the brain: make it work for you

The Brain:

Make It Work FOR You

Current research debunks the simplistic “left brain/right brain”

literature…

most learning tasks require both left and right-hemisphere

processing.Source: Richardson and Morgan. Reading to Learn in the Content Areas, 2003.

Cooperation rather than competition between the brain hemispheres is the prevailing mode in most

learning.

Source: Richardson and Morgan. Reading to Learn in the Content Areas, 2003.

Learners must realize that the systems regulating feeling, emotions, and

attentiveness are tied to the very learning of

information.


The learner’s attitude toward learning and

background knowledge affect his/her depth of

understanding.


Learning that is made interesting and challenging activates brain subsystems

responsible for alertness and emotional tone…


…motivation, attention, and memory all operate in an

interlocking fashion to enhance learning.


The triune-brain theory states that the brain

has evolved into three principal parts---each handling a different

function.Source: Richardson and Morgan. Reading to Learn in the Content Areas, 2003.

The most primitive part of the brain is

the reptilian brain—so called because it deals with the most basic needs, such

as...Source: Richardson and Morgan. Reading to Learn in the Content Areas, 2003.

…reaction to immediate threat. This part

of the brain holds no memories, which is why…


…when the reptilian brain is in charge---- we have no recollection of what occurred.


The middle section of the brain---the old mammalian

brain is present in ALL

mammals.


The old mammalian brain controls emotions

and plays a great role in the learning process ...


…by determining whether the newest portion of the

brain will be able to function fully.


The old mammalian

brain secretes different

chemicals when a

mammal is confronted

with stimuli.Source: Richardson and Morgan. Reading to Learn in the Content Areas, 2003.

For example,

a negative stimuli can stimulate chemicals that affect

the reptilian brain…


…to produce an automatic

response to danger—

much like freezing or

shutting down.


The upper part

of the brain is the neocortex

or new mammalian brain.


This newest and largest portion of the brain deals

with such abilities as mathematical and verbal acuity

and logical reasoning.


This is the most complex

part of the human brain and,

as a result, functions most

slowly.


The neurological makeup of the neocortex allows learning to take place

through associations that can number in the high trillions.


Research shows that release of neurotransmitters

either help or hinder the functioning of the neocortex.


For example, if an animal encounters a speeding car, it

will most likely freeze. Its instincts tell it to be still until

danger passes.


If a student perceives an

academic climate as threatening,

chemicals may very well be secreted to the reptilian brain,

telling the brain to, in

effect…Source: Richardson and Morgan. Reading to Learn in the Content Areas, 2003.

…revert to the instinct of

freezing, thereby impeding learning

and retention.


Therefore, students who feel

positive and happy about learning are

better able to process and retain

information.Source: Richardson and Morgan. Reading to Learn in the Content Areas, 2003.

The reptilian brain of a student who perceives an

academic situation as threatening may

secret chemicals that cause the

student to revert to the instinct of

freezing. Source: Richardson and Morgan. Reading to Learn in the Content Areas, 2003.

The process by which negative messages are

sent from the old mammalian to the reptilian

brain is called downshifting.


Research shows that attitudes,

feelings, emotions,

motivation, and conative factors are important in

thinking, reading, and

learning Source: Richardson and Morgan. Reading to Learn in the Content Areas, 2003.

How does the triune brain theory work in a classroom?


Meet Freddy.


Freddy dreads science class

everyday.


Freddy didn’t read the science

assignment for today.


His teacher meets him at

the door with a pop quiz.


How do you predict Freddy will perform on the pop quiz?


Have you ever experienced a time when your “mind went

blank” during a testing situation?


This feeling is

often called TEST

ANXIETY.


There is a relationship known as the Yerkes-Dodson law that means anxiety that is either too HIGH or too LOW

hinders performance.


Moderate anxiety, however, results in the best performance.


Research suggests that pattern seeking—efforts

to make sense out of complex and often

chaotic realities—is the key to human intelligence..


Research suggests that humans

live by “programs” that

we acquire and store for use in

the brain. Source: Richardson and Morgan. Reading to Learn in the Content Areas, 2003.

A program is a fixed sequence for

accomplishing some goal.


Human nature makes the working of a

program a pleasurable

experience; we can rely on its activation to help us achieve a

goal.


Humans can use only programs that are built on and stored

through experience.


Each individual develops his or her own unique programs…efforts to impose a program on someone else is a futile endeavor.


Yet these brain

programs are used to

accomplish EVERYTHIN

G we do.


In performing all tasks we usually use a three-step

cycle.


1.Evaluate the situation.2.Select the program that

seems most appropriate from our store.

3.Implement the program.

Fully acquired programs, though laboriously built, have an automatic quality that easily leads one to forget that other individuals have not already acquired them.


For example, Ted can add long columns of

numbers “in his head” while Bob must use a

calculator to be accurate. Ted has

internalized a program for addition that Bob has

not chosen to learn or implement.



Inefficient readers have not yet developed an effective

program for reading difficult material. They

keep trying to implement the program they “know” for reading easy material.

It just won’t work for challenging material.


One researcher has demonstrated that real learning takes

place with no effort. He suggests that stress in learning comes only from trying to learn something that

seems to have no purpose.


We learn all the time without suspecting that we

are doing so!


We don’t try to “learn” the daily newspaper when we read it, yet hours or days later we can recall many of the details we read.


We learn every time we make sense of something—we learn in the act of making sense of the world around us.


Learning programs are acquired incidentally

through the successful creation of meaning in

the act of learning.


Many students have negative programs

acquired from the lack of a brain-compatible environment…


…they may even develop programs of failure and dropping out or a sense that school is “just not

worth it for me.”


Research says that for students to reason

effectively and solve problems they have to

pursue learning through mental thought, uninterrupted by

distractions.


The latest brain research says:

Students remember material best that is structured and meaningful.



Students learn best in an environment in which students interact.



An enriched environment allows students to make sense of what they are learning.



Learning is strongly influenced by emotion, when emotion is added to the learner input, retention is enhanced.



Teachers should stress intuitive learning as much as step-by-step logic to allow creative thinking to emerge.

What implications does this brain research have

for students who are college-bound?


Students remember material best that is structured and meaningful.Note-taking is

essential—and idiosyncratic—the

method one student uses to order

information may not work for another.


Students learn best in an environment in which students

interact.College students should consider entering any discussion group or laboratory situation that allows them to interact with others on the subject being learned.


Students learn best in an environment in which students interact.

What type of interaction is of value?•Taking part in classroom discussions•Taking an active role in laboratories•Joining or forming a study group•Finding a study partner•Asking individual questions of the professor/GA during office hours


•Language used as a means of exploring the world—•Reading--all types of media•A judicious use of television•Discussion of differing points of view and seeking valid evidence to support each side

What is found in a rich learning environment?


What is found in a rich learning environment?•Thoughtful Internet use with an eye to evaluating validity and confirming sources.•Writing for business and pleasure-•Seeking new learning experiences that add to development as a member of society.


What is found in a rich learning environment?

•Games that provide a mental challenge—Bridge, Scrabble, Jeopardy…•Crossword puzzles•What else can you name?



Never--ever– never-- tell yourself “I’m not good at math” or “I’m not smart enough to get this.” The brain will process this negativity and you will only build a wall you have to overcome—in addition to the material found in the course.



Find ways to reward yourself for each small-or great-success you accomplish in this learning task. But most of all, use the research in other areas to increase the likelihood of success—study groups, note-taking, visiting the professor…


Teachers should stress intuitive learning as much as step-by-step logic to allow creative thinking to

emerge.Be conscious of the need to develop “programs” to help you read, take notes, interpret what you are reading, write about what you have read, etc. Be on the look out for methodologies that appeal to you and help you learn. USE WHAT TRULY WORKS FOR YOU!!!!

WHAT IS YOUR GOAL AS A LEARNER?

You want to become a self-regulated learner who is

able to recognize when and why different strategies are needed to study for

different types of learning situations.

A self-regulated learner develops the “programs” needed to make learning

more enjoyable and successful.

Make your brain work for you!

the brain: make it work for you

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