Kenneth WessonEducational Consultant: Neuroscience

San Jose, CA kenawesson@aol.com

Brain-STEM: Transdisciplinary Science-centric Learning

1. How does the brain work and how does the young brain process language, science, and mathematics best in a model

learning environment?

2. How can we modify classroom instruction to achieve the goals set out in Common

Core, the Next Generation Science Standards, and STEM.

Brain-STEM: Transdisciplinary Science-centric Learning

Brain-STEM: Astonishing!

“Let me keep my mind on what matters,

which is my work, which is mostly standing

still and learning to be astonished.” -- “The Messenger” by Mary Oliver

The Human Brain

1. Always engaged in “sense making”

2. Actively seeks connections that build on our prior experiences

The Knowledge Explosion

“The sum total of humankind’s knowledge doubled between 1750 and 1900. It doubled again between 1900 and 1950, again from 1950 to 1960, again from 1960 to 1965. It’s been estimated that the sum total of humankind’s knowledge has doubled at least every five years since then.

It’s been further projected that by the year 2020, knowledge or information will double every 73 days.”

Dr. James Appleberry - President, American Association of State Colleges and Universities

Expanding Memory Techniques

Memorization is what we resort to when what we are learning makes no sense.

-- Anonymous

... Jupiter's Moons

Jupiter has moons?

giving it the largest retinue of moons with

"reasonably secure" orbits of any planet in

the Solar System.

Saturn?

(50 + 17, awaiting official confirmation = 67)

62 (53 + 9 awaiting official confirmation)

The “Shelf-life” of Facts

67

“How does the human brain learn best?”

Why is Hands-on Learning Effective? Developmental Neurobiology

Sensory Cortex

Motor cortex

What Does The Current Research SayAbout the Learning of Science and…?

Children are born investigators

Understanding builds over time

Science and Engineering require both knowledge and practice

A Framework for K-12 Science Education

What we are learning from Cognitive Science is

Astonishing!

Expanding the Traditional Model of Thinking and Learning

Stimulus Response

S R

Teaching Learning

Thinking and learning are neurobiological processes that take place inside the brain, just as digestion is another biological event that takes place in the pancreas and the stomach.

Does the name “Pavlov” ring a bell?

Factors Influencing Stimulus Response

In addition to desires, tendencies, appetites, instincts, inclinations… Genetics +Epigenetics and early nutrition

+Pre-natal care +Age

+Early development (0-3) +Emotions/emotional state

+Parenting +Gender

+Physical history +Perception/expectations

+Neuro-physiology +Memory

+Prior learning (situated L’) +Diet

+Prior experiences +Self-esteem

+Need state +Disability

+Strengths +Neural circuitry/plasticity*

+Formal Education +Stress factors

Learning/Behavior

* Neural plasticity: The flexible nature of the brain to modify structures, alter its functioning and re-route neural circuitry as a response to new stimuli and ongoing learning experiences.

Hemispheres → Lobes → Primary Areas → Networks → Brain Cells

NeuronsThe brain cells we care about

most when discussing human learning

1. Sensory processing (learning)2. Storage (memory)3. Retrieval (application)The same neurons for a lifetime

Glia cells (glue)• Support – blood supply,

nutrients, oxygen, energy, remove waste

• More? Active in slower processing of information – consolidating memory?

• The “Mind”

Primarily Two Types of Cells in the Brain

Neurons and synapses.

The number of neurons (the information processing cells) inside your brain is approximately equivalent to

all of the trees found in the Amazon rain forest (100,000,000,000). The # of plausible permutations and combinations of brain activity > the # of elementary particles in the universe.

They operate by making connections with one another. The number of connections (synapses) inside your brain is comparable to all of the leaves on all of the trees in the Amazon rain forest (approx. 62 trillion connections among the 100 billion brain cells.)

Astonishing Potential for Learning and Processing

yellow

ball

Brown

Making Connections

banana

Taxi

Tennis

round

fruits

coconut

Baseball

School bus

Moon

School bus

basketball

Municipal bus

pineapple

persimmon

Orange

Apple

pearTrain

yellow

ball

Brown

Making Connections

banana

Taxi

Tennis

round

fruits

coconut

Baseball

School bus

Egg yolk

basketball

pineapple

persimmon

Orange

Apple

pearTrain

yellow

ball

Brown

Making Connections

bananaTaxi

Tennis

round

fruits

coconut

Baseball

School bus

Moon

basketball

Municipal bus

pineapple

persimmon

Orange

Apple

pearTrain

The most important element in the formation of “context’ is you.

Learners use what they already know to construct new understandings.

How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience and SchoolBransford, J.D., Brown, A.L.& Cooking, R.R. (Eds) 1999, National Academy Press.

Maintaining and Strengthening Memory

Bridge Build Extend

10% 80% 10%

Past content New information Preview

• Knitting Sharp• Thread Point• Knife Thimble• Syringe Haystack• Silver Shiny• Pin Injection• Sewing Embroidery

Memory Test

Needle

Embroidery

Memory Test

Knitting

Thinking back on our “tennis ball” brain pathways model, what are the typical causes of “failures to connect” during learning?

Participants’ Question

Thinking back on our “tennis ball” network model, what are the typical causes of these “failures to connect”?

1. Lack of adequate brain “wiring”a. Poorly “wired” brain (a delayed development

issue, no prior experience, no relevance, no emotional connections)

b. An injury to the brainc. Teaching a developmentally inappropriate concept

to young children (a lack of brain “Readiness”)

“Failure To Connect”

Lack of adequate brain “wiring” (poorly “wired” brains)

1. No emotional connections

2. Little or no prior experience

3. Delayed development

4. An injury to the brain

5. Teaching a developmentally-inappropriate concept to young children (a lack of brain “Readiness”)

6. Cannot find meaning (“sense-making” or “meaning-making”)

yellow

ball

Brown

Hole in the Concept

banana

Taxi

Tennis

round

fruits

coconut

Baseball

School bus

Moon

School bus

basketball

Municipal bus

pineapple

persimmon

Orange

Apple

pearTrain

2. How can we plan daily classroom experiences to meet the goals of STEM?

Brain-STEM: Transdisciplinary Science-centric Learning

What is STEM?

STEM Education integrates all 4 contents of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. It supports application by combining these “silos” into a new trans-disciplinary subject in meaningful realistic ways.

STEM Education seeks to ↑ access to learning preparing students for post-secondary study, the 21st century workforce, and becoming informed citizens.

Scientists, Mathematicians and Engineers

• Do scientists, mathematicians and engineers communicate with one another?

• Do scientists, mathematicians and engineers write summaries of their work?

• Do they write reports?

• Do they write research papers?

• Do they give oral presentations of their research at symposiums? Interviews?

Scientists, Mathematicians and Engineers

“Reading and writing comprise

over half of the work of

scientists and engineers.”

(NRC 2011)

Science

Technology

Engineering

Mathematics

Reading/Language Arts (Standards)

Art

Drawing/diagramming, visual spatial thinking, imagery, inferential

thinking, 2/3-dimensional modeling, symbolic models, interpreting visual evidence, visual representations -

illustrations, charts, etc.

Visual Literacy

S.T2.R.E.A.M.

Reading, writing, discourse, argumentation, vocabulary development, comprehension, journals, note-booking,

lab reports, summaries, oral presentations, recording interpreting and

critiquing data and information

Convergent/Integrative STEM T’ & L’

Published Online: October 23, 2012

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/10/24/09wesson.h32.htmlCOMMENTARY

From STEM to ST2REAM:Reassembling Our Disaggregated Curriculum By Kenneth Wesson

Countless millennia before the acronym STEM—for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—entered our modern lexicon, early man was already engaged in STEM endeavors. Our ancestors spent significant portions of their days experimenting, tinkering, and thinking their way through myriad problems and challenges. During those prehistoric periods, the dreamers, the designers, and the builders identified the urgent problems, and subsequently crafted tools, crude instruments, and strategies to resolve them, working collaboratively for both survival and human progress.

Columbus' historic trans-Atlantic journey in 1492 was

• The “drivers” are → new sets of instructional behaviors where all learning overlaps (converges, intersects, etc.) in ways that “makes sense” to the learners

• “Common Core” = The Common Core Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects (“The Standards”)

• Every teacher must become a literacy teacher when implementing the CCSS (using informational text; integrating knowledge and ideas; presenting evidence-based arguments; domain-specific vocabulary…).

S.T2.R.E.A.M.

BBR + NGSS = STEM

Students and Teachers Enjoying every Minute

of the school day,

because it is finally connected and

learning suddenly makes sense!

…not merely “academic problems” for the purpose of intellectual development, but global challenges to the very survival of our planet and our species. They will require new approaches, novel ideas, new solutions, and the complex merging of multiple disciplines.

STEM

The most recent 10-year employment projections by the U.S. Labor Department show that of the 20 fastest growing occupations

projected for 2014, 15 of them require significant mathematics or science preparation to successfully compete for the job.

40

In 2012, nearly 70% of American HS graduates failed to meet college-readiness benchmarks in science.

The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST)

"Since the beginning of the 20th century, the

average per capita income in the United

States has grown more than sevenfold,

and science and technology account for

more than half of this growth."

3. Compose an “I will” statement based on today’s experience.

Play and Science Running Together

“We don’t learn from experience, we

learn by reflecting on it.” John Dewey

“Reflect and Connect”

• What was the most valuable piece of information that

you learned this morning?

• How did our conversation change some of your

thinking?

• Write down one “I will” statement (what will you look at

differently and what will you plan to do

differently?)

Wesson - CCSS + NGSS = ST2REAM - 2013

Forecasting Independent Education to 2025-- NAIS

Each year, new findings in cognitive psychology and neuroscience will be infused into teacher preparation, curriculum, instruction, student assessment, and the classroom environment. The works of Howard Gardner (“Multiple Intelligences”), Daniel Goleman (“Emotional Intelligence”), Kenneth Wesson (“Brain-considerate Learning”), and others have already been influential in reshaping the independent school classroom, while programs like Mel Levine’s Schools Attuned are assisting educators in using neurodevelopmental content in their classrooms to create success at learning and to provide hope and satisfaction for all students.

• Teachers = Neuro-plasticians

• Magic

Neuro-plasticians are shaping the brains of the new STEM generation.

Contact Information:Kenneth Wesson

(408) 323-1498 (office)(408) 826-9595 (cell)

San Jose, CA kenawesson@aol.com

sciencemaster.com

Brain-STEM: Transdisciplinary Science-centric Learning