Download Neuroscience in the Classroom

NEUROSCIENCE
IN THE
CLASSROOM
Presentation created by Amelia Warshaw
Big Ideas

Automaticity
(nonconscious vs. conscious processing)

Multiple Platforms of Input
(mixed-media, thematic, and interdisciplinary learning)

Self-Deception
(and better test results)
A Little Basic Neuroscience
Neural Connections and Memory
Basic Science


Neurons fired during recall = neurons fired
during learning
Repetition  myelination (wrapping in fat
cells) which strengthens pathway
 Allows
for faster and more automatic recall
Big Idea #1- Automaticity
Automaticity:
point at which something
has been so ingrained in brain that recall
is automatic and nonconscious.
 Automated
behaviors are faster, require less
work for brain
 Michael
S. Gazzaniga: “conscious processes are
expensive: they require not only a lot of time, but also
a lot of memory. Nonconscious processes, on the other
hand, are fast and rule-driven.”
Creating Automaticity
Requires
repetition and “drilling”
Creating
nonconscious shortcuts through
certain centers of the brain means that we
can respond quickly to certain stimuli
“Acquiring
automaticity” helps us learn
new skills and not require new deliberate
integration and output every time
Examples- Automaticity


Automaticity in everyday life: playing piano,
sports
Commercials and marketing create
automaticity

Ever had the experience of trying to pick out cold
medicine in the pharmacy? Having too many options can
make a decision impossible. Commercials aid in this
process because they make that choice automatic.
Obviously you’re going to choose Nyquil because it’s the
“Best Sleep You’ve Ever Had With a Cold… Medicine”
Automaticity in the Classroom



Drilling easier test experience
Automatically go through the
processes of the problem
Eliminates the “freezing up” that can
happen during a test when stress
and anxiety block certain pathways
Automaticity in the Classroom


Choosing fewer points when
teaching students learn more
Giving students too many minute
facts and accessory information
decreases automaticity and
retention
Automaticity and the DM


Allowing students to experience and
exercise DM pathway strengthens it and
makes its engagement more automatic and
efficient
Nonconcious and automatic toggling
between DM and extrinsic mode
Big Idea #2Multiple Platforms of Input



Multiple platforms of input create
multiple pathways for information recall
Memories are stored in the form of
synaptic connections between neurons
The more pathways or triggers linking
learned concepts easier to access
information.
Media

Example of multiple platforms:
different kinds of media

Ipads
 Anti-war
example
 Movies
 Songs
 Newspaper
 Textbook
articles
Thematic and Interdisciplinary Study

Another example of multiple
platforms: thematic and
interdisciplinary study
 “Isolationism
 Coordination
 The
vs. Interventionism” example
History and English departments
Great Gatsby
 While learning about the 1920s and prohibition
Big Idea #3- Self-Deception

Robert Trivers’ The Folly of Fools: a
look at the evolution of human
behavior

The two main factors that determine our
behavior are deception and
self-deception
Study:
Self-Deception and “Saving Face”
Human tendency to back up our choices and
“save face” and justify first decisions
Trivers presents a study about chimpanzees asked to choose
between a yellow and blue m&m

He found that if the monkeys first chose a blue m&m,
if then asked to choose between a red and the
rejected yellow m&m, then the chimps would choose
the red
Why Not Choose a Yellow M&M?

Subjects felt compelled to justify their
rejection of an arbitrary choice
Adaptive value/relevance:
Human beings feel compelled to back up
their choices (and deny correction) to
“save face” and protect their egos

Self Deception in the Classroom


Self-deception barrier to learning
When looking at test results students
often blame a “mean teacher” or an
“unfair test” and don’t admit to
difficulty with material
Self-Deception in the Classroom

Suggestion:

Meta cognition: experience of self-awareness
(DM engagement)

Build in time for reflection after going over a test

Go over tests as a class


Have students mark mistakes as “silly” or a problem
with comprehension
Acknowledging mistakes helps student to avoid selfdeception through dismissing whole experience as
“unfair”
Bibliography





http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/theneuron.html
http://www.psypress.com/groome/figures/
http://www.brainwaves.com/brain_diagram.html
Trivers, Robert. The Folly of Fools: The Logic of Deceit and
Self-deception in Human Life. New York, NY: Basic, 2011.
Print.
Gazzaniga, Michael S. Who's in Charge?: Free Will and the
Science of the Brain. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2011.
Print.