Brain+Research

Brain Research & Neuroeducation

Jon

These sessions will examine how current research into brain functioning is revealing new insights regarding how people learn.

Here is an outline for the first session on Monday:
 * Meet as a group to designate smaller clusters by topic/interest
 * Grab resources as needed (see below for a start)
 * Break off for research time
 * Report back with goals for second session as well as at least one idea to explore further/idea to take away

(I will circulate and take notes to update the wiki, offer guidance/support/resources/be an ear to ideas and otherwise aid as best I can throughout the session)

Here is a prezi to introduce the topic in relation to neurodiversity.

Here is a list of principles that Mind, Brain, and Science Education (MBE) indicates successful teaching can be based upon:


 * Each brain is unique and uniquely organized
 * All brains are nit equally good at everything
 * The brain is a complex, dynamic system and is changed daily by experiences
 * Learning is a constructivist process, and that the ability to learn continues through developmental stages as an individual matures
 * The search for meaning is innate in human nature
 * Brains have a high degree of plasticity and develop throughout a lifetime
 * MBE principles apply to all ages
 * Learning is based in part on the brain's ability to self-correct
 * The search for meaning occurs through pattern recognition
 * Brains seek novelty
 * Emotions are critical to detecting patterns, to decision-making, and to learning
 * Learning is enhanced by challenge and inhibited by threat
 * Human learning involves both focused attention and peripheral attention
 * The brain conceptually processes parts and wholes simultaneously
 * The brain depends on interactions with other people to make sense of situations
 * Feedback is important to learning
 * Learning relies on memory and attention
 * Memory systems differ in input and recall
 * The brain remembers best when facts and skills are embedded in natural contexts
 * Learning involves conscious and unconscious processes
 * Learning engages the entire physiology (the body influences the brain and the brain controls the body)

From //Mind, Brain, and Education Science: A Comprehensive Guide to the New Brain-Based Learning// by Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa

And here is a great overview of "neuromyths" regarding teaching and learning.

Here are some resources with which we will begin:


 * BOOKS**

//Mind, Brain, and Education Science: A Comprehensive Guide to the New Brain-Based Learning// by Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa

//The New Science of Teaching and Learning: Using the Best of Mind, Brain, and Education Science in the Classroom// by Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa

//Brain Matters: Translating Research into Classroom Practice// by Patricia Wolfe

//Brain-Friendly Strategies for the Inclusion Classroom: Insights from a Neurologist and Classroom Teacher// by Judy Willis

//Mind, Brain, and Education: Neuroscience Implications for the Classroom// edited by David A. Sousa

//The Adolescent Brain: Reaching for Autonomy// by Robert Sylwester

//A Child's Brain: The Need for Nurture// by Robert Sylwester

//The Educated Brain: Essays in Neuroeducation// edited by Antonion M. Battro et al

//The Philosophical Baby: What Children's Minds Tell Us About Truth, Love, and the Meaning of Life// by Alison Gopnick

//Neurodiversity: Discovering the Extraordinary Gifts of Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, and Other Brain Differences// by Thomas Armstrong

//Brain, Body, and Mind: Neuroethics with a Human Face// by Walter Glannon


 * BLOGS**

Neuroeducation

Neurophilosophy (newest site)

Neurophilosophy (2nd site)

Neurophilosophy (original site)

Mindhacks


 * RESEARCH PAPERS & ARTICLES**

"Understanding the Brain: The Birth of a Learning Science " (see Jon for access to full OECD report via UNC)

"Why Mind, Brain and Education Science is the 'New' Brain-Based Education "

Mind, Brain and Education (the officially journal for the International Mind, Brain, and Education Society--see Jon for login information to access journal online)

"Neuroeducation: Learning, Arts and the Brain "

Review of book //Arts with the Brain in Mind//

"Brainology "


 * WEBSITES AND OTHER RESOURCES ONLINE**

Introduction to brain science

Neuro-arts education

Site for upcoming conference on neuroeducation (good for identifying topics)

Mindset online

The Brainology program

NPR interview on new barin book, with links to other NPR brain stories

TED talk on autism, learning and neurodiversity

TED talk on language acquisition


 * NEWS ARTICLES**

"Memory contaminates perception "


 * USEFUL GOOGLE SEARCH TERMS**


 * Neuroeducation
 * Brain-based learning
 * Brain-based teaching
 * Mind Brain Education


 * Here are the notes from group discussions in the two sessions:**


 * Session 1**

Take-aways from people's research:
 * Learning is based in memory & attention
 * Meaning is based in pattern-recognition
 * RAS (fight-flight mechanism) triggered by teachers
 * Stress and ZPD (zone of proximal development—making goals challenging but reachable)
 * Non-threatening learning environments to enhance ZPD without triggering “bad” stress
 * **What do our words/behaviors trigger in our students?**
 * **How can we answer this question with consistent formative assessment?**
 * Good stress vs. bad stress
 * Anxiety around learning and the importance of teaching skills, not just content
 * “Practice makes permanent” vs. practice makes perfect
 * The importance of relational memory as a integrative part of multiple memory systems
 * Neurodiversity as a way to recognize strengths, not just deficits of students with learning differences (and neurological “disorders”)
 * The relationship between motor patterns, child development and plasticity; there are patterns in place after age 2, but patterns do not equal fixed limits
 * Belief about intelligence affects learning (fixed vs. growth mindsets); avoiding stereotype activation


 * Session 2**

Continuing the conversation of important lessons, ideas to explore further and key questions to ask...
 * Attention as the basis of learning
 * How do we get students’ attention?
 * Emotions, novelty and memory
 * What ways can we use novelty and pattern recognition to create positive emotional learning environments?
 * What ways can we activate embodied and embedded brains (i.e. through the use of smell to active memory due to neurogenesis in the olfactory system)?
 * What are triggers to attention?
 * Spatial memory and memory palaces
 * How do we help students recall information who struggle with memorization?
 * What assessment tools can help us help them access memory and recall more efficiently?
 * Assessment and using skill-based learning to design assessment tools to reinforce memory (using rubrics)
 * How do we teach students to be learners?
 * Demystifying what we want students to actually learn; using insights from MBE to discern how to teach the skills more effectively and with greater durability