Educational Neuroscience Michael Thomas

Summary

This script discusses the relevance of educational neuroscience, which aims to apply brain learning mechanisms to improve classroom education. It highlights the importance of understanding how the brain works and the potential for translating neuroscience findings into effective teaching strategies. The speaker emphasizes the need for educators to grasp the underlying mechanisms of learning, rather than relying solely on psychological constructs, to foster better educational outcomes.

Takeaways

• 🧠 Educational Neuroscience seeks to apply new findings from neuroscience to improve educational outcomes for children.
• 🔍 Psychology aims to understand the mind by inferring hidden mechanisms from observable behavior.
• 💡 Historically, psychological theories have been influenced by the technology of the day, such as the steam engine, telephone exchange, hologram, and desktop computer.
• 🚫 The limitation of using computer metaphors is that they don't accurately reflect the brain's specialized circuits and mechanisms.
• 🌐 Neuroscience is influencing various societal areas, including economics, law, and security, as well as education.
• 👩‍🏫 Teachers are the experts in the classroom but often lack training in the neuroscience mechanisms that underpin learning.
• 🤔 Teachers are enthusiastic about neuroscience but may sometimes embrace misconceptions about brain function.
• 🔄 The translation from neuroscience to education is complex, involving many steps from research to practical classroom application.
• 📚 Neuroscience can provide insights into learning phenomena that are not explained by computer-based psychological models, such as phobias, sleep, and aging.
• 🏫 Educational Neuroscience has made strides in understanding specialized brain circuits for skills like reading and mathematics.
• 🌍 Learning about the Earth's shape involves inhibiting intuitive knowledge and activating scientific knowledge, a skill that can be taught in the classroom.

Q & A

What is the primary goal of educational Neuroscience?

The primary goal of educational Neuroscience is to use new findings from Neuroscience about the mechanisms of learning in the brain to understand how they can be translated into implications in the classroom to improve educational outcomes for children.

Why is understanding the mind important in Psychology?

Understanding the mind is important in Psychology because it helps predict and potentially change human behavior, which is crucial in settings like classrooms where the focus is on teaching children skills, knowledge, and preparing them to be good citizens.

What is the drawback of using technology as a metaphor for the mind?

The drawback is that it doesn't accurately reflect how the brain works, focusing more on the technology of the day rather than the actual mechanisms and processes that the brain finds easy or hard to do.

How does Neuroscience influence other areas of society?

Neuroscience influences other areas of society by affecting understanding in fields such as economics, law, and security, showing a broader impact beyond just educational settings.

What is the role of teachers in the field of educational Neuroscience?

Teachers are the experts in the classroom with years of experience and an intuitive feel for what works with children. However, they often lack training in the mechanisms that underpin learning, making the integration of Neuroscience findings into their practice an important but challenging task.

Why is it beneficial to bring a deeper understanding of learning mechanisms to teachers?

Bringing a deeper understanding of learning mechanisms to teachers can help them make more informed decisions about teaching techniques, potentially avoiding educational fads and ensuring that their practices are based on evidence.

What misconceptions about the brain might teachers embrace due to their enthusiasm for Neuroscience?

Teachers might embrace misconceptions such as the idea that some children are left brain thinkers and others are right brain thinkers, or that drinking lots of water is necessary for attention in class, which are not supported by scientific evidence.

How does the specificity of learning relate to the idea of the mind working like a desktop computer?

The specificity of learning, where training in one area doesn't necessarily improve performance in others, contradicts the idea of the mind working like a desktop computer, which is characterized by general mechanisms that process all types of content.

What is the significance of specialized circuits in the brain for learning?

Specialized circuits in the brain are significant because they are responsible for specific functions, and strengthening connections in one circuit doesn't transfer to other circuits, highlighting the need for targeted learning approaches.

How can understanding brain mechanisms help in teaching science to children?

Understanding brain mechanisms can help in teaching science by focusing on techniques that help children inhibit irrelevant intuitive knowledge and activate scientific knowledge, which is crucial for learning counterintuitive scientific concepts.

Outlines

00:00

🧠 The Relevance of Educational Neuroscience

This paragraph introduces the field of educational neuroscience, which aims to apply insights from neuroscience to improve learning outcomes in the classroom. It discusses the broader goals of psychology to understand the mind and how educators, lacking formal neuroscience training, can benefit from a deeper understanding of the brain's learning mechanisms. The speaker highlights the historical tendency of using technology as a metaphor for understanding the mind, such as the desktop computer model, and argues for the importance of considering actual brain function in educational practices.

05:00

🤔 Bridging Neuroscience and Education

The second paragraph delves into the challenges and potential of integrating neuroscience with educational practices. It acknowledges teachers' enthusiasm for neuroscience but also their susceptibility to misconceptions, or 'neuro-myths.' The speaker addresses skepticism about the feasibility of translating complex neuroscience findings into practical classroom strategies, emphasizing the significant gap between understanding brain cell activity and managing a dynamic classroom environment. The paragraph also raises questions about the specificity of learning and the limitations of the computer metaphor in explaining cognitive processes.

10:02

📚 Specialization and Control in Brain Function

The final paragraph focuses on the specialized nature of brain circuits and the importance of a control system that activates the appropriate neural pathways in context. It contrasts this with the general mechanisms of a desktop computer, suggesting that enhancing one skill does not necessarily improve others, unlike the CPU of a computer. The speaker discusses the implications for education, including the need for emotional stability and the potential benefits of understanding and training inhibitory control skills. The paragraph concludes with an example of how educational neuroscience is being applied to teach scientific concepts that contradict intuitive knowledge, such as the Earth's round shape.

Keywords

💡Educational Neuroscience

Educational Neuroscience is an interdisciplinary field that seeks to apply findings from Neuroscience to improve educational practices and outcomes. It focuses on understanding the brain's mechanisms of learning and translating this knowledge into classroom strategies. In the script, it is emphasized as a new and relevant approach to education, aiming to bridge the gap between scientific understanding of the brain and teaching practices.

💡Psychology

Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behavior. In the context of the video, it is mentioned as a field that attempts to understand how the mind works, which is crucial for predicting and influencing behavior, especially in educational settings. Psychology's role in education is to provide insights into how to teach effectively and develop strategies that cater to the cognitive processes of learners.

💡Working Memory

Working memory is a cognitive system that holds information in the mind over short periods. It is often used metaphorically to describe the temporary storage of information, similar to a computer's RAM. In the script, working memory is discussed as a concept derived from computer technology, highlighting the limitations of using such metaphors to understand the brain's processes.

💡Neuromyths

Neuromyths are misconceptions or false beliefs about how the brain works that have been popularized in education. Examples given in the script include the idea that some children are left-brained or right-brained thinkers, or that hydration affects attention in class. These myths can mislead educational practices and are a cautionary example of how not all popular beliefs about the brain are scientifically accurate.

💡Brain Mechanisms

Brain mechanisms refer to the underlying processes and structures within the brain that facilitate learning and cognition. The script emphasizes the importance of understanding these mechanisms to inform educational strategies. For instance, understanding how the brain processes language or numbers can help educators design more effective teaching methods.

💡Inhibition

Inhibition in Neuroscience refers to the ability to suppress irrelevant information or cognitive processes. The script discusses how experts in fields like science actively inhibit their intuitive knowledge that contradicts scientific facts, suggesting that teaching children to inhibit irrelevant intuitive knowledge could be beneficial for learning complex scientific concepts.

💡Cognitive Processes

Cognitive processes encompass the mental operations involved in gaining knowledge and understanding, such as perception, memory, thinking, and problem-solving. The script uses cognitive processes to illustrate how learning occurs in the brain and how educational strategies can be tailored to support these processes more effectively.

💡General Mechanisms

General mechanisms in the context of the script refer to the broad, non-specialized processes that are thought to underlie various cognitive functions, similar to how a computer's central processing unit handles different types of data. The speaker argues that the brain does not operate through general mechanisms but rather through specialized circuits, challenging the computer metaphor for understanding the mind.

💡Specialized Circuits

Specialized circuits in the brain are specific neural pathways or networks that are dedicated to particular functions, such as vision or language. The script contrasts these with general mechanisms, emphasizing that learning and cognitive abilities are not improved universally but are specific to the circuits involved. This has implications for how educational interventions should be targeted.

💡Control System

The control system in the brain, as mentioned in the script, is responsible for activating the appropriate neural circuits in response to different contexts and inhibiting irrelevant ones. This concept is crucial for understanding how the brain manages multiple tasks and focuses attention, which is relevant for educational strategies that aim to improve attention and learning efficiency.

💡Emotion Regulation

Emotion regulation is the ability to manage one's emotions to achieve goals and maintain well-being. In the script, it is highlighted as an essential component for creating a conducive learning environment. Children need to have emotional stability and behavioral regulation to be ready to learn, which underscores the importance of considering emotional factors in educational practices.

Highlights

Educational Neuroscience aims to apply new findings from Neuroscience to improve educational outcomes in the classroom.

Psychology seeks to understand the mind's workings through observable behavior and infers hidden mechanisms.

The limitations of using outdated technology as metaphors for understanding the mind.

The influence of Neuroscience on various societal areas, including economics and law.

The importance of understanding brain mechanisms in learning for educators.

Teachers' enthusiasm for Neuroscience and the risk of embracing neuromyths.

The challenge of translating Neuroscience findings into practical classroom techniques.

The specificity of learning and the brain's specialized circuits.

The role of the control system in the brain for activating the right circuits in learning.

The emotional aspect of learning and its importance in the classroom environment.

Early days in Educational Neuroscience with potential for future classroom applications.

Understanding brain circuits for learning skills like reading and mathematics.

The development of specialized brain areas for reading and their cultural influence.

The process of learning scientific knowledge and its conflict with intuitive understanding.

Expert scientists' ability to inhibit intuitive knowledge in favor of scientific knowledge.

Training children in the suppression of irrelevant knowledge to learn science effectively.

The evaluation of techniques to improve children's learning of counterintuitive scientific ideas.

The potential link between high intelligence and effective inhibitory control skills.

Transcripts

so educational Neuroscience is an

attempt to use new findings that are

emerging from Neuroscience about the

mechanisms of learning in the brain and

to understand how they may be

translated uh into implications in the

classroom to improve educational

outcomes of children now to understand

why educational Neuroscience is relevant

or important or new I think we have to

step back a bit and think about what

we're trying to do in Psychology in the

field of

psychology so in in Psychology we're

we're basically trying to understand how

the mind works uh and uh there's a a

bunch of reasons we might want to do

that we might want to predict how people

are going to behave change how they're

going to behave definitely in the

classroom we want to understand uh how

to teach children how to give them

skills how to give them knowledge how to

turn out uh good citizens for the

economy how do we understand how the

mind works when all we can see is

people's behavior from the outside we

have to figure out what's going on

inside their minds all we can see is

behavior well what we do is we use a

standard scientific approach we try and

infer hidden causal entities uh uh

mechanisms that we can't see based on

the avert Behavior Uh that we see in

adults and

children and so we've been pretty good

at doing doing that we uh uh come up

with things like uh working memory and

attention and perception and emotions

and things like that the drawback is

that as scientists it turns out that we

don't have very good

imaginations when it comes to thinking

about what might be going on uh inside

uh um people's heads what we tend to do

is think about the technology of the day

and think about that that might be a

good kind of metaphor for what's going

on inside our head so you can trace this

back through history uh you can look at

the idea that the mind works like a

steam engine was a Freudian idea or that

the mind works like a telephone exchange

or that memory works like a

hologram I think the most recent version

of of this type of uh uh uh mechanistic

metaphor of the mind is the desktop

computer we think that maybe the mind

works like a desktop computer uh and if

if you think about that just the the

phrase working memory that's exactly the

same phrase that we talk about keeping

things in mind and we talk about a

computer that it has working memory I'm

upgrading my computer to 10 gigabits of

working memory the problem of thinking

of the Mind in terms of the workings of

a desktop computer is that's not really

paying attention to how the brain works

and and what the brain finds easy to do

and what it finds hard to do and this is

part of a broad Brer picture as as we

are getting a a deeper understanding of

brain function we're beginning to see

the influence of Neuroscience in

multiple different areas so uh in areas

such as uh uh affecting understanding of

Economics or understanding of law

understanding uh uh security these kind

of things there's a range of wider

influences of Neuroscience so with the

uh Rising understanding of how the brain

functions uh and the emergence of the

field of Neuroscience we're beginning to

see a wider influence of Neuroscience on

different areas within Society including

uh how Neuroscience impacts on economics

how Neuroscience impacts on law now the

area I work in is the impact of

Neuroscience on education trying to

understand how uh brain mechanisms of

learning constrain how children learn

what they learn how quickly they can

learn and what things we can learn at at

different

ages so as I work in this field and I'm

trying to do this this transfer of

Neuroscience research to education and

to be guided by Educators and what the

key questions are in

Neuroscience some things strike me about

teachers so uh first off uh teachers are

the experts in the classroom they've got

years of experience they have an

intuitive feel for what works uh with

children but they don't have a training

in the mechanisms that underpin learning

in children and that's an interesting

comparison say to to doctors who would

have a extended training in how the Body

Works before they sit down with a

patient and and diagnose a uh disease

now there's been a long history of

accumulation of knowledge uh in teachers

about what works in the classroom but

that kind of trial and error

accumulation of practice what it

sometimes leads to is is fashions in

education techniques that that are used

one year but a decade later your using

something different and it also lets in

the possibility of techniques in

education that really don't have any

evidential base so the idea of bringing

in a deeper understanding of mechanism

underpinning learning and conveying that

to teachers uh is an attractive one the

other thing that strikes me about

teachers uh at least in the UK is that

they're very excited about Neuroscience

they're enthusiastic about it and

implicitly that suggests they understand

the importance of of mechanisms of

learning is one aspect of knowledge that

should uh inform their practice indeed

they're so enthusiastic that that

sometimes they Embrace what's called

neurom myths misconceptions about how

the brain works for instance that some

children are left brain thinkers and

some children are right brain thinkers

or that you can't pay attention in class

unless you're drinking lots of water so

uh some people say this attempt to

translate from Neuroscience into

education can't be done that those two

disciplines are too far apart that that

we're taking activity of brain cells and

looking at the connections between

neurons or perhaps we're using magnetic

resonance imaging to see what parts of

the brain are more active uh and at the

other end we've got a classroom full of

children who are running around and the

teacher is trying to get them to sit

still and learn something how can those

two things uh match up with each other

well certainly the translation between

the low level of Neuroscience and uh

actual effective techniques that will

work in the classroom that's a big

translation there are a lot of steps

between it about taking new findings

from neuroscience and seeing whether

they have educational implication uh and

then seeing if there is an apparent

implication say for how many times you

might repeat material in certain ways to

to make sure that it's best learned can

we actually put that in a form that it's

going to be useful to teachers but there

are people who say it can't be done that

really the proper academics a proper

scientists that that teachers should be

talking to are psychologists and and not

neuroscience and I think there there are

some risks about that approach if you

ignore how the brain works and you just

stick with psychology and these

constructs we've come up with

particularly those based on the way a

computer works I think you can there are

things that that just make no sense let

me give you some examples so why is it

that uh I can forget I'm trying to learn

French vocabulary and I I learn learn

French vocabulary and I forget it a few

months a few years later but I don't

forget that I'm scared of

spiders why is that uh why is it that uh

after a good night's sleep I seem to be

able to remember what I learned

yesterday better why is that why is it

the teenagers all of a sudden start

making risky decisions and and uh uh

trying to impress their friends what

happens

there uh why is it that I seem to be

able to learn a new language better when

I'm 5 years of age than than when I'm 50

years of age all all of these things

have no basis in in understanding what a

computer does another example why is it

that I do lots of learning on my topic I

sit in an exam and I'm really stressed

and suddenly my mind goes blank uh all

of these aspects uh things like uh

phobias things like uh sleep things like

puberty things like aging these have no

basis in uh uh how a computer works

computers don't get stressed so there's

a lot of aspects that that appear within

Children's Behavior children's learning

that we won't get any insight into

unless we understand how the brain is

working so here's one of the the big

puzzles in teaching when you teach a

child an adult a given

skill they just seem to get get better

on that particular skill it's really

hard to find activities that you can do

that will make people better at

everything in fact sometimes people seek

these like like they're a Holy Grail

like you'll hear uh work that says um

meditation may make you better at

everything uh learning a musical

instrument May improve your intelligence

but these are very much the exceptions

and mainly when you learn something you

train on something you only get better

on that skill so the question is why is

teaching why is it so specific in its

effects and this is something again that

really makes no sense uh in terms of of

of the idea that the mind is working

like a desktop computer the desktop

computer is characterized by General

mechanisms General mechanisms in terms

of a central processing unit in terms of

a hard disk in terms of the working

memory or these days in terms of the

cloud these are mechanisms that process

all the kind of content and you would

have thought if you trained your central

processing unit you would get better at

all the processing you do well the brain

doesn't work that way its content is

built into specialized circuits specific

circuits and that's why if you improve

if you strengthen the connections

between the neurons in one circuit it

doesn't transfer to the strength of the

connections in other circuits of course

youve got to think how a system like

that is going to work with all these

specialized components this one for

vision this one for hearing this one for

decision making what you also have there

is a control system one that will

activate the right circuits in the right

uh context and inhibit the wrong ones so

the goal of Education in that framework

is to try and see how we can put the

right specialized content into the right

systems but also uh to train the

controlling system the controller to

make sure that the right parts of of the

system are activated in the right

context and of course we have to uh bear

in mind that the brain is the seat of

the emotions as well and it's important

for children in the classroom to have

the emotional stability and security and

behavioral regulation to be ready to

learn in the classroom so the big

message of educational Neuroscience is

it is early days the brain is a very

complicated thing education is very

diverse in its goals but as we

understand more about brain mechanisms

there uh strong hints that we will be be

able to transfer that into lessons for

uh learning in the classroom so uh some

of the areas where educational

neurosciences has made the the biggest

strides is understanding the the brain

circuits and the functionality of skills

such as learning to read uh such as

mathematics such as doing arithmetics

these areas are interesting because uh

children raised in an environment

without education just wouldn't learn

those brain structures so we have have

this extended special environment of

exposing children to uh letters and

written forms and pronunciation and

reading and the comparison of reading to

pictures and scenes and scenarios that

gradually cause our brain structures to

build parts of parts of the brain that

will be specialized for reading words so

there's a visual word form area in the

brain and that has certain properties

and that's only come about by spending

weeks and weeks training children in

these culturally determined environments

and the same goes for mathematics we're

understanding about how we represent

size how we represent symbolic number

and what happens in children with

developmental disorders like dyslexia or

disc calcula that may limit their

ability uh to learn those aspects a good

example of of how you might uh transfer

from an understanding of of Neuroscience

to what it might mean in the classroom

uh is the example of of learning about

Science Now what's interesting about

science is in many cases scientific

knowledge overwrites our intuitive uh

knowledge about how the world Works

let's take a six-year-old boy uh he

learns in class that uh the world is

round it's a sphere it's a curved

surface uh but for all of his six years

he's been running out around and for the

maybe two years he's been playing

football on the football pitch that

doesn't look curved that looks flat so

how does that child go about learning

that the the Earth is a sphere where his

his everyday experience says it's

flat well one way you might think is you

just overwrite that old knowledge and

you put in the new scientific knowledge

Neuroscience studies of expert

scientists when you put them in the

brain scanner and see what's happening

in their brain it turns out that what

they're doing is actively inhibiting

their intuitive knowledge and activating

their scientific knowledge and what

makes them an expert is they're better

at inhibiting irrelevant intuitive

knowledge so that gives us a hint that

one of the skills that might help

children learn science is helping them

with this suppression or inhibition

skill and there's there's actually a a

technique that we're evaluating here at

the center of educational Neuroscience

in London where we're training children

in the area of science these are 8 n 10

year old children to learn about uh

these counterintuitive ideas in science

and and to suppress the irrelevant

counterintuitive knowledge and we

believe that this will help them acquire

the broader topic of science uh and it's

a technique we're currently evaluating

so one possibility about very

intelligent individuals is that they

have very good inhibitory control skills

the ability to to really shut off

knowledge intuitive knowledge everyday

knowledge that is not relevant to the

very technical Fields where they're

becoming

expert