| BODY-BRAIN PRINCIPLES |  |
|
A fun challenge! Try the "Brain Boggler" puzzle! Click here.
BODY-BRAIN PRINCIPLES-- COMPELLING EVIDENCE FOR STUDENT LEARNING
from Karen D. Olsen's Synergy: Transforming America's High Schools Through Integrated Thematic Instruction, 1995.
|
1. The Biology of Learning -- |
a. Brain structures -- Brain neurons, Brain Stem, Limbic System, Cerebral Cortex, Corpus Callosum, Hypothalmus, Thalamus, Amygdala, Hippocampus, Cerebellum
b. Brain chemistry -- Peptides, Neurotransmitters, Hormones, Proteins
c. Brain and Body Connections
A helpful summary of this brain information is found in Eric Jensen's Teaching with the Brain in Mind, 1998.
|
2. Intelligence as a Function of Experience -- |
a. Neuron and dendrite growth are related to experience.
b. The brain learns best through "being-there" or immersion experiences. It has difficulty learning, understanding and applying those experiences which are secondhand (pictures and models) or "last hand" (symbols of language and math). Click here to visualize the range of experiences a teacher might plan and implement for her students.
c. The cerebral cortex processes thousands of bits of sensory data per minute. There is evidence that we have more than five senses--perhaps as many as 19! Click here to see what those 19 might be.
|
3. There are Multiple Intelligences, not just one -- |
In his 1985 book, Frames of Mind, Howard Gardner defined intelligence as "the ability to problem-solve or produce and end product that is valued in at least one culture or community. He described seven areas of intelligence, or "giftedness". In 1998 he added an eighth. Gardner theorizes that each of these intelligences is relatively independent of the others, with its own timetable for developoment, peak growth, etc. "On the other hand, only the blend of intelligences in an intact individual makes possible the solving of problems and the creation of products of significance."
Click here for directions on how to explore your own blend of multiple intelligences on a CD-ROM, Exploring Our Multiple Intelligences.
|
4. The Human Brain is a Pattern-Seeking Device -- |
The brain is not logical or sequential in the ways it takes in amd makes meaning of input from the world outside. (Leslie A. Hart, 1983) Instead, it is constantly searching for patterns to understand in the surrounding environment. In their instruction, teachers should allow students to identify, understand and apply patterns. We cannot predict what any one particular child will perceive as a pattern because so much depends upon prior knowledge, the existing neural networking of the brain used to process the input, and the context in which the learning takes place.
|
5. Most Useful Information Is Imbedded in Mental Programs -- |
Leslie A. Hart, in his book Human Brain and Human Learning, defined learning as "the acquisition of useful programs." The implications for the classroom of the 21st century are obvious--we need to do less and do it better and more in-depth, giving students time to "use" the information again and again in varying settings until the information is recallable in a usable form, i.e. a behavior, a skill, a habit.
|
6. Personality Impacts the Learning Process (Temperament) -- |
Gordon Lawrence reported on extensive research done on the impact of personality on learning and teaching in his People Types and Tiger Stripes, using the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Inventory. Personality preferences (which are inborn) strongly influence how human beings take in information, organize it, make decisions about it, and interact with others when using it.