Brain
and Mind in Learning
Jennifer
Lantz
EDAC
635 Spring 2020
February
7, 2020
Name
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Commented On
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Jennifer
Lantz
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Rey Ramos
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Jennifer
Lantz
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Travis Casper
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Brain and Mind in
Learning: A Theory Review
This review will take you through
the history of prominent learning theories which led up to, and helped shape
Brain-Based Learning (BBL). In addition,
while focusing on two principles (in italics) of BBL discuss the benefits of it
and share some activities teachers can try. Mackeracher (2004) lists five principals of BBL:
The
brain as a parallel processor (able to multi-task), The brain’s need to process
information, The brain as it processes conscious and out-of-conscious learning,
The brain’s ability to learn in context
not just information presented, and Activities
have an effect on both cerebral hemispheres of the brain (pp. 100-102).
It seems logical for the brain,
learning and instruction/teaching to go hand and hand. I chose to start my research in the field of
Psychology because it pertains to the study of the brain and its
functions. As I conducted my research I
felt it would be easy to find supporting data and landmark studies. Surprisingly, I came across literature that
didn’t always support the idea of cohesiveness between disciplines. In fact, a leading pioneer in psychology,
William James, (as cited in Mayer, 2017) published in his little book, Talks to Teachers (1899/1958), p. 23),
“You make a great, a very great mistake, if you think psychology, being a
science of the mind’s laws, is something from which you can deduce definite
programmes and schemes and methods of instruction for immediate classroom use” (p.
836). Thankfully one of James’s students,
E.L. Thorndike, didn’t share his belief and founded a new field of science
connecting psychology and education known as educational psychology (Mayer, 2017).
The three learning theories developed
in educational psychology are behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. The behavior theorists, like B.F Skinner, believe
our minds are “blank slates” and that behavior can be modified through operant
conditioning, which is stimulus and response, not so much thinking or learning as
it is changing behavior. Cognitive
learning theories stem from the work of Jean Piaget, who believe humans can
process information they receive and use that information to problem-solve—instead
of simply responding to stimuli. The
work of Jean Piaget in this field eventually developed into
constructivism. Constructivist theorists
believe learning happens through accommodation and assimilation, and that
humans interpret and create meaning from their own experiences.
In the 1900s educational
neuroscience attempted to connect the science of the brain with education. Advancements in technologies such as
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and the electroencephalogram (EEG)
enabled scientists to examine the brain in real time, unlike previous brain research
that could only be conducted during an autopsy.
Now scientists can see what parts of the brain are responding to certain
stimuli.
In the early 90s a movement in
education emerged called Brain-Based Learning (BBL). BBL stemmed from David Kolb’s experiential
learning theory and learning styles which are convergent, divergent,
accommodative, and assimilative. I would
like to point out the last two are also found it the constructivist learning
theory mentioned previously. Teachers
were trying to improve learning by adapting lessons to students’ learning
styles. To me this seems like a great
idea. Why wouldn’t we want to embrace
individual styles of learning, especially if it made learning easier and
increased retention of information?
But, BBL wasn’t without its
skeptics. Questions such as “What does
the brain have to do with learning?” were being asked (Worden, Hinton, and
Fischer, 2011). The biggest opposition
came from Bruer (1997) when he authored an article titled, Education and the
Brain: A Bridge Too Far (Worden et al.,
2011; Zadina 2015). It seems
psychologists, scientists and educators each felt the other disciplines were
missing critical information important to their fields. Educators believed “laboratories are often
disconnected from the challenges of real classrooms” (Worden et al., 2011). While scientists felt teachers “were lacking
in scientific understanding” because they get “information second and third
hand” leading to myths, misconceptions and misunderstandings of the brain (Zadina,
2015).
I wanted to include the three
learning theories in Educational Psychology, along with Kolb’s learning theory
because I feel each offers important attributes for us to pay attention to and
build upon as we work toward improving education and making our classrooms rich
learning environments for every student.
Unlike some naysayers, I do believe BBL has its place in education. My question is what doesn’t the brain have
to do with learning?
If you are confused about BBL or are
not convinced it has a place in education, perhaps this last point will sway
you. The goal of BBL is to diversify
teaching methods to accommodate different styles of learning. The outcome is improved learning. An additional outcome is that the material
learned is retained longer. A recent
study that investigated “the effects of teaching activities prepared with brain
based learning model” concluded both these outcomes (Erol & Gulsah,
2018). The purpose of the study was to
see if they could replicate the same positive outcomes as prior studies such as
Loyal (2013) in mathematics, Sel (2006) with foreign language, Pearl (2014)
found BBL improved academic achievement, attitudes and retention of their
learning, and Caine and Caine (1995) to name a few, and they did (Erol &
Gulsah, 2018). The BBL activities used
by Erol and Gulsah included reflection and review of previous information, “such
as repeating them before the beginning of the lesson, handling issues to be
handled in connection with everyday life, and game-based preparation
activities” (p. 17).
Theoretical Point 1
The brain learns best when facts and skills are embedded
in natural context (Caine & Caine, 1990).
An example to explain this idea of learning embedded in context is to
think about how we learn language. At
first our minds are “blank slates”—we don’t know any words, communication is by
crying or laughing. Our parents repeat
simple words to us like momma, dada, yes, no.
We build a foundation of words and meanings. We can also learn by using all our
senses. We watch television and hear
conversation. We see expressions on
peoples’ faces and understand happy, sad, and angry. We start understanding body language and put
meaning to the word cold as we watch someone shiver. We interact with others and carry on
conversations. Language, senses, social
interactions, and the environment are all contexts in which we can embed
learning. Cain and Caine (1991) (as
cited in Mackeracher, 2004) state “facilitating success depends on having
learners use all their senses and immersing learners in many different,
complex, and interactive experiences over time” (p. 102).
Application
Some best practices for teachers to aid in learning are
the use of classroom demonstrations, don’t just tell the students what to do,
show them. Visual imagery can also be
very useful. Imagine being a history
teacher, instead of reading about WWI, have the students close their eyes and
imagine hiding in a trench on a dark night with bombs bursting overhead. A couple other suggestions include use of
stories and drama, projects, field trips, or inserting a video clip.
I have learned that lecture has its place in education,
but it also has its limits. I have found
it useful to break up lecture by interjecting stories to illustrate the
lesson. For instance, when we are learning
decimals and place values, many students think 0.5 is five cents. I could stand in front of the class and tell
them, no, it isn’t, that represent fifty cents; but that doesn’t aid in
learning as much as sharing a story. Here
I share a story about a sign at a concession stand that had 0.5 written on
it. As he showed the worker the quarter
in his hand, my son said he didn’t have enough money to buy the piece of
gum. She replied, yes, you do. In fact, you can buy 5 pieces. Who is right, who is wrong? As students share their reasoning regarding
who was right, others confess they’ve probably made that mistake before too,
but they won’t anymore.
I use colored markers on the board to emphasize certain
steps, red stands out for be careful, pay attention. Students can visualize the blue problem. And, I encourage my students to use their
senses by taking the time to write each step while they say the step in their
head. The repetition of seeing the
process, and saying what they’re doing helps them learn.
I have been contemplating inviting the county assessor to
be a guest speaker for my business class.
The county courthouse is just two blocks down from where I teach. After reading about BBL, a guest speaker
would be a nice change from our same routine, but an even better activity would
be to schedule a fieldtrip and take my class to the courthouse for the lesson.
Theoretical Point 2
You may have heard students explain
away their difficulties or lack of interest because of being right-brained or
left-brained. This is a misconception
stemming from science linking certain function dominance to specific sides of
the brain, like the left hemisphere with speech and the right hemisphere with
emotions. The truth of the matter is the
two hemispheres are interdependent. Learning
isn’t just about the content; it also produces an emotional response. Think about it, while you are learning a
foreign language, you are also learning whether you like it or not. All this information is causing physiological
changes to the brain, both sides. New
neural pathways are being made in the form of new branches of dendrites. Poldrack, Halchenko, and Hanson (2009) (as
cited in Worden, Hinton & Fischer, 2011) found with the help of functional
imaging technology, like the fMRI, “that reading even a relatively simple word
such as “dog” activates networks widely distributed across the brain, including
both the right and left hemispheres” (p. 11).
Application
Teachers have a difficult challenge
engaging students in learning activities especially if they already don’t like
it, think they can’t, or just don’t want to.
Some BBL techniques that will help with learning and stimulate brain
activity include starting class by asking students to share what they already
know, use mnemonic devices, rhymes, songs or even humor.
Here’s a joke I share with my class,
a shepherd tells his sheep dog it’s time to get the sheep in for the night. When the sheep dog returns the shepherd asks
how many he brought back. The sheep dog
replies, 100. The shepherd in surprise
asks, What? How can that be? You know we only had 98! The sheep dog says, I know how many we have,
I rounded them up.
Think about how much better church
sermons would be with a little humor sprinkled in.
Reflection
Highlights
Let’s
conduct our own little experiment. Now
that you have read my review, reflect on what you remember. Do you remember the theories or theorists
mentioned? Do you remember the colors
that were used, the story or the joke?
If you answered yes to the latter question then the BBL activities
worked! Perhaps you will investigate
this area further and consider adopting some activities in your
discipline. They are little changes that
have a big impact for diverse learners. The
changes will improve learning and help students remember what they learned
longer.
Process
I
completed my review by following the steps in the Galvan article. I’ll mention the ones that particularly
helped me. Step 3.2.3 recommends
identifying landmark or classic studies and theorists, this is why I included
the three educational psychology learning theories along with Kolb’s learning
styles. It took me a few days of reading
and re-reading the articles to identify the trends as suggested in step
4.6. I was surprised at the amount of
time it actually took to narrow the topic and quotes. My suggestion would be to not underestimate
the amount of time it will take to sift through and sort the information, step
6.2. Perhaps it’s the teacher in me that
has the compulsion to explain everything, but step 6.2 used a very good analogy
that constantly ran through my head. It
warns about describing the trees when you really should be describing the
forest. I also read the previous
reviews and the comments that were posted.
Honestly, the samples were well done and made me think, I can do
that. Kind of how an Olympic gymnast
performs with such ease and grace, you think you could do that too. As I wrote my paper, I found it wasn’t as
easy as the examples made it seem. Even
though I had a solid outline to follow, I struggled with the wording and how
much information to include to convey the point I was trying to make. I would also suggest leave plenty of time to
edit your paper.
Group 1: The brain and mind in learning
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Brain Based Learning
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Theories/Theorists
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Behaviorism: B.F. Skinner
·
Operant Conditioning, stimulus response
Cognitivism: Jean Piaget
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Process information, problem-solve
Constructivism: Jean Piaget
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Assimilate & Accommodate
Learning
Styles: David Kolb
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Convergent, divergent, assimilative &
accomodative
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Theoretical
point
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Application
& Activity
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the
brain’s ability to learn in context not just information presented
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Senses
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Sight, sound, touch, sound (taste could be used, but
not included here)
Different
environments
·
Visualization
·
Field trips
·
Video clips
Social
interactions
·
Stories
·
Drama
|
activities
have an effect on both cerebral hemispheres of the brain
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Change
the physiology of the brain by developing new connections (dendrites)
·
Review
·
Reflection
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Repetition
·
Humor
·
Rhymes
·
Songs
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Benefits
of brain based learning
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Improve
learning
Learned
material is retained longer
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References
Caine, R. N., & Caine, G. (1990, October).
Understanding a brain-based approach to learning and teaching. Educational
Leadership, 48(2), 66-70.
Erol, M., & Gulsah, B. K. (2018, May). The effect of
activities congruent with brain based learning model on students' mathematical
achievement. NeuroQuantology, 16(5), 13-22.
doi:10.14704/nq.2018.16.5.1342
Mackeracher, D. (2004). Making sense of adult learning.
Toronto : University of Toronto Press.
Mayer, R. (2017, December). How can brain research
inform academic learning and instruction? Educational Psychology
Review, 29(4), pp. 835-846. doi:10.1007/s10648-016-9391-1
Worden, J., Hinton, C., & Fischer, K. (2011, May). What
does the brain have to do with learning? Phi Delta Kappan, 92(8), 8-13.
doi:10.1177/003172171109200803
Zadina, J. N. (2015, December). The emerging role of
educational neuroscience in education reform. Psicologia Educativa, 21(2),
71-77. doi:10.1016/j.pse.2015.08.005
1 comment:
Jennifer,
I like how you applied some of the theories and challenged the learners to think back to how you applied them. I really find that visual color cues are helpful for me and many learners. I look forward to hearing how inviting a guest speaker like the assessor may aid in your teachings. I enjoyed your walk through history and tying psychology back to brain based learning.
Thanks!
Carol Shields
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