The big ideas of this chapter are brain research in education. The research that has been done has greatly affected the way educators think about a child's brain development and learning. When a child is younger, more neurons are available in order to make connections. These connections are made by observations, environmental impact, patterns, and being taught (school). However, as one gets older, it is there are less neurons available for use, and less of the environment/observations we make are "new". Therefore, there are less connections made, and some of those connections made as a child are forgotten.
One question I had, was how long does it take for a neuron's path to become visible?
According to a brain researcher, development is the making of connections as a response to environment or observations. Once these connections have been made, learning can occur by repetition (?). Learning has occurred when these connections become myelinated, showing much use.
According to brain research, repetition is a good way to remember something because the more use the connections made by the neurons get, the more insulated they become, showing more use than others.
When you are learning, neurons make connections in the brain. The connections are fully made when the information is learned. At this point, the connections are visible but very faint. As the information is repeated and recalled, the neuron connections are made more visible. The thicker the neuron connections, the more consistently-used the neuron connections are.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you distinguish development as making connections and learning as myelination? Couldn't you make connections as a result of experience? It's true that you develop connections before birth based on genetics, but I'd say connections made as a result of experience could count as learning.
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