I would say that the main idea in this module is about the brain and how it works in relation to learning. When looking at what causes people to learn differently there are a few things that come into play: genetics, plasticity of the brain, nutrition, gender, environmental stimulation, and teratogens. When teaching children, you have to remember that everyone is going to have different connections between their neurons and so they may not be able to recall something right away due to the fact that they encoded the information differently. As teachers, we also have to remember that kids do not learn the same was as we do. We already know the information we are teaching so it comes easier to us than it would to kids even after we have taught them the information because the connection we have on that information is very insulated in our brains unlike the connections the children have just made.
One question I had about this chapter was how can we keep up on new research on the brain? Or is there really a whole lot of new research coming out on this subject?
According to a brain scientist, there is a difference between development and learning. Development is when the brain goes through what is called synaptic pruning. This is when connections between neurons weaken or go away completely because they are not being used. Learning is when new connections are made and being strengthened. This process is called synaptogenesis.
According to brain research, repetition is a good way to remember and learn information. This is because the more you use a piece of information the more insulated that connection becomes and when a connection is insulated it makes the information travel faster and more efficiently from neuron to neuron. On the other hand, information processing theory says otherwise. Information processing theory says that repetition is not a good way to learn because no connections to previous knowledge are being made and therefore the information cannot be encoded into one's long term memory. This theory then says that if something has not been put in your long term memory then you have not learned that piece of information.
I just spent a few minutes looking up current brain research websites online, and I found a pretty good one! http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/mind_brain/
ReplyDeleteThis website writes articles about major brain developments when they happen, so maybe this could help you stay updated!
There are a lot of websites, blogs, or other media sources, like the one mentioned above. I have a couple listed on Oncourse, like MindShift. Some are specifically based on neuroscience and others are just education more generally, but if a new study comes out, and is influential enough, it will be covered in multiple places.
ReplyDeleteAnd YES, new things really are coming out all the time. When I was a neuroscience major in college, we didn't have textbooks because the information would change so much year to year. We read papers instead, and the professors had to update things each year....