1. Your Brain and Learning

2. Before We Get Underway WHAT DO YOU THINK? –Can your brain grow new cells? –Does what you eat and drink affect your brain? –Does stress affect learning? –Does exercise help me learn? –Can I study effectively with TV and music on?

3. Our Brains All parts of the brain participate with each other, while each has its own function There is natural pruning or neural pruning that occurs when parts are not used “LEARNING IS A DELICATE, BUT IS A POWERFUL DIALOGUE BETWEEN GENETICS AND THE ENVIRONMENT…” Robert Sylwester, A Celebration of Neurons

4. Brain’s Complexity Cellular level - three pints of liquid, three pounds of mass, tens of billions of nerve cells (or neurons Brain cells - 30 thousand neurons (300,000 glial cells) fit into the space of a pinhead.

5. Parts of the Brain Brainstem (survival ) Cerebellum ( autonomic nervous system) Limbic system (emotion) Cortex ( reason/logic)

6. Frontal lobe - Cortex –Creativity- Judgment- Optimism - Context –Planning- Problem solving- Pattern making Upper temporal lobe - Wernicke’s Area –Comprehension - Relevancy - Link to past (experience) - Hearing - Memory - Meaning Lower frontal lobe - Cortex –Speaking/language - Broca’s area Occipital lobe - Spatial order –Visual processing - Patterns - Discovery Parietal lobe –Motor - Primary Sensory Area - Insights - Language functions Cerebellum –Motor/motion- Novelty learning - cognition - balance - posture

7. Broca’s area Pars opercularis Motor cortexSomatosensory cortex Sensory associative cortex Primary Auditory cortex Wernicke’s area Visual associative cortex Visual cortex Language and Thought Grammar and word production Movement and joint positions Cerebellum

8. Fig. 49-17 Generating words Max Speaking words Hearing words Seeing words Min

9. cerebrum corpus callosum thalamus cerebellum medulla oblongata hypothalamus pituitary pons spinal cord Pineal gland mid brain

10. Limbic System

11. Neurons Connect to other neurons to muscles or glands Send and receive chemical information (messages) for behaviors Can be a millimeter in length or as long as a meter

12. How the Brain Determines What’s Important Emotion and attention are the PRINCIPAL processes of the brain –Primary emotions - innate responses Assemble life-saving behaviors quickly –Secondary emotions - also innate reactions Enjoyment, pleasure Students need to talk about their emotions –Games, cooperative learning, field trips, interactive projects, use of humor Limit emotional stress

13. Twelve Basic Principles Related to Learning 1.Brain is a parallel processor 2.Learning engages the entire physiology 3.Learning is developmental 4.Each brain is unique 5.Every brain perceives and creates parts and wholes simultaneously 6.Learning always involves conscious and unconscious processes

14. 7.The search for meaning is innate 8.Emotions are critical to learning 9.Learning is enhanced by challenge and inhibited by threat 10.The search for meaning occurs through patterning 11.We can organize memory in different ways 12.The brain is a social brain

15. The Brain is a Parallel Processor Both hemispheres work together Many functions occur simultaneously Edelman(1994) found when more neurons in the brain were firing at the same time, learning, meaning, and retention were greater for the learner.

16. Learning Engages the Entire Physiology Food, water, and nutrition are critical components of thinking. We are “holistic” learners - the body and mind interact

17. Learning is Developmental Depending upon the topic some students can think abstractly, while others have a limited background and are still thinking on a concrete level. Building the necessary neural connections by exposure, repetition, and practice is important to the student.

18. Each Brain is Unique We are products of genetics and experience The brain works better when facts and skills are embedded in real experiences

19. How the physical environment is organized makes a difference. Learning Environment

20. Finding a good place to study –Quite –Free of interruptions –Prepared with supplies/organized

21. Knowing Your Learning Styles Auditory Visual Kinesthetic

22. Tips for Auditory Learners Use tapes for reading and class lectures Sit where you can hear well (front and center) After you have read something, summarize it and recite it back to yourself Learn by participating in discussions Find a friend/classmate who will tell you what they learned from the textbook readings Relate most effectively to the spoken word Often information in the written form will have little meaning until it has been heard

23. Tips for Visual Learners Look at all study materials (charts, maps, movies, notes and flash cards) Take good notes, after class fill in sentences and compare notes with other students Write out everything for frequent and quick visual review Practice visualizing or picture words, concepts and even spelling in your head Color Code to organize Ask for written directions Relate best to written information, notes, diagrams and pictures

24. Tips Kinesthetic Learners Learn skills by imitation and practice Trace words as you are saying them Facts that must be learned should be written several times Taking and keeping good lecture notes will be very important Make good study sheets Take frequent breaks in study periods Use a computer to reinforce learning (sense of touch) Memorize or drill while walking or exercising Relate best to information received thorough movement or when physical activity is involved

25. Why Take Notes A.Useful record 1.Of important points for future use 2.Of where the information comes from C. Helps understanding 1.If you focus on selecting info to note 2.If you think through where everything fits E. Helps exam revision 1.Material is well-organized 2.More info is already in memory B. Helps writing 1.Helps ideas flow 2.Helps planning- you can see what info you have 3.Assists in organization- you can rearrange and renumber notes in a new way 4.Helps you get started D. Helps memory 1.Summing things up briefly helps long-term memory 2.The act of writing helps motor memory 3.Pattern notes can be more memorable visually

26. Taking Notes in lectures & presentations Listen to case studies & ID complementary examples Have file for each module to keep your notes organized in Write up your notes after the lecture if they are messy or incomplete Develop your own shorthand Note all words you don’t understand and follow them up. Only make notes on the impt. points Highlight references made by the lecturer and follow them up.

27. The Search for Meaning Is Innate Each person seeks to make sense out of what he/she sees or hears Capitalize on this quality! –Present ideas, experiences that may NOT follow what one expects: Speculate Question Experiment Hypothesize

28. Learning is Enhanced by Challenge & Inhibited by Threat The brain’s priority is always survival - at the expense of higher order thinking Stress should be kept to a manageable level Provide opportunities to “grow” and to make changes Have high, but reasonable expectations

29. Stress & Learning The stress-brain loop ↓ Attention ↓ Perception ↓ Short-term memory ↓ Learning ↓ Word finding Chronic Stress Inadequate sleep Poor nutrition Emotional distress Increases glucocorticoids Decreased regulation of cortisol Cellular changes in the hippocampus

31. Brain Organizes Memory In Different Ways Retrieval often depends upon how the information was stored. Relevancy is one key to both storage and retrieval Provide and get examples Connect to what students know, what they are interested in Make learning meaningful

32. Memory When objects and events are registered by several senses, they can be stored in several interrelated memory networks. This type of memory becomes more accessible and powerful. Conversation helps us link ideas/thoughts to our own related memories. Students need time for this to happen!! –Storytelling- Conversations –Debates- Role playing –Simulations - Songs –Games- Films

33. Learning & Memory Sensory organs Stimulus Sensory Memory (millisecond-1) Sensory Memory (millisecond-1) Short-Term Memory Working Memory (< 1 minute) Short-Term Memory Working Memory (< 1 minute) Long-Term Memory ( days, months, years) Long-Term Memory ( days, months, years) perception attention forgetting repetition

34. Learning & Memory Sensory Memory: A sensory memory exists for each sensory channel: iconic memory for visual stimuli echoic memory for aural stimuli haptic memory for touch Information  sensory memory  short-term memory by attention, thereby filtering the stimuli to only those which are of interest at a given time.

35. Learning & Memory Short-term Memory: acts as a scratch-pad for temporary recall of the information under process can contain at any one time seven, plus or minus two, "chunks" of information lasts around twenty seconds. QUIZ NEXT SLIDE

36. Short-term Memory Quiz (30 sec) eggs drawing rock apple focus mission favor ice brain flag trial partner house life chair

37. Learning & Memory Long-term Memory: intended for storage of information over a long time. Short-term  long-term (rehearsal) Little decay Storage Deletion- decay and interference Retrieval-recall and recognition

38. Learning & Memory Long-term Memory: Why we forget: fading (trace decay) over time interference (overlaying new information over the old) lack of retrieval cues.

39. Encoding in Long-term Memory: Organizing Practicing Spacing Making meaning Emotionally engaging Techniques to Help Memory

40. Define the “gist” - OVERVIEW Sequence events Plot out pictorially the information Tell the information to others in own words - TALK –Peer teaching/tutoring Amplify by giving examples Use multiple parts of the brain (emotional, factual, physical) –Auditory, Visual, Kinesthetic, Talk –Combine Use color effectively –Yelloworange –Yellow and orange as attention-getters

41. The Brain is a Social Brain The brain develops better in concert with others  When students have to talk to others about information, they retain the information longer and more efficiently!  Make use of small groups, discussions, teams, pairings, and question and answer situations.