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The New Science of Learning

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The New Science of Learning The New Science of Learning • Developed by Professor Terry Doyle • Ferris State University • www.learnercenteredteaching.wordpress.com • [email protected] Slides are available for download at: www.learnercenteredteaching.wordpress.com University of South Carolina Here is Our Challenge? We as teachers can’t make informed decisions about which teaching approaches or tools to use if we don’t first understand how our students learn. To understand how our students learn we must understand how their brains take in, process, and retrieve information as well as the numerous factors that affect these processes. Key Questions 1. What knowledge and skills do students need to learn and what can they look up as needed? Key Questions 2. What is the best use of our time in helping students master the learning outcomes of our courses? Key Question 3. What would make us happy that our students still knew and could apply from the content and skills of our course a year later? We are Born to Learn The brain was meant to explore and learn The Definition of Learning Learning is a change in the neuron- patterns of the brain. (Goldberg, 2009) www.virtualgalen.com/.../ neurons-small.jpg Attention Drives the Changes One of the strongest findings in neuroplasticity is that attention is almost magical in its ability to physically alter the brain and enlarge functional circuits. (Merzenich and colleagues, UCSF, 2011) Keeping Students’ Attention Neuroscientists have a saying: Emotion drives attention and attention drives learning —this makes Attention the key to learning. (Merzenich and colleagues, UCSF, 2011) Keeping Students’ Attention But the brain’s processing abilities in a given moment are limited, and attention is the way the brain allocates its resources. (Merzenich and colleagues, UCSF, 2011) Keeping Students’ Attention It is very important to specifically direct the student toward the desired object of attention. Keeping Students’ Attention We know that some students are impaired in their attentional abilities, but these can be improved through activities that require sustained attention. (Merzenich and colleagues, UCSF, 2011) Keeping Students’ Attention The emotional engagement pathway is effective in capturing and sustaining attention. (Merzenich and colleagues, UCSF, 2011) Mistaking an Attention Problem If students fail to comprehend lengthy directions or instructions, it may not be they are not trying to pay attention but rather a working memory problem. Shorter, clearer directions and instruction can help. Teachers’ Definition of Learning Learning is the ability to use information after significant periods of disuse and it is the ability to use the information to solve problems that arise in a context different (if only slightly) from the context in which the information was originally taught. (Robert Bjork, Memories and Metamemories, 1994) Basic Finding from Neuroscience Research It is the one who does the work who does the learning( Doyle , 2008). What Teaching Actions does Brain Research Affirm as Promoting Learning What Teaching Actions does Brain Research Affirm as Promoting Learning 1. When the information or skill is made to have personal relevance. Personal Relevance Check any career website for what employers want. Top Ten Things Employers Look for in New College Graduates 1. The ability to work well in teams— especially with people different from yourself 2. An understanding of science and technology and how these subjects are used in real-world settings 3. The ability to write and speak well Top Ten Things Employers Look for in New College Graduates 4. The ability to think clearly about complex problems 5. The ability to analyze a problem to develop workable solutions 6. An understanding of global context in which work is now done Top Ten Things Employers Look for in New College Graduates 7. The ability to be creative and innovative in solving problems 8. The ability to apply knowledge and skills in new settings 9. The ability to understand numbers and statistics 10. A strong sense of ethics and integrity Source: "How Should Colleges Prepare Students to Succeed in Today's Global Economy?" (Results of a national poll by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, 2007). What Teaching Actions does Brain Research Affirm as Promoting Learning 2. That content should be made to respond to the survival needs of the learner. Facing a New World In 1973 28% of jobs in the United States required a 4 year college degree. In 2018 57-67 % of jobs will require a 4 year college degree. (Georgetown University study 2013) Facing a New World It is estimated that • Today 5 exabytes of data between the dawn of gets collected every two civilization and 2003 days. there were five exabytes (an exabyte = 1 quintillion • Soon it will be five bytes) of data collected. exabytes every few minutes. (Don Tapscott, Design Your Mind) Facing a New World • Currently there are 320 million Chinese honor students and 280 million Indian honor students many of who will be competing for the same jobs our college students want. Life Expectancy and Changes in Retirement Systems • Current life expectancy in USA is 78 years. • Medical breakthroughs may allow many of our students to live to be a 100! • Retirement may come at 75-80 years of age. What Teaching Actions does Brain Research Affirm as Promoting Learning 3. The teaching that engages the brain in multimodal, experiential and diverse activities promotes learning. What Teaching Actions does Brain Research Affirm as Promoting Learning 4. Time on task. Learning something new takes much longer than most students think. It requires a great deal of practice. What Teaching Actions Promote Learning 5. When teachers embed facts in a meaningful context they make the learning process much easier and enhance the likelihood of recall in the future. What Teaching Actions does Brain Research Affirm as Promoting Learning 6. The brain doesn’t learn in a linear structured and predictable fashion. The use of various sensory channels at the same time are best especially for hard to learn concepts What Teaching Actions does Brain Research Affirm Promote Learning 7. The human brain seeks and quickly detects novelty. Teacher who know this can design novel activities that will enhance classroom learning and long term recall. Multisensory Learning Our Senses Work Together to Enhance Learning The traditional belief among neuroscientists has been that our senses operate largely as independent systems. However, mounting data suggest interactions between the senses are the rule, rather than the exception. Aaron Seitz – Journal Current Biology, 2006 Sensory Systems • Sensory systems are highly interconnected and widespread . • Our sense can inform and compensate for one another in ways that seem super human. • Ladan Shams, UCLA, 2012 Senses Create Multiple Pathways for Learning and Memory The more senses used in learning the more possible connections to prior knowledge and the more pathways are available for recall. Sound Gains Attention Unlike our eyes our ears can never be shut. (Elizabeth La daras) Sound is more effective to gain attention than images. Smell Enhances Recall Proust Effect is the unusual ability of smell to enhance recall. Best results when smells are congruent with the situation. Medina, 2008, Brain Rules, p.212 Smells During Sleep Can Enhance Recall Smells that you associate with a particular new learning released during sleep, make the memories for that learning stronger. (Sobel , 2012) Vision Trumps All Vision trumps all other senses for learning Vision Trumps All Text and oral presentations are not just less efficient than pictures for retaining information they are way less efficient. (Brain Rules p.234) Vision Trumps All Oral information has a recall of about 10% after 72 hours. Add a picture and the recall increases to 65%. (Brain Rules, P.234) Reading as a Multisensory Activity Reading is the slowest way we enter information into our brains. The reasons is it carries a very heavy visual load. (Dehaene, 2009) It is often done as a unisensory action. Reading as a Multisensory Activity Solutions --Make reading multisensory. 1. Get students to annotate-the use of touch( the pencil) and movement( the hand) improves attention and helps comprehension. Reading as a Multisensory Activity 2. Suggest students read certain challenging parts aloud while continuing to annotate—now there are 3 senses involved. Reading as a Multisensory Activity 3. Keep a smell near that can be associated with the reading to aid recall. Patterns and Learning Put new information in a meaningful context. Patterns and Learning The brain is a pattern seeking device that relates whole concepts to one another and looks for similarities, differences, or relationships between them.” (Ratey, 2002, pg.5) Patterns and Learning Learning is pleasurable to the brain; the activity of detecting patterns is also pleasurable. (Zadina, 2010) Which of the following slides is easier to remember and WHY? SLIDE ONE 4915802979 Slide Two (491) 580-2979 What is the pattern in the next slide. Raise your hand when you find it. Slide One NRAFBINBCUSAMTV Slide Two NRA NBC FBI USA MTV Familiar Patterns Clustering is used to organize related information into groups. Information that is categorized becomes easier to remember and recall. In Teaching Reading Topic Main Ideas-concepts, issues Significant Details Important Examples Lists Names, Dates, Places Terms, Definitions Using Clustering Make these Words Easier to Recall. Olives, tomatoes, bread, carrots, chicken, lettuce, cookies, ham, grapes, beef, strawberries, spinach, pork, plums, mangos, potatoes, onions, fish, duck, broccoli, cheese, cherries, chocolate, turkey. Using Clustering to Make Learning Easier • Alphabetical—This is a familiar pattern but it doesn’t help very much. • Beef, bread, carrots, chocolate, cheese, cherries, etc. A More Meaningful Clustering • Lunch and Dinner—categorizing the food by familiar areas like lunch and dinner gives it more meaning and makes it much easier to recall. • Lunch a salad including lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, olives, carrots, spinach, broccoli, onions, turkey, ham with bread and cookies for dessert.
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