What Neuroscience Has To Teach Us About Learning

The brain is a complex place, but it may finally provide some information about how to optimally learn. Neuroscience knowledge can open doors for better teaching techniques, innovative learning content and personalized learning. Neuroscience research can also help guide educators on how to motivate students and reduce the achievement gap.

Successful learning is largely taking place in a different part of the brain, than you thought. According to new research, changing the way you think about learning has the power to shift your brains into learning mode when the time is right.

As humans, we learn in a variety of ways. However, brain research tells us that the specific changes, that happen to our brains when we learn the way we learn by trial and error are quite different from those, that happen during more traditional learning methods, such as reading a process that takes place largely in the conscious, extra-brain cortex.

Neuroscience And The Brain

Our brains are organically complex entities, that are constantly changing. In the past, scientists believed that the brain was a fixed organ, that did not change with experience, but that was wrong. The brain can change in three ways:

• Structurally: This occurs, when brain cells are removed through disease or natural death and their functions can be filled in by other cells.

• Functionally: This occurs, when neural connections in the brain are rerouted to connect different areas of the brain, that allow us to learn things, that we didn't know we were capable of learning, such as how our own minds work.

• Physiologically: This occurs, when the body and brain are exposed to certain stimuli. For example, a phobic person's natural defense may be to run from fearful situations, but this may be ineffective, if the person is continually presented with the very object of that fear.

It is these structural, functional, and physiological changes that occur within the brain that underlie how we learn and remember things. The new and emerging field of cognitive science seeks to understand how we make sense of the world around us, how we think and how these abilities are manifested neurologically. It is important to note, that the three aspects of the brain, that contribute to learning are the conscious mind, the subconscious mind and the brain itself.

• The conscious mind is the part of the brain, that is always available to us, the supervisory control center, that modifies and guides our body's behavior.

• The subconscious mind is the part of the brain, that is always there, the center of our personality.

• Finally, the brain is the physical part of the brain, that deals with all our sensory and motor information. The brain does not simply record what we experience, it actively interprets that experience and makes sense of it. Our perceptual systems, for example, learn by comparing expected and actual sensory input, and our cognitive systems create predictions about future observations and outcomes based upon our current understanding of the world. The brain is the organ of experience, it deals with the past, it interprets the present and it projects into the future. Therefore, it deals with learning.

The brain accomplishes this feat by using three processes to process information: perception, attention, and memory.

• Perception refers to the process by which sensory information is gathered from the environment and interpreted by the brain.

• Attention consists of a neurochemical mechanism, that is used to focus the brain on selected stimuli, ignoring other information that is not as important.

• Memory is the reconstruction in the brain of information gleaned through perception and attention.

Neuroscience's Role In Education

The role of neuroscience in education is to describe the brain, to explain how the brain learns, remembers and thinks and how all of these complex processes interact with one another. In doing so, researchers can develop new and improved instructional practices, that take advantage of the specific ways, that the brain works.

Researchers can also examine the ways in which the brain differs for individuals, such as in intelligence or learning disabilities. By understanding these differences, educators can create more effective learning environments for all.

Finally, researchers can try and determine the most effective ways of teaching content, so that students are not exposed to too much information and are not bored, nor are they so underserved, that they remain unaware of the curriculum.

Teaching techniques, that take advantage of the ways in which the brain learns, remembers and thinks, are the most effective. With this knowledge, educators can create and recreate the best possible learning environment for their students.

Neuroscience And The Future Of Learning

The future of learning science lies in the study of the brain and how it learns. Neuroscience can help us understand the brain by providing us with a common framework for the study and understanding of brain function.

It can also help us distinguish the differences between normal and abnormal behavior and experience. Finally, neuroscience can help us identify the best ways to encourage or cultivate certain behaviors and reactions in order to facilitate learning.

The value of neuroscience is that it examines the complex human experience in a systematic way, rather than looking at the brain in isolation. It considers the person, rather than the organ. In doing so, it helps us see ourselves and the world around us in a more holistic way.

It helps us to understand how our own brains work, and how they are interconnected with other brains and with our bodies. It helps us make sense of the data inundating us from all sources, through any means of communication and at any time and place. It helps us understand the future, in terms that are not merely speculative.

The value of utilizing neuroscience in the classroom is significant. It gives educators a common vocabulary for the types of questions they ask their students and how they might go about answering them.

It provides a way to communicate complex ideas to students in a way, that they will remember and retain. Finally, it helps educators identify and address students' misconceptions, thereby enhancing the quality of their future learning.

Thank you for reading.