Stephanie Golski

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No Brain Left Behind Enhancing Student
Engagement
Stephanie Golski Dept. of Psychology
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Survey Says The Good Old Days

• 1. Indicate your major field of study
• 2. What of your academic pursuits is currently
  dedicated to that field of study?
• 3. Thinking back, what of your academic
  pursuits in ________ was devoted to this major
  field of study?
• a. Graduate school
• b. Undergraduate school
• Did you attend a liberal arts school for
  undergrad?
• c. High school
• 4. What disciplinary evidence predominates in
  your major field?
• Describe format of this evidence (e.g. research
  article published in journal with intro, methods,
  results, and discussion)
• 5. What should a paper in your discipline from an
  upper-level undergrad include? (in-text citation
  of sources? Quotes? Data? MLA syle? New
  hypotheses/analyses?)

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Us vs. Them
Us Them
Perceptual Capabilities (i.e. Filters) Perceptual Capabilities (i.e. Filters)
Expert easily see what is important Novice process signal and noise
Disciplinary Allocation Disciplinary Allocation
100 of academic pursuits to one discipline (aka GEEKs!) 20-60 of academic pursuits to any one discipline
Disciplinary Rules Disciplinary Rules
1 2-5
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A moment in their shoes

• Exemplars from other disciplines

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As you can see from this chart supply clearly
affects demand
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Clearly erosion and transport vary based on
several factors
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Note the difference in connectivity here for song
learning versus production
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The differing factors for star classification are
described on the H-R diagram
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Clearly, this scan reveals normal resting brain
activity in grey and white matter and CSF
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What type of neuroimaging scan produced this
slide? How do the pseudo colors relate to brain
activity? Where do the eyes go on this brain?
Orient yourself to the cortical lobes. Identify
grey and white matter. Identify CSF. Does the
activity appear as you would expect?
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What do we need to know about brains to teach
undergrads?

• Brains change
• Brains filter
• Students vary in expertise from us, and
  encounter more disciplines than us
• Brains have an arousal level at which they
  function best
• And their brains are still growing!

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In Psych terms those translate to

• Plasticity
• Brains change
• Use it or lose it
• Top-down Processing
• Fit it in frameworks
• What are your/their expectations?
• Optimal Arousal
• Depends on task
• Selective Brain Development
• Works in progress

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In Pedagogical terms these translate to Backward
design

• Allows us to Consider
• Brains, especially adolescent ones
• Course goals/Learning outcomes

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Psychology and Neurons

• Tying human behavior to neurons is difficult.
• 100 billion neurons in your NVS
• Each neuron has many connections (w/in brain M
  10K)
• Connections are changed through use and
  importance of signal

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Plasticity

• Neuronal changes produced by experience
• Spines on dendrites can appear within minutes of
  stimulation
• Existing structure will play a role, be modified
• Well have to pay attention to existing knowledge

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Long term potentiation

• Think about each term
• Change in neuronal response due to experience
• Could be easier to fire
• Or release more chemicals
• All because of previous firing

savings effect
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Changing Brains

• Neuronal response is enhanced if
• Stimulation is repeated
• Distributed practice
• Saturation avoided
• Smaller chunks
• Making connections
• Depth of processing
• Highlighters and flash cards dont cut it
• Overlearned/overlapping

savings effect
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Will they remember everything from intro?

• No, but may experience
• the
• Faster relearning asconnections are re-
• established and strengthened

savings effect
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Maximize Savings

• Assignment Design
• Manage timing
• review and reuse of critical concepts
• Increase frequency
• Include practice with smaller chunks
• Increase meaning of reading assignments
• Ungraded assignment sheet (did it?), can use
  during exams
• USE critical terms
• Key term web

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You talk

• Share an assignment
• Include maximization of savings?
• Revisions useful?

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Processing what comes in Bottom-Up

• Association Cortex for integration
• Primary Cortical nuclei
• Thalamic nuclei
• Receptor to transduce energy

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Processing what comes in Top-Down Filters

• Association Cortex for integration
• Primary Cortical nuclei
• Thalamic nuclei
• Receptor to transduce energy

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Theres a bathroom on the right

• Row,row,row your boat,gently down the
  streammerrily, merrily, merrily,
  merrily,lifes a butter dream
• Early exposure to materialwill enhance ability
  tohear
• Inquiry-based activities
• Reading before lecture

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Blah blah blah
1.Orient 2.Familiarity alters processing
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Top-Down Processing

• Looking at a brain end of semester vs. first week
• Expertise
• Recognizing your friend from really far away b/c
  you knew she would be here
• Expectations
• Hearing the words to the song so clearly once you
  read the lyrics
• 20-20 Hindsight

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Reality

• Raw sensory (biological) info
• past experiences
• context
• motivation
• expectations...

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Time for some demos
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Gossip by George Witherspoon
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Satan Also Came by George Witherspoon
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Go beyond cool

• Make the connection explicit
• HOW you saw the item was influenced by your
  preparation
• Once you see it one way it is difficult, but not
  impossible, to see other ways
• Reading ahead of time, slides/outlines available
  can prime students to get the lecture
• Previous knowledge (or rules of other
  disciplines) can impact how they view the info
  you teach them

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Top-down and Teaching

• Be aware of biases, prior info
• Can we think like Novices?
• The obvious is NOT obvious
• We see details, students need to be SHOWN
• Framework, knowledge reminders
• Point out patterns, themes
• Encourage/reward reading before class

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Existing neural networks/knowledge Top-down
processing

• Use for
• Examplesconcrete, interesting
• Vocabulary breakdown
• Group work, explanations from students
• Teaching approach
• Memory of own student habits

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Existing neural networks/knowledge

• Help students find their own networks
• What does this make you think of?
• What makes this memorable to you?
• Use from one semester to another and/or one class
  session to another (supplemental
  instructor/tutor)
• Language and/or technology barriers
• comparing apples to oranges
• I can do it on my computer at home

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What if their top is wrong?

• Focus on factually and conceptually correct
  information
• Asterisks in notes
• Error in previous thinking- show how it fits in
• Freud
• Negative correlation, negative reinforcement
• Polygraph

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You reflect

• What are likely to be problem areas of
  understanding?
• How can you think like a novice?

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Attention More Filters

• The Brain sees what it wants to see, not just
  what you put in front of it
• Same stimuli can be on retina- only cause brain
  response when attended to
• Optimal level of arousal
• Engagement/rewards
• Depth of processing again

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Arousal Helps Us Pay Attention- to a point
Tasks of avg. difficulty
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Optimal arousal level high for easy or passive
tasks
Tasks of low difficulty lecture, driving
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Optimal arousal level low for difficult tasks
Tasks of high difficulty stressful exam
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So Why Doesnt Fun Stuff Always Work?

• Increase arousal but students can miss the point
• Improvements add REFLECTION
• Blackboard excellent tool for journaling or
  discussion
• Games as review for test
• List topics strongest/weakest in
• Sensory illusions
• Use vocab words to summarize what was
  demonstrated

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Managing Attention

• Assignment Design
• Know what is important and make that apparent
  backward design
• Match course contingencies to real value of
  activities
• Influence student perceptions of value
• practice and homework valued?
• What happens when you assign work that isnt
  completed?
• Class notes/ppts on Blackboard

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• Teacher sees important details, students need to
  be shown
• E.g. purpose of assignments (busy work!)
  syllabus design can include(w/recurring patterns)
  purpose, procedure, points

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• 10 Minute Reading Reinforcers (RR)
• Purpose Reinforce review of correct quiz
  answers and previous class notes as well as
  active reading of current chapter.
• Procedure Twice during each unit several
  questions (usually multiple choice) will be
  projected during the first 10 minutes of class.
  Please bring a pencil to class everyday (there is
  a sharpener just outside the classroom on counter
  in TLC office space). Notes can be used the
  text book cannot. Latecomers will miss that
  days reinforcer. Answers will be discussed
  immediately afterwards. Because this is not
  intended to take more than 10 minutes of class
  time, if you have an Individual Education Plan
  (IEP) through Rider Learning Center that
  recommends longer time on assessments please
  advocate for yourself by discussing this with me
  early in the semester. You should plan regular
  times throughout the week to read the text and
  review your notes. Plan on reading about 30
  pages per class session on average.
• Points 9(5) 45 points possible (can skip one
  w/out penalty or drop lowest) 12.7 of grade

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You share

• Syllabus modifications
• Point value
• descriptions

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(No Transcript)
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Selective Brain Development

• Still have some growing to do
• Problem is, it is in the region that manages
• Planning
• Response inhibition
• Emotional regulation
• Organization
• Whats our excuse?

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PFC and Teaching

• Encourage planning
• Interim deadlines
• Model applications/abstractions
• Sounds like scaffolding doesnt it?
• Use action to complete learning cycle
• Group work to test ideas, promote outward use of
  terms and concepts
• Encourage metacognition
• Knowing what you know, reflection

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Long term planning

• Assignment Design
• Use assignments that build on each other
• Linked
• Intermediate deadlines

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Could you

• Modify an existing assignment to include more
  scaffolding?
• Repeat an assignment to allow for visible
  improvement?
• Connect information across classes/units?
• Use action to complete learning cycle?

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My Course goal Increase professionalism

• Non-textbook sources
• Presentation
• Interest
• Application
• Why is this course goal important in teaching
  this course?
• Skills discipline-specific AND general

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Assignment Article Dissection

• Step-wise assignment can be used as stand-alone
  or as research for presentation/paper
• Scaffolding can be through gradual completion,
  repeated completion, and/or revised completion of
  assignment
• Purpose To investigate primary resources
  relating to human cognitive neuroscience and
  practice summarizing scientific information in
  your own words.

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Potential readings for your discipline.
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Execution

• Procedure Use a search engine such as
  PsycLit,ScienceDirect, or PubMed to search
  peer-reviewed articles (note beware using a
  search engine that returns articles from sources
  like USA Today or Newsweek- those are not
  appropriate for this assignment). Find a primary
  resource that has an Introduction, Methods,
  Results, and Discussion section- an article that
  reviews the literature is not acceptable.
  Readings assigned for class discussion cannot be
  used for dissections, although you can search for
  more articles by the same author or on the same
  topic. You will submit a summary in the format
  below- All in your own words, do not quote
  article. First page of article, not abstract,
  must be attached- if using an online article you
  only need print the first page. You should also
  attach any previous article dissections so you
  can get credit for considering my editorial
  suggestions. Complete sentences may not be
  necessary- your article dissection should be a
  clear summary in your own words- it should make
  sense to me and also serve as an aid for your
  comprehension. DISSECTIONS CAN BE TURNED IN
  DURING CLASS OR PLACED UNDER MY OFFICE DOOR AT
  ANY POINT DURING THE DUE DATE.

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• INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING HEADINGS
• 1)APA format citation- list the author, title,
  and source using appropriate American
  Psychological Association (APA) format
  (http//www.lesley.edu/library/guides/citation/apa
  _basic.htmlarticle)

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• 2) Why we should care - summary in your words of
  importance or relevance- why should such a study
  even be done?

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• 3) Three background facts/findings -these are NOT
  results of the current study but background info
  from intro section

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• 4) Research Question(s) what is the question the
  researchers are trying to investigate?

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• 5) Primary Methodology- are they using human
  neuroimaging? Drug studies in rats? Is it a
  correlational study or controlled experiment?

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• 6) Three specific results- use good descriptive
  language and the original variables of interest
  (make sure your research questions in 2 and
  results are related) try completing these
  phrases in your results this is important
  because, this means offset each point so
  that three distinct results can clearly be
  discerned rather than mushing it all into one
  paragraph

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• 7) Take Home Message- what should we walk away
  knowing do not present new results here!

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• 8) Critique- potential biases, confounds, unclear
  presentation, AND at least 2 lingering questions
  include suggested improvements (such as, intro
  could begin with more why we should care and a
  graph instead of table would improve data
  presentation) in confounds/critiques
  specifically mention internal and external
  validity and reliability include these specific
  subheadings a) 2 lingering questions, b)
  confounds/critiques, c)suggestions

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• 9) Content Tie-in discuss relevance to class
  information, topics, vocabulary (dont just refer
  to text pages, remind me and yourself about these
  concepts)- even if it is obvious to you- state
  it! this is like the word webbing we do for the
  reviews- make connections and include
  explanations- this should be a substantial
  section

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• Points 4 article dissections(30) 120 points
  possible (no skipping without penalty)
• Proper format, including headings and attachments
  2 pt.
• Article a primary source not lit review 2 pt.
• Headings 1,2,4,5,7 2 pt. each 5(2)
• Headings 3,6,8,9 4 pt. each 4(4)
• You may ask to see sample article dissections.

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Outcomes

• Students learn to read discipline-specific
  materials for understanding
• Structured format requires them to identify
  background vs current research qsn, etc
• Plagiarism almost completely eliminated
• Biggest improvement across 3 to 4 dissections is
  in 6, 8, 9

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plasticity
Maximize savings, LTP, distributed processing
top-down processing
Be aware of and use existing knowledge, obvious
is not!, maintain arousal and direct attention
brain development
Selective, Promote and model abstraction,
long-term planning, active use of material
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And remember

• OUR brains are plastic too!
• Benefit of teaching is opportunity to change as a
  result of experience