Download Understanding the Tapestry of Curriculu

BRAIN COMPATIBLE LEARNING
Over the past decade astounding advances have been made in cognitive
science shedding light on how the brain learns and remembers. The mountain of
evidence being accumulated is laying the foundations for a scientific basis for teaching,
learning and assessment. What follows is a summary of some of the important findings
about the brain and how it functions as well as the implications for classroom practice.
BRAIN GROWTH
Brain growth and maturation are a lifelong process shaped by genetic and
epigenetic (nurturing) forces. As we age the synaptic terminals produced in early life are
replaced by fewer but larger synaptic terminals which are more efficient in transferring
information. It appears these larger synaptic terminals are Aactivity-dependent@
meaning their development relies on the individual=s exposure to new skills or
knowledge. Consequently, environmental factors become increasingly important in the
development and maturation of the brain.
The brain retains the Aactivity-dependent@ capability of remodeling itself until
the end of life. In other words, active learning is not only possible but desirable late in
life. The more intellectually active or stimulated the brain is the more new connections
will occur. The most effective brain-challenging activities are those which are new and
unfamiliar. Repetitive and over-learned (rote learning) is less effective.
Implications for Learning:
Our classrooms must challenge students to Athink outside the box@.
Students should be asked to solve relevant puzzles riddles, asked to
devise creative solutions, consider alternative courses of action, and
be exposed to new ideas and stimuli on a regular basis. By high
school rote learning should rarely be used.
MAKING LEARNING AN ACTIVE PROCESS:
One of the greatest challenges facing educators is making new information
relevant to students. As we have seen, exposing the learner to new challenges and new
concepts is good for brain growth, however, as learners we attempt to integrate new
information with what we already know and understand. If no connection can be made
to what we know or have experienced in life, then there is no anchor for the no
information or ideas. Without such an anchor, it is more difficult for new learning to take
root. Consequently, it is imperative that teacher connect lessons to students prior
knowledge, tap into students experiences, or create the anchor for the new learning. It
is not always possible to anchor student learning to their life experiences or prior
learning. When addressing concepts or ideas which are completely foreign to students,
teachers can create an experience or anchor in many ways. Movies can help create a
visual context, simulations provide students with an experience, narratives create a
mental context, and pictures can help students to visualize that which they are learning
about. When possible, the classroom should be alive with the new ideas being learned.
Pictures, quotes, maps, and posters help to immerse students in the subject matter.
As a matter of survival, the brain throughout human existence has attempted to
make sense out of the world around us. Every encounter with something new requires
the brain to fit the new information into an existing memory category. If it cannot, the
information will have no meaning. In the classroom, if information presented to students
has no meaning (relevance) it will not be retained. To have meaning new information
must connect to existing knowledge or experiences or teachers must create the
experience. Only then can students construct meaning.
Implications for Learning:
Learning is active and constructive because we make sense of what we
experience by actively associating it with prior experiences.
RETHINKING CURRICULUM DESIGN
In designing curriculum it is essential that teachers remember that intelligence is
not monolithic. Students bring to our classes a wide array of talents, skills and interests.
They also often bring a challenge. None of the children in our classrooms are
universally devoid of intelligence, despite whatever frustrations we may occasionally
experience. It is common for a child to have some very specific knowledge deficits
within a learning domain. By knowing what specific pieces of information and skills a
student must piece together to understand and be successful at a task, teachers can
target the deficit area to help better ensure student success. This requires that teachers
employ a design down process that begins with what we want students to do to
demonstrate their learning, then we design appropriate lessons to support the learning
process. By designing down and allowing for formative assessment, it is easier to target
individual student needs and thereby ensure greater success for all students.
Another aspect of curriculum design and delivery which needs to be given some
consideration is the social interaction in the classroom. We must not forget humans are
a social species. Throughout human history our survival has largely depended on
cooperation and the ability to function as a group. Even today the implications of our
social brain are profound. Although we use microwaves and computers, few of us
actually know what makes them work. In a community there are some things we must
all know how to do, such as reading and writing but there are other tasks for which
individuals develop a particular expertise. Our classrooms should function in a similar
way so that students make valuable contributions to group tasks which reflect their own
skills and interests.
For teachers to be able to provide all students with the support required for
success means that a philosophy of Aless is more@ is preferable to extensive coverage
The benefits of revising curriculum to be consistent with brain theory research has
dramatic results for all students and teachers ability to support a diversity of learners.
Implications for Learning:
In teaching we need to pay closer attention to whether learning tasks are
individually or socially oriented. For example, asking students to
consider the advantages and disadvantages of NAFTA is the type of
activity humans do most easily and naturally through discussion.
Therefore, it would be silly to ask students to individually complete a
worksheet on this task. Creating a time-line of events list in the
textbook is an individual task.
THE IMPORTANCE OF AN ENRICHED
ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIAL INTERACTION.
The environment in which learning takes places has a significant impact on the
brain. Research indicates:
An Enriched Environment increases cell weight and increases the branching of
dendrites
An Impoverished Environment decreases cell weight, diminishes dendrites, and may
lead to a loss of cells.
SO! What constitutes an enriched environment?
An enriched environment is stimulating (multi-sensory)and challenging and allows the
active involvement of student minds.
An enriched classroom should be alive with learning. Cover the walls with visual
time-lines, samples of student work, relevant quotes, pictures and posters, artifacts and
anything else that will capture the imagination of your students. Go ahead, hang things
from the ceiling! It is a great way to liven up a room. If possible, add green plants and a
water cooler. Proper hydration is essential for learning and you will curtail those
requests to step out for a drink; although students may request more bathroom breaks!
Implications for Learning:
No matter how well planned, how interesting, stimulating, colourful or
relevant the lesson, if the teacher does all the interacting with the
material the teacher=s - not the student=s - brain will grow new
connections.
An enriched environment without social interaction does not increase brain
(dendrites) growth.
EMOTION AND ATTENTION: THE FOUNDATIONS OF LEARNING
Anything that captures students= attention and gets their minds engaged, has
the potential to produce learning. The opposite is also true :
No attention = No engagement = No Learning
What are the factors which influence attention?
*need (to complete a task I will need to know about/how to...)
*novelty (weird and wacky, humour)
* cognitive dissonance (puzzles, something to be solved)
* expectations (students being required to teach, share, perform)
* intensity of the stimuli
* meaning
* emotion
Children learn more readily when they are emotionally involved in a lesson
because emotion drives attention. We have all seen students deliver their best
performance in class when they have become excited and engaged in the subject
matter. Negative emotions can also shut down learning. Students who feel threatened
or intimidated will down shift and learning is curtailed. This is often referred to as the
Fight or Flight Response.
The amygdala is a psychological sentinel that continually assesses the nature of
stimuli. If a situation (stimuli) is sensed to be potentially dangerous, hurtful etc. a
chemical message is sent throughout the nervous system which prepare the body to
fight or flee. Key to educators is that placing students in a situation which provokes the
fight or flight response prevents thinking and therefore learning. Use of fear,
intimidation, making an example of students in front of their peers are counterproductive in learning.
Implications for Learning:
The best intentioned and best planned curriculum will never realize its full
potential if it is not delivered in an enriched and safe environment in
which students are stimulated, encouraged and supported.
Long Term Memory:
For students to transfer learning to long term memory they must be able
to anchor information to prior knowledge/understanding. Learning needs a context to
have meaning. Sometimes we can connect historical information to students lives
thereby giving content relevance. Other times we need to create meaning or
contextualize learning. The key to students truly learning lies in creating a context for
their learning. When asked to recall the information they can relate it to broader
understandings and memories. Contexts can be created through the use of film, slides,
songs, debates, discussions on guiding questions or through student involvement in
simulations. Consider placing pictures in the room during tests to stimulate memory and
always try to have tests written in the same room that the learning took place.
Implications for Learning:
Creating a context for learning is critical for knowledge to be transferred to
long term memory.
ENCOURAGING NEURAL BRANCHING:
Over millions of years the human brain has developed the ability to the intense stimuli
with which it is constantly bombarded. Imagine a baseball player stepping up to the
plate in front of 40,000 fans. To have any success at the plate the player will need to
block out the noise, the flags waving and all the other possible distraction. This process
of the brain is referred to as Aneural pruning@ This is the process of ignoring and
weeding out information and stimuli which is nonessential.
Research shows the reverse process - encouraging neural branching@ can significantly
strengthen the brain by creating more synapses between nerve cells. This happens in
our classrooms when we provide students with the opportunity to assimilate enough
data to force them to challenge misconceptions and to create strong conceptions. In
classrooms where students only experience the presentation of information without the
opportunity to make sense of it, neural pruning is encouraged having the opposite effect
of what we want to occur.
The first step in encouraging neural branching is to develop a framework that
supports student inquiry. The following are strategies which are effective to encourage
Neural Branching:
1. Hypothetical Thinking
What if this had happened?
What if this had not occurred?
2. Reversal
What if Chamberlain had not signed the
Munich Agreement?
What if the French had been the first up the St. Lawrence in the spring of 1760?
3. Application of Different Symbol Systems:
Can I draw a picture of this?
Can I represent this in musical terms?
Can I act this out?
Can I make a dance to represent this?
4. Analogy:
How is this like?
5. Completion:
Tell students that the Union of the Canadas took place in 1841 and Confederation
came about in 1867. Have them speculate about the events which occurred in
between.
6. Web Analysis
How extensive were the effects of ____?
How is ______ connected to ________?
Track the relationship of events following ______?
How was Canadian history affected by the execution of Thomas Scott?
Note: Web analysis is only concerned with what actually happened unlike hypothetical
thinking. Also, web analysis is primarily concerned with uncovering a complex multitude
of effects that may flow from a single source.
Implications for Learning:
The ultimate goal of these strategies is to encourage brain
growth through divergent thinking; to force students to
conceive of issues and consequences other than the
standard ones.
SOME FINAL INTERESTING NOTES:
The brain does not process negatives quickly. Therefore when someone shouts
ADon=t Panic@ what the brain immediately processes is Panic. Students who
work as life guards often have trouble with young children running on the deck
even after they shout ADon=t Run!@. But, when they try shouting AWalk@ they
are astounded by the immediate reaction from the same children who had earlier
appeared to ignore their instructions.
Consider the implications for class room management.
After 7-10 minutes of talking the brain shuts down to process the information.
Students learn by making connections but they need the wait time to make these
connections. Often, teachers fail to allow time for students process information
and establish meaning. Meaning drives learning - therefore time for making
connections needs to be a critical part of our lessons. How can we integrate the
breaks into our lessons?
Implications for Learning:
Using Think-Pair -Share increases learning by 50%-70%. Using this
strategy rather than a traditional Socratic method can lead to
an enormous boost in confidence and content mastery.