1. Diagram, Key Ideas & Cautions Jodi Pitts EDU 6655 Winter 2012

2. Brain Based Learning “Our Brain” Left Hemisphere Right Hemisphere Logical Speech Reading Writing Sequential Tracks time Processes the Parts Processes the Whole Gathers info from images Spatial reasoning Recognition faces, places, & objects BOTH hemispheres process ALL activities Modern Brain Science No reason to label activities as coming from one hemisphere or the other in the brain.

3. Key Ideas for Educators  Currently, there is a limited amount of research to help educators but the future looks bright in the areas of “early diagnosis of special educational needs, monitoring and comparison of the effects of different kinds of educational input on learning and an increased understanding of individual differences in learning and the best ways to suit input to learners.” (text pg. 39)  When students are stressed or feel fear there is a negative impact on learning, social judgment, as well as responses to reward and risk. (text pg.44)  “Teachers should know about short-and long-term memory; about primacy/recency effects; about how procedural, declarative, and episodic memory differ; and about how prior knowledge affects our current ability to learn.” (text pg. 52)  “Kids learn and retain things when they are actively involved…that’s how I define ‘brain-based education.’ (text pg. 83)

4. Cautions for Educators  “So, despite what you read in the papers and in the brain-based education literature, neuroscience has not established that there is a sensitive period between the ages of 4-10 during which children learn more quickly, easily, and meaningfully.” (text pg. 69)  “Our school system was invented in the late 1800s, and little has changed.” (text pg. 69)  “We are decades away from having an understanding of brain function that would contribute to classroom learning.” (text, pg. 84)

5. Reference  Jossey-Bass Reader on the Brain and Learning (2008). Wiley.