Download ppt - How the Brain Learns It don’t mean a thing if you… can’t remember it don’t make sense don’t focus or don’t care

How the Brain LearnsHow the Brain Learns

It don’t mean a thing if you…

can’t remember it don’t make

sense don’t focus or don’t care


Practice Experimentation Watching/Listening Connecting Reflecting Social construction Meaning making

Exterior Parts of the BrainExterior Parts of the Brain

Frontal Lobes – planning & thinking

Temporal Lobe – sound, speech, LTM

Occipital – visual processing

Parietal lobe – orientation, calculations

Interior Parts of the BrainInterior Parts of the Brain Limbic System –

generation of emotions

Thalamus – processes sensory stimuli – except smell

Hippocampus – checks info in working memory to stored experiences

CerebrumCerebrum

Thinking, memory, speech and muscular movement are controlled by areas in the cerebrum.

Frontal Lobe – Monitors:– Higher Order thinking– Directing Problem Solving– Regulating excesses of the emotional system

LogicalAnalyticalFact BasedQualitative

HolisticIntuitiveIntegratingSynthesizing

OrganizedSequentialPlannedDetailed

InterpersonalEmotionalKinestheticFeeling Based

Limbic Mode

Cerebral Mode

LEFT

MODE

VERBAL

RIGHT

MODE

Non

VERBAL

Brain TransmissionsBrain Transmissions

Neurons transmit impulses along an axon and across the synapse to the dendrites of the neighboring cell

1,000,000,000,000,000 synapses1,000,000,000,000,000 synapses

Learning occurs by changing the synapses so that the influence of one neuron on another also changes.

The more complex the skills demanded in an occupation, the more dendrites were found on the neurons – creates more sites in which to store learnings


Connections the brain finds useful become permanent; those not useful are eliminated as the brain selectively strengthens and prunes connections based on experience.

What are the implications for teaching?

Effective TeachingEffective Teaching

Requires:– Planning– Essential elements of

effective instruction– Competent teacher– Constant stream of decisions– Students actively engaged– Compatibility to how students

learn

The Brain is a novelty seekerThe Brain is a novelty seeker

The brain has a persistent interest in novelty.

An environment that contains mostly predictable stimuli lowers the brain’s interest

Using Novelty in LessonsUsing Novelty in Lessons Humor

Movement – get the blood flowing

Multi-sensory Instruction – interesting colorful visuals - & talk about their learning

Quiz Games – helps students rehearse – adds repetitions for long term memory

Music – helps motivate and helps memory

Information Processing ModelInformation Processing Model

LearningStoringRemembering

– Are all dynamic and interactive processes


It limits its scope to the major cerebral operations that deal with:– Collecting– Evaluating– Storing– Retrieving information– The parts that are most useful to educators


Sight

Hearing

Touch

Smell

Taste

ImmedMemory

WorkingMemory

Sense & Meaning

SensoryRegister

out

LongTerm

storage

Self ConceptPast Experiences

CognitiveBeliefSystem

MemoryMemory

Short term memory:

– All of the early steps of temporary memory that lead to stable long term memory

Immediate Memory – holds data for 30 seconds

Working Memory – limited capacity – conscious activity – captures our focus and demands our attention – occurs in the frontal lobes

Working MemoryWorking Memory

Capacity – varies with age 5 years or younger – 2 items + or - 1 Between 5 - 14 5 items + or - 2 14 and older 7 items + or - 2

The limited capacity explains why we need to memorize a song or poem in stages – increase capacity through “chunking”.

How can this relate to learning new vocabulary words?

Working MemoryWorking Memory

Time Limits– Age dependent

Pre-adolescents – 5 – 10 minutes Adolescents & Adults – 10 – 20 minutes

Fatigue or boredom sets in resulting in a loss of focus - unless a change in the way the individual is dealing with an item.

Data Affecting Survival

Data Generating Emotions

Data for new learning

WORKING

MEMORY

Priorities for Working Memory

Criteria for Long term StorageCriteria for Long term Storage

We cannot recall what we have not stored

Emotional experiences have a high probability of being permanently stored

Does it make sense? (oh now I see)– Learner can understand based upon experience

Does it have meaning? (how will I use it)– Is the item relevant

Sense & MeaningSense & Meaning

Sense and Meaning are independent of each other

When new learning is comprehensible (sense) and can be connected to past experiences (meaning) – retention is dramatically improved.


Students often listen to things that make sense but lack meaning.– If they do not find meaning after the learning

episode – there is little likelihood of long term storage

– Teachers often wonder why students forgot the lesson – (meaning – relevance must be clear) ie. Learn it because its on the test


Past experiences always influence new learning.

Teachers spend about 90% of their planning time devising lessons so that students will understand the objective (sense) – they need to be more mindful of helping students establish meaning.

Integrating the curriculum increases meaning and retention

Teachers must understand the intent of the standards

ModerateTo

High

VeryLow

Very High

ModerateTo

High

MEANING PRESENT?

Sense Present ?

Probability of being Stored in Memory

RetentionRetention

Research has shown that:– The greatest loss of newly acquired information

or a skill occurs within 18 – 24 hours

If a learner cannot recall information within 24 hours – there is a high probability that it was not permanently stored

Self ConceptSelf Concept

Continuum – very low to very highEmotions play an important part in forming

a person’s self concept.

People will participate in learning activities that have yielded success for them and avoid those that have produced failure


Hierarchy of Data Processing:

– When a concept struggles with an emotion, the emotion almost always wins!

– It is possible for the rational system (frontal lobe) to override emotions – but that takes time and conscious effort.


The learner must believe that participating in the learning situation will produce new successes rather than repeat past failures.

A teacher teaches children, not merely content. It is vital to create the conditions for success – educational & human relations skills (intentionally maximizing success)


The self concept is important in controlling the feedback loop and determining how the individual will respond to almost any new learning situation.

What are the implications for instruction?

ConstructivismConstructivism

Students are more likely to gain greater understanding of and derive greater pleasure from learning when allowed to transform the learning into creative thoughts and products.

(learning on a continuum, direct instruction provides a foundation, inquiry or constructivism, cooperative learning can take the learning to new and creative levels)

How the Brain Learns –How the Brain Learns –Why it is Important?Why it is Important?

When do students remember best in a learning episode?

How can I help students understand and remember more of what I teach?

Why is focus so important, and why is it so difficult to get?

How can humor and music help the teaching learning process?

How can I get students to find meaning in what they are learning?

Why is transfer such a powerful principle of learning, and how can it destroy a lesson without my realizing it?

How the Brain Learns –How the Brain Learns –

Physical aspects associated with learningHow the brain processes informationMemory – Retention & LearningThe power of TransferBrain Specialization and LearningThe Brain and the ArtsThinking Skills and Learning

Instructional ApproachesInstructional Approaches

Direct InstructionCooperative LearningInterdisciplinary UnitsIntegrated Thematic Units

Using Humor to Enhance LearningUsing Humor to Enhance Learning

Gets Attention Creates a positive Climate Increases retention

– Emotions enhance retention– Positive feelings from laughter

increase probability of retention– It is an effective discipline tool– No teasing or sarcasm

Increase processing time through motivationIncrease processing time through motivation

Generate Interest – powerful motivator

Establish Accountability Provide Feedback

– Prompt– Specific– Corrective

Level of Concern

Motivation

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1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19

Level of Concern

Deg

ree

of

Ori

gin

al

Lea

rnin

g

Degree of Learning

Increase processing time through motivationIncrease processing time through motivation

Level of Concern– Provide consequences

– Visibility & Proximity

– Varying the amount of time allotted to complete a task

– Varying the amount of help or support available.

Motivation

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1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19

Level of ConcernD

egre

e of

Ori

gina

l Le

arni

ng

Degree of Learning

Creating Meaning in new LearningCreating Meaning in new Learning

Modeling

– Accurately & unambiguously highlight the critical attributes

– Teacher presents first to ensure students get it correct during this prime time when retention is the highest.

– Avoid controversial issues that evoke strong emotions that can redirect the learner’s attention

– Emotions can shut out rational thought

Creating Meaning in new LearningCreating Meaning in new Learning

Using examples from students’ experience

– Brings prior knowledge into working memory which promotes making sense and attaching meaning.

– It is important that the examples are clearly relevant to the new learning – should be planned in advance.

Creating Meaning in New LearningCreating Meaning in New Learning

Creating artificial Meaning– Mnemonic Devices

Homes – Great Lakes Roy G Biv – red, green , blue FACE Man Very Early Made Jump Suits Using New

Plastics

Using Closure to Enhance Sense & MeaningUsing Closure to Enhance Sense & Meaning

It is during closure that a student often completes the rehearsal process and attaches sense and meaning to the new learning.

Closure is different from Review– The student does most of the work by mentally

rehearsing and summarizing the concepts and deciding whether they make sense and have meaning.


Closure is an investment that can pay off dramatically in increased retention of learning.

Closure is one of the most under used elements of effective instruction.


Closure can occur at various times:

– It can start a lesson – think about two causes of WWII that we studied yesterday and be prepared to discuss them….

– It can occur during a lesson – Complete this problem on area before we move on to finding the volume…

– It should also take place at the end – to tie the entire lesson together…