What We Know About Learning

1
What We Know About Learning The BrainThe
Foundation for Differentiation for Gifted
Children

• Richard Cash, Ed.D.
• www.nrichconsulting.com
• 952-447-7668

2
We are now at a point where we must educate our
children in what no one knew yesterday, and
prepare our schools for what no one knows
yet.Margaret Mead
3
The educators job is not to prepare kids to do
well in school but to do well in
life. Elliot Eisner
4
Objectives

• Gain a better understanding of the basic
  structure of the brain and processing modes.
• Develop strategies that apply the Four Principles
  of Brain-Based Learning to improve educational
  experiences for gifted, talented and creative
  children.
• Share effective learning experiences to enhance
  cognitive and meta-cognitive growth of gifted,
  talented and creative children.

5
We are all natural-born learners

• The brain knows how to learn
• Most learning occurs in 4-6 stages
• Motivation
• Beginning practice
• Advanced practice
• Skillfulness
• Refinement
• Mastery
• For learning to be successful, natural-learning
  opportunities need to be provided/expected
• Getting from beginner to advanced stages
  practice, effort, time, support, perseverance
• Adapted from Were Born to Learn, by R.
  Smilkstein. Corwin Press, 2003

6
How Do People Learn?

• Think of one thing you are good at that you
  learned outside of school (hobby, sport, art,
  skill).
• Write down how you
• started learning it
• then knowing it,
• then mastering it.

7
3 Findings of Learning Research

• Students come to the classroom with
  preconceptions about how the world works.
• To develop competence in an area of learning,
  students must have both a deep foundation of
  factual knowledge and a strong conceptual
  framework. Experts are more than just smart.
• Strategies can be taught that allow students to
  monitor their understanding and progress in
  problem solving.
• From How people learn Bridging research and
  practice by the National Research Council, 2003.

8
Four Principles of Brain-based Learning

• Safe and non-threatening environment
• Stimulating and varied input
• Active, meaningful learning
• Accurate feedback

9
The Basics of Brain-Based Learning
EMOTION DRIVES ATTENTION DRIVES
LEARNING
10
The Three Levels of the Brain

• Brain Stem Reptilian Brain
• Controls the bodys involuntary system
• All information pass through initially
• Fight or flight
• Mid Brain Emotional Center
• Applies emotional attention for long-term
  storage
• Relay station
• Under GREAT development during adolescents
• Neocortex Cognitive Processor
• Higher order thinking
• Only conscious portion--2 (98 of brain is
  unconscious)

11
The Mid-Brain

• Cerebellum Motor movement, basic procedural
  memory and rote memory.
• Thalamus Receptacle--collects the information
  and sends it out to the proper area.
• Amygdala (almond) The emotional gate--Emotions
  are the unconscious series of events regulated by
  body and brain. Feelings occur when the cortex
  is aware of a bodily state and the brains
  reaction/read-out.
• Hippocampus (seahorse) Switch board between
  short and long term memory--isnt completely
  formed until age 2 or 3.

12
The Prefrontal Cortex

• The association cortex information is
  synthesized from inner and outer sensory worlds.
• Critical for emotional self-regulation evaluate
  and regulate the emotional impulses emanating
  from the lower centers of the brain.
• the most common determiner of failure to
  self-regulate emotional responses is the lack of
  emotionally consistent parenting in the early
  years (Siegle, 2000, as quoted in Wolfe, 2001).

13
Two Types of Cells

• Neurons (string) Make up 10 of brain cells.
  They are the basic functional unit of the nervous
  system. These cells do not regenerate--you are
  born with the full compliment.
• Glial (glue) Makes up the other 90 of brain
  cells. These cells DO reproduce.

14
Neural Efficiency

• Repeated firings of neurons makes successive
  firing easier and, eventually, automaticgtmemory
  is formed!
• Over time-larger associations are created
• Neural circuits associations to other circuits
  and speed of building new circuits Neural
  Efficiency
• If an important aspect of intelligence is speed
  of learning, then it is likely that individuals
  born with a predisposition for developing neural
  circuitry rapidly are destined to be gifted in
  some way. (Sousa, 2003)

15
Important Facts

• During the 9 months of fetal development there is
  a massive proliferation of neurons. They develop
  at the average rate of 250,000 per MINUTE!
• In the cerebral cortex, the brain has its full
  complement of neurons at birthapproximately 100
  billion.
• At birth the brain weighs about one pound. By
  one year it has doubled in size and reaches 90
  of adult size by age four.
• In the adult brain there are at least one million
  billion connections between neuronsthats one
  quadrillion!

16
Brain research and the young adolescent

• Adolescent brains go through a period of circuit
  refinement, pruning unused connections and
  strengthening more heavily used
  synapses--predominant in the prefrontal cortex
  (critical to information synthesis)
• Early adolescents brains are undergoing profound
  changes that are not only a necessary part of
  growing up, but also signal a shift in how
  children approach learning
• Hippocampal volume increases with age for females
  while amygdala volume increases with age for
  males
• Whatever connections are made during the teen
  years will hard wire the brain (i.e. music,
  sports, academics, laying on the couch)

17
Gender, competition, and stress A caution!

• Exposure to stress seems to have opposite effects
  on males and females
• Females stress inhibits learning
• Males stress facilitates learning
• For all students a physically and safe
  environment is essential free from belittling
  and humiliation
• Students must find it acceptable to make mistakes
  or take risks teachers should not judge students
  by their mistakes-but by their successes

18
Rehearsal for long-term memory

• Rote Rehearsal remembering and storing
  information exactly as it is entered into working
  memory (factual)
• Elaborative Rehearsal remembering and storing
  information to associate new learning and to
  detect relationships (contextual)

19
(No Transcript)
20
(No Transcript)
21
Four Principles of Brain-based Learning

• Safe and non-threatening environment
• Stimulating and varied input
• Active, meaningful learning
• Accurate feedback

22
Implications for the classroom

• Hold student attention through sensorimotor
  experiences--teachers need to engage the senses
  and emotion throughout the entire unit of study
• Use inquiry and problem based learning--encourage
  students to ask questions that interest them
• Develop curriculum around essential questions

23
Implications for the classroom

• Design project based units of study where
  students ask critical questions, and develop
  their own projects to answer those questions
• Use simulations to involve students in
  understanding various points of view--court,
  legislatures, debate
• Play music that links memory to specific learning
  tasks
• Have students write reflectively every day to
  reiterate and consolidate learning

24
Implications for the classroom

• Pose visual and work problems or puzzles to
  challenge thinking so that students learn there
  are many ways to solve a problem
• Use physical challenges to solve problems and
  build collaboration
• Involve students in real-life apprenticeships
• Use peer collaboration or cooperative learning
• Develop integrated curriculum that encourages
  students to raise issues and concerns and then
  weave those thematically into all disciplines

25
Implications for the classroom

• Establish curriculum themes
• Connect complex/challenging, REAL-world projects
  to students personal interests
• Provide for choices
• Use stories, myths, and metaphors (the brain
  loves patterns)
• Provide multi-sensory representations (use of
  multiple learning styles)
• Consider the physical surroundings

26
Implications for the classroom

• Provide for social relationships and community to
  develop
• Know where students are (ability, interests, life
  background, learning styles) and plan accordingly
  to take them to the next step
• Provide water (the brain is 78 water!)
• Limit processed sugar!

27
Implications for the classroom

• Use elaborative rehearsal--the more senses used
  the more reliable the associations. These
  strategies include
• Paraphrasing--restating ideas
• Selecting and note taking--deciding what is
  critical and noting
• Predicting--predict whats to come
• Questioning--students generate questions
• Summarizing--making connections to other areas
• Creative thinking strategies--develops mental
  imagery decision making
• Higher level thinking--develops in-depth problem
  solving skills

28
Implications for the classroom

• Assist learners in recognizing strengths and
  making the most of them, while at the same time
  recognizing weaknesses and finding ways to
  correct or compensate for them (Successful
  Intelligence).
• Assist learners in adapting to, shaping, and
  selecting environments where they can achieve
  success (Practical Intelligence).
• Allow students to encounter challenges and
  appropriate amounts of stress, to encourage
  divergent ways of knowing (too much/too little is
  NOT good).
• Provide enriched environments to develop creative
  and critical thinking skills.

29
Implications for the classroom

• Praise children on effort and hard work
• -gtfocus will be on learning goals and strategies
  for achievement and not on intelligence as a
  fixed trait that can not be developed or
  improved.

30
Reflection

• What do you do to teach for learning?
• What will you change?

• How is/are your classroom/ lessons designed to
  teach learning?
• What will change?

31
Resources

• Costa, A.L. (Ed.) 2001. Developing minds A
  resource book for teaching thinking. ASCD,
  www.ascd.org
• Givens, B.K. 2001. Teaching to the brains natural
  learning systems. ASCD, www.ascd.org
• Jensen, E. (2001). Arts with the brain in mind.
  ASCD, www.ascd.org
• Jensen, E. (1997). Brain compatible strategies.
  The Brain Store, Inc. San Diego, CA.
  800-325-4769
• Jensen, E. (2000). Brain-based learning. The
  Brain Store, Inc. San Diego, CA. 800-325-4769
• Jensen, E. (1998). Introduction to
  brain-compatible learning. The Brain Store, Inc.
  San Diego, CA. 800-325-4769
• Jensen, E. (1998). Teaching with the brain in
  mind. ASCD, www.ascd.org
• Jensen, E. (1995). The learning brain. The Brain
  Store, Inc. San Diego, CA. 800-325-4769
• Mamchur, C. (1996). Cognitive type theory
  learning style. ASCD, www.ascd.org
• Marzano, R.J., Pickering, D.J. Pollock, J.E.
  (2001). Classroom instruction that works. ASCD,
  www.ascd.org
• The National Research Council, (2003). How
  people learn Bridging research and practice. The
  National Academy Press.
• Silver, H.F., Strong, R.W., Perini, M.J. (2000).
  So each may learn Integrating learning styles
  and multiple intelligences. ASCD, www.ascd.org
• Sousa, D.A. (2003). How the gifted brain learns.
  Corwin Press, Inc. Thousand Oaks, CA.
  800-499-9774
• Sprenger,M. (1999). Learning memory The brain
  in action. ASCD, www.ascd.org
• Sylwester, R.(2000). A biological brain in a
  cultural classroom. Corwin Press, Inc. Thousand
  Oaks, CA. 800-499-9774
• Wolfe, P. (2001). Brain matters Translating
  research into classroom practice. ASCD,
  www.ascd.org