Brain Based-Teaching and Learning
by Brandon Bucher
1. How the Brain Learns
1.1. The brain consists of special cells called neurons which are composed of several parts. Brain fibers grow and they are connected to one another at contact points called synapes.
1.2. Practicing skills to allow the brain to retain the skill or cogintive knowledge. Which is caused by signals carrying information to each part of the brain.
1.3. Practice the skill yourself to truly learn it
1.4. Long term memory will be transfered to the Hippocampus.
2. Sousa's Information Processing Model
2.1. Registration of Information
2.1.1. Sensory/Perceptual Registers - Sorts through all the information and establishes information that is worthy of remembering
2.2. Short Term Memory
2.2.1. Information can be held for 30 seconds. If we give the information attention for more than 30 seconds the brain will pass it on to the next step.
2.3. Working Memory
2.3.1. Information lasts between 18-36 hours. If the information is repeated and rehearsed it will be moved to long term. If the information is legimate to the learner it will moved to long term.
2.4. Long Term Memory
2.4.1. Informatin will never be forgotten. Stored by similarity, but retrieved by differences. Relating prior information to remember new information.
3. The Memory Model
3.1. Rehersal - The learners reprocessing of new informatino in an attempt to determine sense and meaning.
3.2. Primacy - Recency Effect: remember information that comes first the best. Remembering information that comes last (second best).
3.3. Method of Instruction: Planning of instruction is critical to how students retain information.
3.4. Repeated Practice: Practice information over time will become permanent. It does not mean it will be perfect but it will be permanent.
3.5. Critical Attributes: Culminating of 6 attributes (rehearsal, primacy-recency effect, practice, recall, chunking, mnemonics)
3.6. Chunking: Perceiving several items of information as a single item. Example is pairing letters to form working.
3.6.1. Pattern Chunking - Pattering information to make a meaning
3.6.2. Categorical Chunking: Characterizing, similarities, and structure to make a meaning.
4. Each concept will work together to create a complete image or skill for the brain to store. These parts will coordinate transparently to discover new information for the brain to retain. Each concept has it's only importance that will allow the other concepts to react accordingly.
5. Interior Parts of Brain
5.1. Cerebellum - Coordinates muscle movements, maintains posture and balanace
5.2. Cerebrum - largest and divided into two hemispheres. Responsible for speech, reason, emotions, learning and fine control of movement
5.3. Amygdala - Emotions, survival instincts, and memory
5.4. Corpus Callosum - Performance between the cerebral cortex on one side of the brain to the same region on the other side. Transmits neural messages between the left and right hemispheres.
5.5. Thalamus - Relaying information from the sensory receptors to proper areas of the brain when it can be processed.
5.6. Hippocampus - Long term memory, spatial navigation.
6. Exterior Parts of Brain
6.1. Brainstem - Relay center connecting the cerebrum and cerebellum to the spinal cord.
6.2. Somatosensory Cortex - Receives all sensory input from the body
6.3. Motor Cortex - Generates the signal that control the execution of movement
6.4. Frontal Lobe - Personality, Judgement, Speech, Intelligence
6.5. Parietal Lobe - Interprets language, spatial and visual perception, and interprets signals from vision, hearing, and sensory.
6.6. Occipital Lobe - Interprets vision (color, light, movement)
6.7. Temporal Lobe - Memory, Hearing, Sequencing and organization, and understanding language
7. Factors Affecting Retention of Learning
7.1. Varying the length of the intertrial interval on the learning and retention of types of learning tasks
7.2. Differences in recall between massed repetitions and distributed repetitions
7.3. Evaluations of certain aspects of the forgetting theory
7.4. Long-term memory: will not be lost
7.4.1. Semantic learning