Classrooms have quite often
been victims of some perceived notions of teachers which has been handed over
to them either by their mentors or their peers. The perceptions developed about
how learning happens in the classrooms have also been consequent to some
classical conditioning of their own thought processes based on their past experiences.
Further, their own learning from the training in teacher training institutes has
given them a few guidelines based on the theories of the past. While a large
number of these belief systems have an ever-lasting validity, some of them have
become and are becoming irrelevant in the context of emerging social changes.
Recent researches and
studies about how brain functions and how learning happens have revealed a
number of truths which I think are fundamental to learning and hence
classrooms. Teachers, immaterial of the classes they handle, need to understand
them and respond appropriately both in the design of their pedagogy as well as
its delivery.
1. Learning is basically a
neural activity
Researches by Kandel, who
was awarded a Nobel Prize for his work, indicates that learning always leads to
a neural connect. Every single input received by the brain leads to a neural
connect – either new or re-engineering of the existing neural connect. He
observed that when people learn something, the wiring in the brain changes. He
demonstrated that acquiring even simple information involves physical
alteration of the structure of the neurons participating in the process. Thus,
there is a continuous functional organization and reorganization of the brain.
Some of the factors that influence learning are:
·
Previous knowledge and experience
·
Cultural contexts
·
Geographical contexts
·
Social contexts
·
Interests and Aptitudes
·
Levels of understanding
2. How does the brain
process information?
The brain processes most
things from left hemisphere to the right hemisphere spatially. The time is
processed from past to future. Learning takes place not in any specific area of
the brain only but as an interaction between different segments in the brain.
They claim that “Words are nothing but art museums in our brain- in the form of
straight lines, circles, and other art forms. There is no such thing for the
eye called words!!”
Left hemisphere processes –
words, definitions and language (in speaking). Right hemisphere processes-
inflection, tonality, tempo and volume.
Researches by George Ojemann
and others indicate that every piece of information, verbal, visual or through
other senses is stored in different places in the brain. “The biological organs
remain the same way, the tissues are the same and the nerves work in a similar fashion.
It is when you get to the smaller routes – the brain’s equivalent of
residential streets, one-lanes dirt roads- the individual patterns begin to
show up. Every brain has a lot of these smaller paths, and to no two people
they are identical”. Different types of competencies are stored in different
parts of the brain. The region involved for language processing- words, verb
and grammatical concepts are different. Bilingual people don’t even store the
skills in similar places
3. Meaning Making is a
significant activity of the brain
The brain processes
information at the demand of a situation, organizes, synthesizes and compares
the same with the previous information and provides a meaning. Such an exercise
of making meaning may vary from one learner to the other depending on previous
perceptions, context, content and emotions. The speed at which such a process
occurs varies from one individual to another. They are synthesized
through three general patterns of encoding, according to the Brain scientists:
a. Semantic encoding
b. Phonic encoding
c. Structural encoding
The way the mind interprets
and understand is based on the relationship it has with materials and people.
In a learning environment the relationship between the teacher and the student,
the school and the student, the relationship between the peers is of great
significance.
4. Emotions impact Learning
Learning is largely an
emotional experience. Hence the quantum and quality of learning, the speed of
learning, memory and its recall are impacted by the emotional content in the
inputs leading to learning. “Emotionally Competent Stimuli” lead to effective
learning and help in facilitating long-term memory and in transferring
short-term memory to long-term memory. At same time, negative emotions could
lead to stress and stressful learning leads to loss of memory, conflicts in
knowledge management, poor understanding and aversion to further learning.
5. Spaced Repetition helps
in learning
Repetition and spaced
repetition help in empowering learning. One needs to be understood that
repetition is not “rote learning” but a simple academic exercise in facilitating
empowered learning. Further repetition helps in recall of the previous
knowledge and helps in connecting fresh information with the previous knowledge.
Spaced repetition improves the confidence profile of the learners and hence
could motivate for further learning.
6. Exercises are vital for
effective learning
Physical exercises help in
effective learning. In one of the studies
it was observed that children who jogged 30 minutes twice or thrice a week had
their cognitive abilities improved significantly compared to their pre-jogging
cognitive abilities. At the molecular level, studies indicate one of the
brain’s most powerful growth factors, BDNF- Brain Derived Neuro-trophic Factor
exerts a fertilizer like growth effect. The protein keeps existing neurons
young and healthy, rendering them more willing to connect with one another. It
also increases neuro-genesis, the formation of new cells in the body.
7.The Brain is not designed
for formal instruction
Researches clearly indicate
that the brain is poorly designed for formal instruction. In fact, it is not at
all designed for efficiency or order. Rather it develops best through selection
and survival. According to Brain Scientists “The information is literally
sliced into discreet pieces as it enters the brain and splattered all over the
brain.” They add “We have no idea how the brain routinely and effortlessly
gives the impression of stability”.
In short, it can be said
about the brain’s learnability:
It
is not linear
It
is not structured
It
is not predictable
It
cannot be instructed
The
brain always does a multi-process
8.
Brain maps vary continuously
“One day’s brain mapping
will no more be valid for the next day” says Edwin Boring of Harvard
University. This observation has a significant importance in the field of
assessment, as we try to assess the learning of a child at different points of
time. Hence, assessment while learning and assessment on learning vary and
possibly both contribute to the quality and purpose of the assessment. This
also has an impact on the need for continuity in learning concepts in order
that the brain maps stay relevant for further learning.
9. How much can we learn?
There is absolutely no limit
to our learning. It varies from individual to individual. According to a study
of UCLA, California “Throughout our lives we use just a fraction of our brain’s
thinking ability. We could without any
difficulty whatever, learn 40 languages, memorize a set of encyclopaedias from
A to Z and complete the required courses of dozens of colleges.”
Can you believe when they
say “your brain is capable of having more ideas than the number of atoms in the
known universe”?
10. Synaesthesia is a unique
feature of the brain
Researches indicate that the
brain has the capacity of synaesthesia – “A surreal blending of sensation,
perception and emotion”. This is indeed a stage somewhat between reality and
fantasy. People with synaesthesia experience the ordinary world in
extra-ordinary ways. This feature of the brain facilitates imagination,
creativity and also innovation. Multi-sensory integration of the learning also
impacts synaesthesia.
In an entirely dynamic
system of learning, some of these understanding could help us to review and
refocus our pedagogical processes to make our classrooms more relevant,
interactive and purposeful.
References:
1. Brain
Rules – John Medina
2. Brain
Based learning – Eric Jensen
3. Phantoms
of the Brain – Dr. V.S. Ramachandra
4. Tell-
Tale Brain – Dr. V.S. Ramachandra
5. The
Future of the Mind – Michio Kaku
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