The Credentials of Brain‐Based Learning

This paper discusses the current fashion for brain‐based learning, in which value‐laden claims about learning are grounded in neurophysiology. It argues that brain science cannot have the ‘authority’ about learning that some seek to give it. It goes on to discuss whether the claim that brain science is relevant to learning involves a category mistake. The heart of the paper tries to show how the contribution of brain science to our grasp of the nature of learning is limited in principle. Finally the paper explores the potential of brain science to illuminate specific learning disabilities.     

Boundary as Bridge: An Analysis of the Educational Neuroscience Literature from a Boundary Perspective

Within the emerging field of educational neuroscience, concerns exist that the impact of neuroscience research on education has been less effective than hoped. In seeking a way forward, it may be useful to consider the problems of integrating two complex fields in the context of disciplinary boundaries. Here, a boundary perspective is used as a lens for analyzing the results of a systematic review of the educational neuroscience literature. Recurring vocabulary used within the literature suggests indirect use of boundary principles, including the idea of connections and bridges between disciplines, inter-, multi-, and transdisciplinarity, and reference to tools (boundary objects) and people that may be useful in the evolving field of educational neuroscience. Analyzing the educational neuroscience literature through the lens of boundary principles indicates that the boundary between the two disciplines may itself be a bridging mechanism useful for the creation of a new discipline and new knowledge.     

Understanding Conceptual Change and Science Learning through Educational Neuroscience

Although the field of educational neuroscience has grown in recent years, little research has been conducted on conceptual change and science learning through an educational neuroscience framework. Educational neuroscience is frequently used to study processes of language and mathematics cognition, but is not extensively applied to conceptual change and science learning. This review integrates insights from extant conceptual change educational neuroscience studies to inform the fields of educational psychology and science education. These new insights shed light on the persistence of misconceptions and the roles of error detection, inhibition, executive function, and memory in conceptual change. Future directions for the study of conceptual change and educational neuroscience are discussed.     

教育神经科学的未来:建构学习发展路径的工具

在教育神经科学领域,我们需要可靠的脑科学知识为学与教奠定坚实的基础。在教学实践中,应该尊重学生的兴趣以及他们独特的学习通路。在教育神经科学中,我们已经创建了一种通用的量表来评估孩子们的认知发展以及他们在校学习,这种评价重视对学生学习的支持与促进。在教育神经科学的研究中,重要的是,科学家与教育工作者相互合作,建立研究型学校,将心智、脑与教育领域的知识联系起来,以支持并促进学生的学习。     

Cognitive Neuroscience Perspectives on Motivation and Learning: Revisiting Self‐Determination Theory

The Self‐Determination Theory of motivation (SDT) has significantly guided educational policy and research. It maintains that learning succeeds when brought about by autonomous rather than controlled motivation, and that extrinsic reward motivation cannot engender effective learning. We present an alternative approach, rooted in recent insights from the neurobiology of memory. In exploring environments to reap rewards, people pursue interrogative goals, accompanied by dopamine‐based hippocampus activation, leading to the formation of rich relational memories. In contrast, seeking to avoid punishment or loss involves imperative goals, with amygdala activation driving the perirhinal cortex to form disjoint item memories. We suggest that structuring learning and evaluation to diminish failure and increase repeated opportunities for successful performance, as in gamification, may engender effective learning incorporating broad perspectives and rich associations. This may occur even in the absence of intrinsic motivation to master a particular subject. Employing this insight in instructional design may benefit many educational frameworks.     

认知神经科学研究发现对第二语言学习的启示

本文围绕第二语言学习的敏感期、学习方法对大脑活动的影响、汉语文化背景下的英语学习这三个方面展开,列举了近年来在认知神经科学上的相关研究发现,以及这些研究发现对于在汉语文化下进行英语教育教学的启示。     

Towards Greater Collaboration in Educational Neuroscience: Perspectives From the 2018 Earli‐SIG22 Conference

The special issue resulting from the 2018 Earli‐SIG22 conference reflects the current state of the field, the diversity of methods, the persevering limitations and promising directions towards solutions. About half of the empirical papers in this special issue that consist of three parts, uses behavioral, self‐report or qualitative measures to understand the “mind” level of Mind, Brain, and Education. The other half investigates the “brain” level, using neuroimaging but also genetics or eye‐tracking to gain access to the wider range of biological substrates of learning and cognition. These biological studies mostly have added value by refining psychological theories, such that these inspire new hypotheses to test in the field, to ultimately better inform teaching. Importantly, the special issue presents several approaches to more intensive, bi‐directional and systematic practice‐research collaborations to better connect the “mind” and “brain” levels to education, and to equip researchers to realize such collaborations successfully in the future.     

学习神经科学:一门新型的交叉学科

学习是人类永恒的主题,自古以来,一直受到人们的关注.心理学、教育学、认知神经科学、人工智能等领域有关学习的聚合研究,正在催生一门新型的交叉学科——学习神经科学.学习神经科学主要研究不同场合、不同时间点、不同人群、不同领域学习的神经机制、规律以及可能的优化方法,具有典型的跨学科的研究范式和方法.建立学习神经科学有助于更好地探讨学习的机制和规律,有助于促进科学的教与学,有助于学习科学群及学习科学共同体的形成和发展.建议加强跨领域的合作,促进学习神经科学学术共同体的形成和发展,积极争取将学习神经科学纳入我国的学科体系建设,加大学习神经科学人才培养的力度,加强学习神经科学的宣传和普及工作,提升学习神经科学的社会服务功能.     

Educational Neuroscience: Its Position,Aims and Expectations

ABSTRACT

An important issue in the discussion on educational neuroscience is the transfer of thought and findings between neuroscience and education. In addition to factual confusions in this transfer in the form of neuromyths, logical confusions, or neuro-misconceptions, can be identified. We consider these transfer difficulties in light of the way educational neuroscience is positioned in relation to the main fields involved: neuroscience, educational sciences and educational practice. A distinction between educational neuroscience as part of neuroscience, educational sciences and as an independent discipline will show that different types of questions are asked within these different positions. Distinguishing these positions will also shed light on the aim and possibilities to transfer knowledge and insights into educational practice and will elucidate the confusions in transfer. While educational neuroscience as part of educational sciences and as an independent discipline aims to directly connect to educational practice, be it in different ways, educational neuroscience as neurosciences does not have this goal or possibility.     

Culturally Appropriate Education: Insights From Educational Neuroscience

Culturally appropriate education focuses on educational competence needed in a global world and respect for different world views of learners and teachers from different cultural contexts. The relationship between gene, brain, and culture is complex and dynamical. Cultural experience and learning sculpts the anatomy and function of the human brain and shapes human behavior. This neuroplasticity is the basis of educability in human beings. Education reform should reflect cultural diversity and embed teaching practices into the cultural history of a nation and should promote positive inclusion of minority and indigenous history so as to maximize successful adoption by teachers and parents. This tenet is at the core of the concept of “culturally appropriate education.” Successful educational reform and pedagogy require that teachers become culturally and neuroscientifically literate.     

Making Cognitive Neuroscience Educationally Relevant: Creating Bidirectional Collaborations Between Educational Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience

Not only should educational psychologists keep abreast of developments in the rapidly evolving field of brain science, but also they should contribute their knowledge of higher cognitive functioning and instructional interventions to this field. Linking imaging studies with instructional studies may shed light on causal mechanisms in brain function. The importance and challenges of studying the brain at different levels of analysis are discussed and illustrated with examples from the reading literature and the deafness literature.     

Learning as Problem Design Versus Problem Solving: Making the Connection Between Cognitive Neuroscience Research and Educational Practice

ABSTRACT— How can current findings in neuroscience help educators identify particular cognitive strengths in students? In this commentary on Immordino‐Yang’s research regarding Nico and Brooke, I make 3 primary assertions: (a) the cognitive science community needs to develop an accessible language and mode of communicating applicable research to educators, (b) educators need proper professional development in order to understand and relate current research findings to practice in the classroom, and (c) the specific research on Nico and Brooke clearly suggests that educators need to rethink the classroom as a place not of problem solving but rather problem design in order to further understand and use the cognitive strengths of each individual student.     

Learning and Innovation in Agriculture and Rural Development: The Use of the Concepts of Boundary Work and Boundary Objects

Abstract

Purpose: The paper explores the role of boundary work and boundary objects in enhancing learning and innovation processes in hybrid multi-actor networks for sustainable agriculture (LINSA).

Design/Methodology/Approach: Boundary work in LINSA is analysed on the basis of six case studies carried out in SOLINSA project under a common methodology. In developing typologies of boundary work and objects, a grounded approach is used.

Findings: LINSA analysis demonstrates the dynamic character, diverse forms and multiple functions of boundary work and objects in three domains: learning, innovation, and sustainability. Addressing specific types of goals and actors leads to specific types of boundary work and boundary objects. Context-appropriate boundary work allows aligning differing actor attitudes, gaining increased external support, and developing LINSA. The concepts of boundary work and boundary objects are relevant in a broad range of divergent LINSA settings. Boundary work has its limitations, but its facilitation supports reaching LINSA goals.

Practical Implications: The paper proposes recognising context-appropriate forms of boundary work and skilful use of emerging boundary objects to both promote internal consolidation of LINSA and effective external communication to foster learning and innovation for sustainability.

Originality/Value: The paper provides insights into the forms, dynamic and outcomes of boundary work in LINSA in three key domains: developing shared knowledge base, co-producing innovation and negotiating sustainability.     

Learning Neuroscience with Technology: a Scaffolded,Active Learning Approach

Mobile applications (apps) for learning technical scientific content are becoming increasingly popular in educational settings. Neuroscience is often considered complex and challenging for most students to understand conceptually. iNeuron is a recently developed iOS app that teaches basic neuroscience in the context of a series of scaffolded challenges to create neural circuits and increase understanding of nervous system structure and function. In this study, four different ways to implement the app within a classroom setting were explored. The goal of the study was to determine the app’s effectiveness under conditions closely approximating real-world use and to evaluate whether collaborative play and student-driven navigational features contributed to its effectiveness. Students used the app either individually or in small groups and used a version with either a fixed or variable learning sequence. Student performance on a pre- and post-neuroscience content assessment was analyzed and compared between students who used the app and a control group receiving standard instruction, and logged app data were analyzed. Significantly, greater learning gains were found for all students who used the app compared to control. All four implementation modes were effective in producing student learning gains relative to controls, but did not differ in their effectiveness to one another. In addition, students demonstrated transfer of information learned in one context to another within the app. These results suggest that teacher-led neuroscience instruction can be effectively supported by a scaffolded, technology-based curriculum which can be implemented in multiple ways to enhance student learning.     

Web‐Based Project and Key Skills Work

Pupils in England and Wales are increasingly being asked to undertake investigative‐type work, be it the new compulsory projects in data handling for GCSE Mathematics (age 14–16) (see Browne 2002 ) or the Key Skills topic application of number. This article shows how teachers can generate realistic project scenarios using real data and produce indicative model solutions from the same data. The projects range from simple presentational problems for data, through hypothesis testing to complex modelling scenarios.     

Undergraduates' Work Based Learning and Skills Development

Research findings on graduate employment inthe UK continue to highlight the importance thatemployers attach to the general knowledge, attitudesand social skills that graduates possess in additionto specific disciplinary knowledge and expertise. Additionally, work based learning is increasinglybeing viewed as an important vehicle by whichundergraduates can develop personal and social skills,as well as gaining knowledge of how organisationswork. In this paper I will argue that although developments in undergraduate work based learning doraise a number of issues for higher educationinstitutions and for employers, such developments havemuch to offer the broader education policy of lifelonglearning.     

建构教育心理学与认知神经科学之间的联系

教育心理学与认知神经科学的联系有助于两个学科领域的共同发展.本文列举了欧美国家近年来与教育心理学有关的认知神经科学研究的主要成果,探讨了如何有效加强两者进一步联系的途径,这些途径有助于跨越教育心理学与认知神经科学之间的鸿沟,促进教育心理学和认知神经科学的未来发展.     

文化、脑与教育——人类学启迪中的教育神经科学

文化塑造着人脑,人脑也建构着文化。人类学的理论与方法为教育神经科学研究文化、脑与教育的关系拓展了新的领域。对"文化中的脑"与"脑中的文化"的关注已经推动了人类学的新分支——"神经人类学"的诞生。在人类学的启迪下,中国教育神经科学研究将有助于加深对不同文化族群中儿童学习的内在机制的理解,为尊重文化多样性的教育实践和推动教育公平的政策制定提供科学依据。     

Courage,Uncertainty and Imagination in Deweyan Work: Challenging the Neo‐Liberal Educational Agenda

In my paper, I attempt to accomplish a twofold task: first, to argue that in order to understand important features of Deweyan work, a thorough analysis of the roles that uncertainty, courage and imagination play in Deweyan thought is required. Second, based on such an analysis, I try to show that such features are essential for education to happen. Moreover, courage, imagination and uncertainty taken together work to frame an understanding of education and learning as challenging and even risky enterprises. I develop my analysis against the current, ‘official’ picture of education promoted worldwide, one in which courage, imagination and uncertainty are exactly the features that come to be eclipsed by the neo‐liberal educational agenda. Thus, I claim that education with its roots in imagination and courage is directed toward ‘unattained possibilities’ as its own, proper aim.