Describe the big picture:
This module discussed brain research and how it affects learning for students. There are a lot of rumors about brain research and development, some true and some false. It's important to distinguish the fact and fiction to bring it an educational atmosphere. Attention, patterns and connections, and reading are all issues facing school teachers today, and learning about brain development can help solve many of the issues that arise. Not only that, but an understanding of basic brain functions and the physiology of the brain is important for teachers to understand - to help them to interpret research findings.
Did this make sense? What surprised you the most, or what did you find most interesting, and why? How does this reading connect to your previous experiences with school or teaching? Discuss some of your unanswered questions about the reading for the class. Do you understand the material? What else do you want to know?
I find the brain a very interesting topic, so I was very engaged throughout the reading. One of the most surprising facts in this chapter, for me, was that the "humans only use 10% of our brains" statement is false. I've been told that my whole life, so reading that it wasn't true shocked me! I also found the fact that a lot of brain research is false to be interesting. I never knew that a lot of findings have been mischaracterized, and that we need to be careful when reading about the brain. I always just assumed it was all correct!
One element of the module that I found to be a strong connection with my experiences was the "social brain". I have found in my past experiences as a student that I've done better in a class if I feel that the teacher cares about me. Also, as a camp counselor, I found that kids were more likely to listen to me if I was caring and asking about their lives, rather than being "mean" or "strict" without seeming to care. Also, reading that the brain doesn't pay as much attention to information that it feels is irrelevant definitely brought back previous experiences. Ever since I've been in college studying what I love, I've never really had issues paying attention - whereas in high school, taking classes I didn't care about or didn't think were important, my brain seemed to wander.
There aren't a lot of questions I have from this module, except I'd like a little bit more clarification on how to tell if a brain research article is true or false. The book gave some hints, but I can see myself reading an article and not knowing whether or not to believe it. I guess having more clear-cut ways to know if something was misinterpreted or not would be helpful!
Discuss one: What is happening in the picture below? How and why does each change occur?
The picture depicts the number of synaptic connections between neurons peaks during early childhood. Basically, between the ages of 3 and 6, rewiring takes place in the brain. A lot of connections are made between neurons at this time, as they are learning about their environment and processing a lot of information. However, after age 6, the brain goes through a "neural pruning" period, in which the brain tends to weed out the neurons that aren't as important or regular. This is why at age 6 in the diagram, there are a lot of connections, whereas at the age of 14 there are less.
To answer your question of how to know whether research is trustworthy....My first reaction is to say, “Think about what you know about the brain and how it works, and ask, does it make sense?” Also, if you have access to the research methods that they used, and how they drew their conclusions, you could decide if they have a lot of convincing evidence, or if they’re making claims that are too strong. Last, where is the article (or who wrote it)? A journal or a blown-out-of-proportion news report? A neuroscientist or another teacher?
ReplyDeleteThe book tends to downplay brain research because too often it comes from 1. One good research article that has reached the media and has been blown out of proportion or 2. A movement of people who don't ACTUALLY know a lot about the brain making 'brain games' or 'brain based research curricula'.