For this week’s assignment I was able to identify three different websites that are related to the brain and learning, information processing theory, or problem-solving methods during the learning process. I will give brief descriptions of each site and then comment on the value of the material they contain.
http://brains.org/articles.htm
This website discusses current brain research and then tries to draw the connection from the research to how it applies in the classroom. This site offers a wealth of articles that give insight into how the brain works.
For example, there is an article titled Brain Biology http://help4teachers.com/gardening.htm that explains much of what we learned in our reading about electrical charges in the brain and new neurons being developed and lost. It also adds an interesting point about the importance of sleep throughout this process.
Another article on this website I enjoyed is Why Hands on Tasks are Good http://help4teachers.com/hands.htm. The article discusses two different memory systems in our heads. One is called the semantic memory and the other is the episodic memory. Hands-on learning taps into both of these memory systems to increase learning potential.
I feel that this website is a great resource. There are many other articles of interest on this website that I will continue to explore in the coming weeks.
http://www.sedl.org/scimath/compass/v03n02/1.html
Unlike the previous website I described, there is not a wealth of information within this site. However, the article that is posted here did support our reading for this week. For example, this article also pointed out that left-brain and right-brain learning are not generally accepted as true anymore. Brain research has shown how the two sides of the brain must work together.
The information in the article about multiple intelligences and what a good learning environment looks like was also interesting to me. It reinforced the idea of presenting a variety of ways and opportunities to learn. This is a key point for an instructional designer.
http://www.funderstanding.com/v2/educators/brain-based-learning/
This article breaks brain research and its influence on education into a list bullet points. The bullet points are easy to read and might make for a good presentation, especially to a group of teachers, but they do not go into much detail. I don't feel like this site will be as helpful to me as I continue in my studies of instructional design.
1 comment:
The article you mentioned Why Hands on Tasks are Good really hit home with me because it explains a lot more clearly why it easier for me to learn and retain material that I write down or hands on tasks that I complete myself. Dr. Nunley offers a clear definition of episodic and semantic memory that makes both types of memory easier to understand as she stats:
Semantic memory is composed of those things we have specifically set out to learn and remember, such as "who was the 1st president of the United States?" or "how many stars are there on the flag?" Or, "what is 6 times 3?" All of us were taught the answers to these questions and we intentionally set out to remember them. We stored them in our semantic memory.
But if I ask you "what did you have to eat last night?" or "where were you last Christmas?" Or "what is your most memorable birthday?" You would also be able to answer these questions. But why? Did you specifically set out to remember what you had for dinner last night in anticipation that I would ask you today? Did you go to bed repeating it over and over? No of course not, yet you remember it easily. This is information that is stored in your episodic memory (think of it as the 'episodes' of your life). It is our autobiography of everything that has happened to us. It is unintentionally remembered.
I appreciate the way she explains to two areas. I have subscribed to blog and her newsletter.
Nunley, K. (2004). Why Hands on Tasks are Good. http://help4teachers.com/hands.htm
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