Blog 1

Describe the big picture.

Module six makes it very clear that there are some big misconceptions about brain research from the first paragraph. The authors also end with a section advising us to question claims made about it, and to make sure that claims about brain research come from credible sources. But they also tell us that combined with educational and psychological findings, neuroscience can lead to positive effects in the field of education.

The authors also go on to discuss basic physiological concepts of the brain, and generally what different parts do. Then, there is a discussion on how factors such as genetics and environment affect brain development. Finally, they discuss how neurological research can positively affect education, but warn that we are still in the early stages of neurological study; therefore the data available is not comprehensive and there is still much to learn.

Did this make sense? What surprised you the most, or what did you find most interesting, and why? How does this reading connect 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?

The thing that most surprised me was how little effect genetics actually has on brain structure and development. I really expected the role of genetics to be greater, but the module makes it very apparent that environmental factors are much greater of a factor. They cite the example of identical twins that have radically different brain structures.

One concept that I could relate to was the idea of the “inherent sociability” of our brains, and the effect a more caring teacher has on a class. I immediately conjured up memories of high school math. During sophomore and junior years I took algebra and pre calculus, respectively, and basically covered the same material both years. But junior year I had a teacher who seemed to be more engaged with the material, more available to help out, and much more interested in noting if her lectures were actually being comprehended by the class than my sophomore math teacher was. The effects of these two different teachers were readily apparent as well; sophomore year I was never sure of the material, whereas junior year I was very confident with it. Objectively, the grades reflected this conclusion as well.

Overall, I understood module six and don’t have any questions.

Discuss one: What is happening in the picture below? How and why does each change occur?

The picture shows synaptic density in the human brain at three stages of development: birth, six years, and fourteen years. A synapse is the space by which neurons pass signals to each other. In the context of this photo, the density relates directly to the amount of signal activity, and therefore, the amount of information being sent around the brain. The picture illustrates how much more active the brain of a toddler is than the brain of an adolescent. There was an example in module six about how a language will be more permanently lodged in a brain if it is learned at a younger age than if it is learned during teenage years. This is a very effective visual representation of why that may be true.