An Inquiry into the Brain, Learning 1 and Teaching Practice · sparrow mouse fish eagle rat cat hornet kangaroo deer elephant snail shark opossum dog human turtle rabbit whale ant

1

Dr. Robert K. Greenleaf

www.greenleaflearning.com

[email protected]

An Inquiry into the Brain, Learning

and Teaching Practice: Review, Strategies & Applications

for Consideration

SGIS 2016

Brain & Learning Institutes

Frankfurt, Lausanne, North Carolina, New Mexico, Tennessee,

Beirut, Ontario, Connecticut, Madrid, Vancouver, & Prague.

© 2015

http://www.greenleaflearning.com/

Perspectives on Learning, Teaching and the Brain

G. Christian Jernstedt ~ Dartmouth College, 2004

“The biological limits to our potential are relatively minimal

compared to the cultural and environmental limits.

There are sound and weak techniques of learning and

teaching, more than bright and dull minds.

We can now consider our own philosophy of teaching,

our own goals for what will happen for our students,

the methods we use and would like to use to help our

students learn, and the outcomes we typically achieve.”

Agenda

Impacting What Happens in the Learner’s Mind

1. Overview w/some neuro--myths

2. Interactive Component—YOUR Mind

3. Engage in Mini-Application(s)

Central Focus:

The “Minds On” IntersectionDichotomies

Learner vs. Student

Long-term memory vs. Short-term memory

Processing to memory vs. Attention to Task



[email protected]


Myths & Clarifications

Statement:

We only use a fraction

of our brain’s capacity.

Myth or Reality?



[email protected]

* 2X-Sec…


Cellular Level

• Each “fires” 2x second…. or more

• 100 Billion Neurons

• 10,000 dendrites per neuron—

connections to other cells

• Each as complicated as a major city [David Eagleman, 2008]

+/-8 “steps” along the way to creating

and strengthening memory… (next slide)

Neural spikes in a Leech brain

Cellular Micro-Perspective: Production of Long-term Memory

Up to 400 Billion Times Per Second—Neurons are doing the following

9 new proteins synthesized

10 connectivity is strengthened

“The Search for the Memory Switch”Rusiko Bourtchoiuladse, Cerebrum, 2002



[email protected]


Superior Spearman g: 162 I.Q.

slide by Dr. Rex Jung ~ Mind Institute, 2007

Left Hemisphere

Gray Matter

Right Hemisphere

White Matter

Myths &

Clarifications



[email protected]

“Localization”

Statement: The left and

right hemispheres of

the brain operate

independently.

[Myth]


Levels of Activation & Areas of the Brain “Within 0.7 seconds, areas across the brain are involved.” G. Yonus, Potomac Institute, 2009

L/R work

independently?

Not unless you

work in 0.7

second

intervals.

Gender superiority & brain research…

Who has the advantage ???

Myths &

Clarifications

#3

Overarching Educational Benefit to date

from the Neuroscience Literature:

ALL teaching / learning practices(content, skills, behaviors)

must be geared to engage learners

toward active processing,

long-term memory, recall, and ultimately, transfer.



[email protected]


Developing Responsible, Long-term BehaviorsMemory Formation Path

seesmelltastehear

touch

Input Via Senses

“Desktop” ProcessingShort-Term, Working, or

Continuous Memory Processing Level

“The Barn”Long-Term

Memory

“Blue cars”



[email protected]

Path

to

Mem

ory

Problem =1

2

3

Most inputs depart quickly.

Desktop


9 Most Effective Strategies for Achievement

a la Marzano et. al. 2001 (updated 2011)

PERCENTILE NUMBER

CATEGORY GAIN Of STUDIES

Identifying Similarities and Differences 45% 31

Summarizing and Note Taking 34% 21

Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition 29% 21

Homework and Practice 28% 134

Nonlinguistic Representation 27% 246

Cooperative Learning 27% 122

Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback 23% 63

Generating and Testing Hypotheses 23% 63

Questions, Cues, and Advance Organizers 22% 1,251



[email protected]

"CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION THAT WORKS"


Strategy #2

The Creation & Development of Meaning

Meaning = Personal meaning, purpose,

context… to the learner



[email protected]


A few Questions:

!! Pay CAREFUL attention

to how YOUR brain processes !!

“Notice” what happens in your brain.



[email protected]


3 Questions:

!!! Pay CAREFUL attention

to how YOUR brain processes these !!!



[email protected]



Question 1: Where is the “5FR” located

on the 5 Franc Swiss coin:

a. Top

b. Bottom

c. Middle?



[email protected]


Please write something down

about participation vs. active

processing for memory.(who’s doing the work?)

Journaling vs. ……..



[email protected]

Intermittent PauseReflective Learning System


Three “Minds-On” lenses for exploring

Long-Term Memory, Recall & Transfer

as it applies to our practice.

“Minds-On” Lens 1: S/he who does the work, learns.

#1: Who is doing the work of learning in your classroom?

“Minds-On” Lens 2: The formation of long-term memory requires more

than participation. It requires active processing.

#2: What must the learner actually “do” in order to complete

the task assigned?



[email protected]


Student Generated LearningCognitive Structure

[Context Availability & Classification]

Quick “Pairs” exercise to follow

Get out a paper/pencil.



[email protected]

Source: Brain Based Teaching,”

www.GreenleafLearning.com


Student Generated Learning

EXAMPLE

sparrow mouse fish eagle rat cat

hornet kangaroo deer elephant

snail shark opossum dog human

turtle rabbit whale ant snake

salamander worm mosquito fly

bear leopard koala alligator spider

bat robin eel mole lobster horse



[email protected]


www.Greenleaflearning.com


Student Generated Learning

Same activity for younger students

mouse fish rat cat

frog deer

elephant snail dog sheep

ant snake bug

fly bear bat



[email protected]




Activity for very young students

or as an alternative format

And for other subjects

ñé;

9 Most Effective Strategies for Achievement

a la Marzano et. al. 2001 (2011)

PERCENTILE NUMBER

CATEGORY GAIN Of STUDIES

Identifying Similarities and Differences 45% 31

Summarizing and Note Taking 34% 21

Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition 29% 21

Homework and Practice 28% 134

Nonlinguistic Representation 27% 246

Cooperative Learning 27% 122

Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback 23% 63

Generating and Testing Hypotheses 23% 63

Questions, Cues, and Advance Organizers 22% 1,251Dr. Robert K. Greenleaf


[email protected]

"CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION THAT WORKS"


Shakespeare Version

Capulet Nurse

Dogberry

Mercutio Benedick and Beatrice

Don Pedro Tybalt Romeo & Juliet

Lady Montague Paris

Barrachio Hero & Claudio Don Juan

Apothecary Friar Lawrence Benvolio

Leonardo

Cognitive structure

Patterning, grouping, organizing,

debating, critical thinking, and so

forth… all require varied levels of

classification-related elements.

Classification is a basic, fundamental,

cognitive structure.

Context Availability & Classification

Possible Task



[email protected]



Habitat Travel Outer layer Skeleton Diet-etc.

Your

Choice

Most

Similar

Most

Different


What do the orange shapes

have in common? (1”)



[email protected]


2 4 31 4 6

- 5 + 8 x 5 9 2 7

Patterning with Active Processing:

What do you notice about the

operations shown below?

Applied Relevance with Active Processing

Patterns & Classification

Welcome to Geometry!



[email protected]

“Parallels” with 2 responses each

Student generated

Second wait time

Processing prompts

Nature, Geography, Sports, Fine arts


Classification is a Cognitive Structure

Required Across All Curriculum

(kayak)

Take 2” ~

• Reflect on or discuss with colleagues how classification is critical in

processing information for meaning, for application and for transfer.

What does it mean to identify criteria to determine membership in

a set or group? (or to develop criteria to be used to evaluate

something)

• How is providing criteria different from asking students to come up

with their own ways of ordering or classifying content?

Adapted from Dr. Betty Garner,

“Getting to Got It,” ASCD, 2007

• How does re-classification fuel “Minds-On” thinking

and creativity?

Effects of Self Generated vs. Instructor Generated Examples

on Retention of Selected Concepts

Gorrell, Jeffrey; & Hunter, Downing

Presented at the Meeting of the Mid-South Educational Research Association ~ Louisville, KY; Nov. 1998



[email protected]

90.8% 90.8%

78.6%

75.9%

self

gen

era

ted

Short-Term

self

gen

era

ted

Long-Term

teach

er

gen

era

ted

teach

er

gen

era

ted


Context Availability

…having a “place” to hold new ideas and

information while pattern & meaning are

being explored and developed...

…provides greater retention (processing for

meaning) during the “construction” of

networks—as well as for transfer to other

domains of learning.



[email protected]


Please contact me if you have questions!Dr. Robert K. Greenleaf


[email protected]

Other books by the presenter:

Visit the book sales table

if you are interested in

books on this topic

An Inquiry into the Brain, Learning 1 and Teaching Practice · sparrow mouse fish eagle rat cat hornet kangaroo deer elephant snail shark opossum dog human turtle rabbit whale ant

Documents