Brain-Based Learning

Ms. Alexis K. Morgan

Camden City Public Schools

What I Do

Anyone, Anyone?

End Result?

“What’s Going On?”

Teaching 50 Years Ago• 1 Teacher/30 Students• Whole Group• Technology = Typewriters • Student Achievement

Scores

Teaching Today • 1 Teacher/17 Students• Small Groups • 98% of all schools own

computers• 85% of schools have

multimedia computers• ¾ have access to cable TV• 1/3 have videodisc technology• 64% of schools have access to

the Internet • 38% of schools use LAN for

student instruction Policy Information Report: Computers and Classrooms, The State of Technology in U.S. Classrooms

Our Brains

Left v. Right

Left-Side of the Brain• Highly verbal• Primarily a

sequential learner• All-or-none outcome

oriented• Logical and

analytical thinking • Rational • Objective

Right Side of the Brain

• Not easily able to express ideas or experiences or verbal form

• Excellent spatial memory• Experiences the “whole” • Feeling • Creativity • Subjective

Caine & Caine, 1991

Brain-Based Learning

Brain-based learning involves using approaches to schooling that rely on recent brain research to support and develop improved teaching strategies. Researchers theorize that the human brain is constantly searching for meaning and seeking patterns and connections. Authentic learning situations increase the brain’s ability to make connections and retain new information.

Brain-Based Learning (continued)

Teaching strategies that enhance brain-based learning include:

•Manipulatives •Active Learning •Field Trips •Guest Speakers •and Real-Life Projects that allow students to use many learning styles and multiple intelligences.

An interdisciplinary curriculum or integrated learning also reinforces brain-based learning, because the brain can better make connections when material is presented in an integrated way,

Brain-Based Learning (continued)

rather than as isolated bits of information. A relaxed, nonthreatening environment that removes students’ fear of failure is considered best for brain-based learning. Research also documents brain plasticity, which is the notion that the brain grows and adapts in response to external stimuli.

Source: Adapted from The Language of Learning: A Guide to Education Terms, by J.L. McBrien & R.S. Brandt, (1997). Alexandria,

VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Generation M

Among 8 – 18 year olds: Spent in school 900

hours Daily TV time 4

hours/day Daily computer time 1 hour/day Time spent playing

video games 1 hour/day Time with audio 2

hours/day Average time reading books 23

minutes/day Homework > 1

hour/day

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation, Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-olds, 2005 (http://www.kff.org/entmedia/7251.cfm)

Brain-Based Learning Tools

Overload of Information

Concept Mapping

Concept maps are graphical tools for

organizing and representing knowledge.

Concept Mapping Resources

• Inspiration 8*• Kidspiration 3• Webspiration• MindMapping• Mindomo• Bubbl.us• Smart Ideas • Cmap Tools

Activity #1

TWBAT: Work in collaborative groups to create paper and pencil concept maps of how technology is used in education.

Brain-Compatible?

Part II: Game-Based Learning

Activity #2: How Are You Using “Games” In Your Classroom?

TWBAT: Discuss all the ways they use games (i.e. video games, online computer games, board games) in the classroom to increase student engagement.

Taking a Second Look

Inspiration

Kidspiration

InspireData

Connie Concepts

Cmap Tools

Games = Learning?

Leading Experts

Sylvia Martinez, Generation Yes

Gary Stager Seymour Papet

Super-Memory Club

Georgia Scott

Why Use Game-Based Learning?

• Encourages teamwork• Allows students to

learn from their mistakes

• Models constructive behavior

• Immerses students in the material

• Develops a shared sense of mission

• Teaches leadership and problem-solving

Second Life

Educational Uses: • Art and Music Projects• Design and Modeling• Business Planning• Higher Education• Real Estate Development• Science Education• Religious Studies• Photostories• Presentations• Panels and Discussions • Interior Design• Health Education• Environmental Education

Source: Second Life In Education: http://sleducation.wikispaces.com/educationaluses

LineRider

Educational Uses• Physics• Distance • Lines and Angles• Speed • Storytelling

Board Games in the Classroom

Scrabble • Scrabble clubs• 1 million students in

200,000 schools• School Scrabble Program• Educational Uses

– Math– Spatial relations– Spelling– Vocabulary – Social Interaction

More Ideas

• Tom Barrett’s 23 Interesting Ways to Use a Nintendo DS In the Classroom

• Tom Barrett’s Nintendo Wii Golf Addition and Subtraction

• Sudoku

• Scrabble

PART THREE: LEGOS

Lego Robotics Lego Blocks

Lego WeDo

Lego WeDo

WeDo • Hands-on, minds-on learning

experience• Students 7 – 11 years of age• Actively involves students in own

learning• Promotes

– Creative thinking– Teamwork– Problem-solving skills

Education Possibilities

• Language and literacy: narrative and journalistic writing, storytelling, explaining, interviewing

and interpreting• Mathematics: measuring time

and distance; adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, estimating, randomness; using variables

• Science: working with simple machines, gears, levers, pulleys; transmission of motion

• Technology: programming; using software media; designing and creating a working model

Hands-On Learning

Lego Robotics

Robotics

• Hands-on, minds-on learning experience

• Students 11+ years of age• Actively involves students in own

learning• S.T.E.M. • Promotes

– Creative thinking– Teamwork– Problem-solving skills

Education Possibilities

• Language and literacy: narrative and journalistic writing, storytelling, explaining, interviewing

and interpreting• Mathematics: Time and

distance, randomness; using variables

• Science: transmission of motion, gravity, force,

• Technology: programming; using software media; designing and creating a working model

Hands-On Learning

More Work?

What We Can Do

Constructing meaning = being mentally engaged

1. Anticipate what your lesson will lead students to think about.

2. Use discovery learning carefully (“Generation Effect”, Slamecka & Graf, 1978).

1. Gary Stager (Computer Software)

3. Design reading assignments that allow students to actively process text.

Source: Marlowe & Canestrari, Educational Psychology in Context: Readings for Future Teachers. SAGE, 2006

Questions, Comments?