Principles From Mind, Brain, and Education That...

Principles From Mind, Brain, and Education That Should Guide Teacher Choice of

Classroom Technology

Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, Ph.D.www.thelearningsciences.com

[email protected]

Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, Ph.D.

• Professor, Harvard University Extension School: Psych 1609 “The Neuroscience of Learning: Introduction to Mind, Brain, Health and Education science”

• OECD: Member of the expert panel on Teachers New Pedagogical Knowledge based on contributions from Technology and Neuroscience

• Latin American Social Science Research Faculty, Ecuador: Educational Researcher and Professor

• Interdisciplinary researcher in neuroscience, cognitive psychology and education (cultural anthropology and linguistics).

• Associate Editor of the Nature Partner Journal Science of Learning

• Boston University: BA, BS, magna cum laude; Harvard University: Master’s in International Educational Development; Capella University: Ph.D. In Professional Studies in Education (Mind, Brain and Education Science)

• Former Director of the Teaching and Learning Institute at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito Ecuador

• Former Dean of Education at the Universidad de las Américas, Quito, Ecuador

• Teacher at all levels of education (K-University, continuing education) with more than 29 years of experience in 34 countries.

2

Thank you!

10 September 2018 Tokuhama-Espinosa 3

Today:

1. Teachers’ New Professional Development

2. Six Principles in Mind, Brain, and Education (2017)

1. Uniqueness

2. Different Potentials

3. Prior Experience

4. Constant changes in the Brain

5. Plasticity

6. Memory and Attention

3. How do the Principles influences your choice of classroom technology tools?

4. Examples of technology that responds to the Principles


Rip van Winkle

Transportation

Banking

Elections

Supermarkets

Schools….

• False information about the brain and learning

Attitudes and Predujices

(Neuromyths)

• Universal aspects of learning true for all humans

Principles • Individual aspects of learning; true for all but lots of human variation

Tenets

•Social influences on pattern and category recognition

•Affective aspects of learning

Culture

• What should happen in the classroom

Instructional Guidelines

The “new first steps” in teacher professional development

11Tokuhama-Espinosa 2017

1

2

3

4

5For example: Some people are “right-brained” and others are ”left-brained”

For example: “All new learning passes through the filter of prior experience”

For example: “Sleeping and dreaming are vital for learning”

For example: Numeric symbol representation

Example: “50 Practical Applications of Mind, Brain, and Education science”

OECD (2017)

Tokuhama-Espinosa 2017

Available free on: http://www.keepeek.com/Digital-Asset-Management/oecd/education/pedagogical-knowledge-and-the-changing-nature-of-the-teaching-profession_9789264270695-en#.WLMBlxIrIzU

1. Teacher formation in

the 21st century

2. Teacher evaluation in

the 21st century

3. New teacher

competencies for the

21st century

NEUROSCIENCE

AND

TECHNOLOGY

•Designing educational experiences without an understanding of the brain is like designing a glove without an understanding of the human hand.

-attributed to Leslie Hart (1983)

13Tokuhama-Espinosa Feb 2017

Delphi Panels 2006-2008 and 2016-2017

Tokuhama-Espinosa 2017

Experts’ opinions used to

reach consensus on

emerging or developing

concepts or fields.

Entire study available on

Research Gate (and

www.thelearningsciences.com)

and in the book The Five Pillars

Topics Researched in Mind, Brain, and Science Education Delphi

1. Neuroimaging

2. Neurotransmitters and Chemicals

3. Neurogenesis and Plasticity

4. Theories of Consciousness

5. Beliefs about Intelligence

6. New Learning Theories

7. Neuroethics

8. Learning Differences; Human Variability

9. Mind-Body Connection• Sleep

• Physical Exercise

• NutritionTokuhama-Espinosa 2017

Examples of Current Research in MBE

• Domain specific advancements: • Physics (i.e., Sattizahn, Lyons, Kontra, Fischer & Beilock, 2015).

• Reading (i.e., Nevo & Bar-Kochva, 2015)

• Math (i.e., Dumontheil & Klingberg, 2012)

• Art (i.e., Hardiman, Rinne & Yarmolinskaya, 2014)

• General cognition• Reasoning (i.e., Grotzer, & Tutwiler, 2014)

• Memory (i.e., Dumontheil & Klingberg, 2012)

• Attention (i.e., Gold, Ewing-Cobbs, Cirino, Fuchs, Stuebing & Fletcher, 2013)

• Executive Functions (i.e., Zhong, Rifkin-Graboi,, Ta, Yap, Chuang, Meaney & Qiu, 2014)

• New areas:• Embodied cognition; affect and learning (Osgood-Campbell, 2015)

• Circadian rhythms (Valdez, Ramirez & Garcia, 2014)

• Multilingualism (Petitto, 2011)


Principles

Question 1. Are there any concepts applicable to all

human learning that should be taught to teachers?

• A principle is a fundamental construct.

• “Truth”? (No truths in science)


Categorization criteria

In Understanding the brain: The

birth of a learning science, (OECD,

2002; 2007)* the authors propose a

continuum of four categories of

information quality.

19

*OECD= 34 current and in 2002, 30 countries (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark,

Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxemburg, Mexico, the

Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United

Kingdom, United States. Tokuhama-Espinosa Feb 2017


PRINCIPLES TENETS

n=6 n=21

Six (6) Principles


Six principles about human learning …

1. UNIQUENESS: Human brains are

unique as human faces. While

the basic structure of most

humans’ brains is the same

(similar parts in similar regions),

no two brains are identical. The

genetic make-up unique to

each person combines with life

experiences and free will to

shape neural pathways.


How does this information impact teaching and choice of classroom technology?

• Testing requirements?

• Standards vs. Mastery or Standards and Mastery?

• In a related principle, the flipped classroom addresses the fact that not all brains are equally good at all things, and therefore some will need more rehearsal on certain concepts, while others will need more attention to different points.


Policy change: Differentiated evaluation processes;

flipped classroom flexibility?

2. DIFFERENT POTENTIALS: Each

individual’s brain is differently

prepared to learn different tasks.

Learning capacities are shaped

by the context of the learning,

prior learning experiences,

personal choice, an individual’s

biology and genetic make-up,

pre-and peri-natal events, and

environmental exposures.




• Differentiation? Inclusion?


3. PRIOR EXPERIENCE: New learning is influenced by prior experience. The efficiency of the brain economizes effort and energy by ensuring that external stimuli are first decoded, compared, both passively and actively, with existing memories.



• Do you know your students

well enough to capitalize

on their past experiences

and make the teaching

moment authentic in their

lives?



4. CONSTANT CHANGES IN THE BRAIN: The brain changes constantly with experience. The brain is a complex, dynamic, integrated system that is constantly changed by individual experiences. These changes occur at a molecular level either simultaneously, in parallel, or even before they are visible in behavior.




• Are we permitting learning

cycles to run their course, or

do we expect too much too

fast?

• Are we providing enough

opportunity/time for rehearsal

for all students in the class,

even those with little prior

knowledge?

http://courseimage.com/90224-learning-cycle 29Tokuhama-Espinosa Feb 2017

5. PLASTICITY: The brain is

plastic. Neuroplasticity

exists throughout the

lifespan though there are

notable developmental

differences by age.




• Learning is fluid, not fixed.

• Do you believe that all of your students can learn (and that few, if any, are incapable of improvement)?


6. MEMORY+ATTENTION=LEARNING: There is no new learning without

some form of memory and some

form of attention. Most school

learning requires well-functioning

short, working and long-term

memory systems and conscious

attention. However, procedural

learning, habituation, sensitization

and even episodic memory can

occur without conscious attention.




• Are you creating the appropriate learning environment in class to ensure that positive emotions rein and that negative ones are reduced to a minimum?


Example of Online Educational Resources that attend to the Principles

• The flipped classroom addresses the fact

that not all brains are equally good at all

things, and therefore some will need more

rehearsal on certain concepts, while others

will need more attention to different points.

• E-portfolios to differentiate evaluation

processes.

• Enhance Differentiation and Inclusion with information and communication technology

(ICT)- supported learning such as sub-titles

for presentations or audio support (i.e.,

GhostReader).


Example of Online Educational Resources that attend to the Principles

• Permit learning cycles to run their course (provide enough opportunity/time for all students, even those with little prior knowledge), by making more flexible deadlines in self-paced learning using video models.

• Help students understand that learning is fluid, not fixed (Growth Mindset) by Growth Mindset Frameworks and Feedback tools.

• Use of gaming to enhance motivation and create positive learning environments with reinforcement learning (more on this when we talk about Mario in the next talk!) through “serious gaming” or “cognitive gaming”.


1. Quick review of teachers’ new pedagogical knowledge model

2. Priniples

3. Lessons about technology

4. And now…

Summary

3-2-1

• 3: Three things you didn’t know before

• 2: Two things you will continue to research or talk about

• 1: One thing you will change in your personal or professional life based on the information that was shared


•Visible Thinking: • “I used to think …. And now I think….

Questions?

For more information:

Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, Ph.D.

www.thelearningsciences.com

[email protected]

Principles From Mind, Brain, and Education That...

Documents

Transcript of Principles From Mind, Brain, and Education That...