Education and Neuroscience

1. Spring 2011 Tutor Training Presented by Tem Fuller Education and Neuroscience

2. Neurons and Neuroscience • Probing Questions • In what part of our brain the information from different receptors finally mix together? • How do humans read and write? • What do different cultures picture by writing a letter or a hieroglyph? • What do we call common sense? • Is common sense different for different cultures?

3. Black Box > Neuroscience • Reading/Writing? • Human + Education > Black box > Result: Text • Common sense • Sensors > Black box > Common understanding • Culture • Group of people > Communication > Black box >Common Culture

4. Tutors Help Tutees to Develop Brain Function “Arguably, you might say teachers are the only professionals charged with the daily development of brain function, and one scientist (Koizumi 2004) has even suggested that education might be defined as a 'nurturing of the brain’.” • Author: Paul A. Howard-Jones a • Affiliation:   Graduate School of Education, University of Bristol, UK • DOI: 10.1080/00131880802082492 • Publication Frequency: 4 issues per year • Published in:Educational Research, Volume 50, Issue 2 June 2008 , pages 119 - 122

5. Brain-based mythologies in education • According to modern Neuroscience: • We use most of our brains most of the time, not some restricted 10% brain usage. This is because our brains are densely interconnected, and we exploit this interconnectivity to enable our primitively evolved primate brains to live in our complex modern human world. • Although brain imaging delineates areas of higher (and lower) activation in response to particular tasks, thinking involves coordinated interconnectivity from both sides of the brain, not separate left- and right-brained thinking. • High intelligence requires higher levels of inter-hemispheric and other connected activity. The brain's interconnectivity includes the senses, especially vision and hearing. • Author: John Geake a • Affiliation: • a Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK • DOI: 10.1080/00131880802082518 • Publication Frequency: 4 issues per year • Published in:Educational Research, Volume 50, Issue 2 June 2008 , pages 123 - 133

6. Myths • myth - a traditional story accepted as history; serves to explain the world view of a peoplewordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webw • The term mythology can refer to either the study of myths or a body of myths. For example, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece. ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myths

7. Brian-based Myths • Water is good for our brain • Learning styles • We use only 10% of our brain • The brain is a fast computer • Academic success means less sleep more study time • There is some truth in every myth …

8. Neuromythologies in education • We do not learn by one sense alone, hence VAK learning styles do not reflect how our brains actually learn, nor the individual differences we observe in classrooms. • Neuroimaging studies do not support multiple intelligences; in fact, the opposite is true. Through the activity of its frontal cortices, among other areas, the human brain seems to operate with general intelligence, applied to multiple areas of endeavour. • Studies of educational effectiveness of applying any of these ideas in the classroom have failed to find any educational benefits. • Author: John Geake a • Affiliation: • a Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK • DOI: 10.1080/00131880802082518 • Publication Frequency: 4 issues per year • Published in:Educational Research, Volume 50, Issue 2 June 2008 , pages 123 - 133

9. Neuromythologies in education • Conclusions: The main conclusions arising from the argument are that teachers should seek independent scientific validation before adopting brain-based products in their classrooms. • A more sceptical approach to educational panaceas could contribute to an enhanced professionalism of the field. • Author: John Geake a • Affiliation: • a Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK • DOI: 10.1080/00131880802082518 • Publication Frequency: 4 issues per year • Published in:Educational Research, Volume 50, Issue 2 June 2008 , pages 123 - 133

10. There is a glimmer of truth embedded within various neuromyths. • Usually their origins do lie in valid scientific research; it is just that the extrapolations go well beyond the data, especially in transfer out of the laboratory and into the classroom (Howard-Jones, 2007).

11. Multiple What? • All of us have areas of ability in which we perform better than others, especially as we grow older and spend more time on one rather than another. • Consequently, a school curriculum which offers multiple opportunities is commendable, but this does not necessarily depend on there being multiple intelligences within each child which fortuitously map on to the various areas of curriculum. • General cognitive ability could just as well play an important role in learning outcomes across the disciplines.

12. Cargo Cult Science • The American Nobel Laureate physicist Richard Feynman, in one of his famous graduation addresses at Caltech, warned his audience of young science graduates about 'cargo cult science' (Feynman, 1974). • His point was that, while it might accord with 'human nature' to engage in wishful thinking, good scientists have to learn not to fool themselves.

13. The Limbic System • The limbic system is a group of brain structures including the amygdale, hippocampus, and hypothalamus that are involved in processing and regulating emotions, memory, and sexual arousal. • The limbic system is an important element of the body's response to stress and is highly connected to the endocrine and autonomic nervous systems.

14. The Limbic System

15. Human brain has an organization and hierarchy

16. Lecturing versus using resources “attacking” all senses • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF04XPBj5uc

17. Reading the Brain • Mind Reading • 60 minutes

18. Executive Functions • The process of learning is a constant analysis and synthesis of new information + our memory. • Our brain works as a creator of theory about how the world works – the theory is changing every day. • Long-term memory is consolidation of our experiences. • Most likely the consolidation of our new experiences into the refined understanding is happening during sleep

19. The brain creates ideas and tests their validity on a daily basis • The creativity and analysis are working together to improve our life day after day. • Learning is changing the brain; however, our learning is limited by the architecture of the brain. • Inductive and deductive reasoning are not invention – they imitate the functions of our brain.

20. The Brain is a Survival Machine not a Computer • Cultural shaping of the brain is more similar than diverse • Cultures are seeking the most productive way of learning and thinking – which depends on the brain and our genes. • The brain is informing the genes what to do, and genes are changing the architecture of the brain by designing bridges between neurons

21. More information • www.g2conline.org