Ronald Grau, University of Sussex

Dr Laura Desirée Di Paolo, University of Sussex

Dr Daniel Hajas, University College London

Dr Grecia Garcia Garcia, University of Sussex

Further information: https://aicsed.github.io/2026/

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