Mind, Brain, and Education Science - Tokuhama-Espinosa, T. (2010) Research based information in the areas of: Neuroscience Psychology Education What we know as fact (not a lot!) What is probably true What is “believed” passed on, sold but unhelpful, misguided, wrong (“Neuro-myths”)

Instructional Guidelines for Teachers By: Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa (2010) 1: Environments 2: Sense, Meaning and Transfer 3: Different Types of Memory Pathways 4: Attention Spans 5: The Social Nature of Learning 6: The Mind-Body Connection 7: Orchestration and “Midwifing” 8: Active Processes 9: Metacognition and Self-Reflection 10: Learning Throughout the Life Span

Instructional Guideline 1: Environments Tokuhama-Espinosa, T. (2010) Good learning environments in education are those with physical and mental security, respect, intellectual freedom, self-regulation, paced challenges, feedback, and active learning (Billington 1997) PowerPoint clipart

We cannot underestimate the importance of a positive, challenging, environment Donna Walker Tileston (2005)

Dweck (2006) Teachers must convey: Like Believe Graphic:

Instructional Guideline 2: Sense, Meaning and Transfer Tokuhama-Espinosa, T. (2010) Students learn best when what they learn makes sense, has a logical order, and has some meaning in their lives. (Sousa 2000)

Pink, D. (2009) Autonomy Mastery - Flow Purpose

Memory Capacity When students learn something new, they process it in the temporary memory called working memory. (frontal lobe) Newer studies tell us that the capacity is much less than previously thought …closer to 4 items. Cowan, Morey, Chen, Gilchrist, & Saults, (2008) CHUNKING PowerPoint clipart

Brain Searches for Meaning Scaffolding on previous learning Choice Real World Parent Involvement Get to Know Student’s World Internet Searching – Sprenger, M. (2010) “If they don’t find meaning they will drop it and we will see an “I don’t care attitude” because it is better to look like you don’t care than that you don’t understand.” – Rogers(2008) PowerPoint Clipart

Instructional Guideline 3: Different Types of Memory Pathways Tokuhama-Espinosa, T. (2010) Teachers should teach to auditory, visual, and kinesthetic pathways as well as allow for both individual and group work in order to improve the chances of recall.

Multifaceted Experiences Sprenger, M. (2010) The brain needs multifaceted experiences. (multisensory input, rewards & motivation, memory, prior knowledge, concrete to abstract, practice, stories and technology) PowerPoint Clipart Connie White’s Picture

Instructional Guideline 4: Attention Spans The average student has an attention span between 10 and 20 minutes. Students learn best when there is a change of person, place or topic every 10 to 20 minutes. Interest impacts attention spans and, consequently, the motivation for learning. “Time flies when you are having fun”. By: Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa Connie White

TIP: USE A TIMER

Instructional Guideline 5: The Social Nature of Learning Tokuhama-Espinosa, T. (2010) Debate is one of the most effective teaching methods. It forces students to think critically and to interact with each other; it also prepares them to deal with countering opinions. Small-group work that allow students to work collaboratively to produce new findings. Most beneficial for students who know the most.

The Social Brain Social Cognition is simply understanding how the social world works. (Golleman 2006) Teaching social cognition involves helping students develop relationships in which to practice being a social person. (Sprenger, 2010) Remember! Emotions are contagious. (Golleman 2006)

References Tokuhama-Espinosa, T. (2010), The New Science of Teaching and Learning. New York, NY: Teachers College Press Billington, D. (1997), Seven characteristics of highly effective adult learning environments. Retrieved January 4, 2005, from Walker Tileston, D. (2005), 10 Best Teaching Practices How Brain Research, Learning Styles, and Standards Define Teaching Competencies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. Dweck, C. (2006), Mindset: the new psychology of success. New York: Random House. Sousa, D. (2000). How the brain learns. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. Pink, D. (2009). Drive: the surprising truth about what motivates us. New York: Penguin. Cowan, N., Hismjatullina, A., AuBuchon, A. M., Saults, J.S., Horton, N., Leadbitter, K., & Towse, J. (2010). With development, list recall includes more chunks, not just larger ones. Developmental Psychology, 46,

References Sprenger, M. (2010), Brain-based teaching in the digital age. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Rogers, S. (2008), Reinventing classroom assessment to increase achievement with challenging students [Presentation]. ASCD’s 2008 Annual Conference. New Orleans, LA. Goleman, D. (2006) Social intelligence. New York Bantam.