Researching the Practice, Practicing the Research, and Promoting Responsible Policy: Usable Knowledge in Mind, Brain, and Education

ABSTRACT—The theme of Usable Knowledge in Mind, Brain, and Education will be a special section that will appear regularly in the journal. The section will focus on the synergistic connections between biology, cognitive science, and human development on the one hand and educational thought, policy, and practice on the other. Efforts to create usable knowledge in mind, brain, and education focus on questions that relate research and theory to educational practice, involving pedagogy and learning, discussions of how best to conduct ethical and valid research that crosses disciplinary boundaries, and consideration of how to use such research to promote responsible policy.     

Mind, Brain, and Literacy: Biomarkers as Usable Knowledge for Education

Neuroscience has the potential to make some very exciting contributions to education and pedagogy. However, it is important to ask whether the insights from neuroscience studies can provide "usable knowledge" for educators. With respect to literacy, for example, current neuroimaging methods allow us to ask research questions about how the brain develops networks of neurons specialized for the act of reading and how literacy is organized in the brain of a reader with developmental dyslexia. Yet quite how these findings can translate to the classroom remains unclear. One of the most exciting possibilities is that neuroscience could deliver "biomarkers" that could identify children with learning difficulties very early in development. In this review, I will illustrate how the field of mind, brain, and education might develop biomarkers by combining educational, cognitive, and neuroscience research paradigms. I will argue that all three kinds of research are necessary to provide usable knowledge for education.     

Mind, Brain, Education, and Biological Timing

ABSTRACT— Circadian rhythms, in particular the sleep–wake cycle, modulate most, if not all, aspects of physiology and behavior. Their impact on education has recently begun to be understood, including a clear positive relationship between sleep and learning. In fact, sleep deprivation, common to adolescents throughout the world, has a deep effect on academic performance, and this fact is often increased by inadequate school schedules. This special issue of Mind, Brain, and Education deals with the relation between biological rhythms and learning, as discussed in an International Mind, Brain, and Education Society meeting that took place in Erice, Italy in May 2007. The articles (with contributors from Brazil, Croatia, Sweden, Spain, United Kingdom, United States, and Argentina) cover several aspects of this fundamental link between timing and education and suggest strategies to optimize school and sleep schedules for a better quality of life and improved academic performance of students.     

Evolutionary Perspectives on Mind,Brain, and Education

Understanding about human origins informs our understanding of what it means to be human. It is reasonable, therefore, to consider that an evolutionary perspective can provide insight into the nature and processes of human learning and education. This article reviews how ideas about evolution have influenced educational thinking in the past. It then considers how understanding of brain development and function is helping to inspire “new thinking” about evolution. The review converges on a range of benefits that may arise from the inclusion of evolutionary concepts within the field of mind, brain, and education. These benefits include scrutiny of evolutionary neuromyth, reconsideration of the cultural and political status of education, insight into notions of individual difference, and help with stimulating and directing research efforts aimed at improving educational outcomes.     

A First Course in Mind, Brain, and Education

ABSTRACT— We describe what may well be the first course devoted explicitly to the topic of Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE). In the course, students examine four central topics (literacy, numeracy, emotion/motivation, and conceptual change) through the perspectives of psychology, neuroscience, genetics, and education. We describe the pedagogical tools we use to develop the skills critical for synthesizing information across the disciplines associated with MBE.     

Mind,Brain, and Education in the Digital Era

Computers are everywhere, and they are transforming the human world. The technology of computers and the Internet is radically changing the ways that people learn and communicate. In the midst of this technology‐driven revolution people need to examine the changes to analyze how they are altering interaction and human culture. The changes have already permeated societies around the world, altering learning, teaching, communication, politics, and most aspects of human interaction. The possibilities for improving educational effectiveness seem powerful, as a result of an information revolution with online access to infinite information and numerous teaching and learning activities of adults and children at school, at home, and in public places. An urgent need is for systematic longitudinal studies of what happens with learning and teaching as people use computers and play with the Internet. Perhaps the new technologies make possible a new kind of constructive dialogue, with intertwining of teaching and learning in a dynamic double helix of questions and answers, of modeling and experimentation. This special section will deal with (1) uses of new technologies to help people teach and learn more effectively, (2) uses of individual laptops to help children learn, (3) creation of new tools for learning and assessment, and (4) techniques that image brain structure and activity.     

Mind,Brain, and Education: A Transdisciplinary Field

The emerging field of mind, brain, and education (MBE) is grappling with core issues associated with its identity, scope, and method. This article examines some of the most pressing issues that structure the development of MBE as a transdisciplinary effort. Rather than representing the ongoing debates in MBE as superficial squabbles to eventually be “overcome,” this article argues that the politics of MBE language, discourse, and validity suggest profound epistemological differences that transcend a traditional interdisciplinary approach. Instead, MBE would benefit from a transdisciplinary approach that contextually accords equal and differential weight to a range of knowledge inputs from education studies, neuroscience, and other academic and practitioner spheres beneath the broad umbrella of MBE. Specifically, this article suggests that some of the key tasks for those involved in MBE studies require a transdisciplinary approach to knowledge translation and knowledge development.     

Mind,Brain and Education: A Decade of Evolution

This article examines the evolution of Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE), the field, alongside that of the International Mind, Brain and Education Society (IMBES). The reflections stem mostly from my observations while serving as vice president, president‐elect, and president of IMBES during the past 10 years. The article highlights the evolution during that time about the meaning of MBE and some of the representations that help illustrate the problems and challenges in arriving at a consensus about what MBE means and how IMBES can best serve its members. I explore how IMBES, incorporated in 2004, experimented with a number of different conference models to provide frameworks for thinking about MBE, as well as a structure for supporting collaboration between the disciplines represented in Mind, Brain, and Education. Those models help highlight what IMBES has accomplished in scaffolding the complex conversation unfolding in the field, as well as offering a strategy for a collaborative enterprise that informs practice and new research agendas in the future.     

脑科学与创新教育

对与创新有关的脑机能作了系统、尝试性的整合 ,探索了创新、创新教育与脑机能的关系。创新是脑的整合性功能的体现 ,基于脑科学上的创新教育策略亦是一项系统工程 ,更具可行性、可信性。     

Investigating the Educational Implications of Embodied Cognition: A Model Interdisciplinary Inquiry in Mind,Brain, and Education Curricula

Much educational neuroscience research investigates connections between cognition, neuroscience, and educational theory and practice without reference to the body. In contrast, proponents of embodied cognition posit that the bodily action and perception play a central role in cognitive development. Some researchers within the field of Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE) explore this theory by researching the impact of sensorimotor activity on academic competencies such as language comprehension, mathematics, and scientific thinking. In this article, I call for this work to be highlighted more centrally in MBE training programs. Toward this end, I model an investigation of the concept of embodied cognition that can be used in MBE curricula with a dual purpose: to train future practitioners in the seminal metaphor of mind as an embodied system, and to demonstrate effective interdisciplinary research, which is critical to advancing the field of Mind, Brain, and Education.     

公民教育的责任向度及其路径

社会的变革呼吁新公民的产生。各种公民教育的主张也层出不穷,就其基本哲学立场来看,大致可以分为个人权利向度的公民教育与公共责任向度的公民教育这样两种类型．前者重在培养权利公民．而后者要培养的是责任公民。虽然权利与责任是辩证统一的．但是当前的基本现实是,出于一种矫枉过正的冲动,权利向度的公民教育在我国学界得到了极大地认可和张扬．而公共责任向度的公民教育却没有得到应有的重视和阐发,这种理论导向的偏颇必然带来公民教育实践的种种弊端．导致一种无道德的公民教育。文章将从分析责任公民的概念着手,阐述公民教育为何要培养责任公民．如何培养责任公民等问题．以期对公民教育在我国的蓬勃、健康发展有所启示。     

Generalist Genes: Genetic Links Between Brain, Mind, and Education

ABSTRACT— Genetics contributes importantly to learning abilities and disabilities—not just to reading, the target of most genetic research, but also to mathematics and other academic areas as well. One of the most important recent findings from quantitative genetic research such as twin studies is that the same set of genes is largely responsible for genetic influence across these domains. We call these "generalist genes" to highlight their pervasive influence. In other words, most genes found to be associated with a particular learning ability or disability (such as reading) will also be associated with other learning abilities and disabilities (such as mathematics). Moreover, some generalist genes for learning abilities and disabilities are even more general in their effect, encompassing other cognitive abilities such as memory and spatial ability. When these generalist genes are identified, they will greatly accelerate research on general mechanisms at all levels of analysis from genes to brain to behavior.     

现代教育技术,实施创新教育的有效途径

作为创新教育一部分的教育方法和手段创新以现代教育技术为依托，现代教育技术是创新教育的桥梁，它对创新教育的很多方面产生重要影响，运用现代教育技术是实施创新教育的有效途径。但我们在运用现代教育技术时还要注意到它的两面性。     

Mind, Brain, and Education: Building a Scientific Groundwork for Learning and Teaching1

ABSTRACT— The primary goal of the emerging field of Mind, Brain, and Education is to join biology, cognitive science, development, and education in order to create a sound grounding of education in research. The growing, worldwide movement needs to avoid the myths and distortions of popular conceptions of brain and genetics and build on the best integration of research with practice, creating a strong infrastructure that joins scientists with educators to study effective learning and teaching in educational settings. Science and practice together provide many potentially powerful tools to improve education. Neuroscience and genetics make possible analysis of the "black box" of biological processes that underpin learning. Understanding the biology of abilities and disabilities helps educators and parents to facilitate individual students' learning and development. Cognitive science provides analyses of the mental models/metaphors that pervade meaning making in human cultures, creating tools for avoiding unconscious distortions and crafting effective educational tools. Developmental and learning science produce tools to analyze learning pathways, including both shared patterns and learning differences. To reach the potential of grounding education effectively in research requires improving the infrastructure by creating (a) research schools where practice and science jointly shape educational research, (b) shared databases on learning and development, and (c) a new profession of educational engineers or translators to facilitate connecting research with practice and policy.     

Linking Mind,Brain, and Education to Clinical Practice: A Proposal for Transdisciplinary Collaboration

It has been suggested that the field of Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE) requires a stable infrastructure for translating research into practice. Hinton and Fischer (2008) point to the academic medical center as a model for similar translational work and suggest a similar approach for linking scientists to research schools. We propose expanding their model to include a formal role for clinicians. Including clinicians who work with children with learning problems brings an important perspective to the translational work. For example, the integration of the concept of “differential diagnosis,” a core precept in clinical medicine, would bring needed diagnostic specificity to the field of MBE. We describe a virtual infrastructure for collaboration, or “collaboratory,” consisting of research scientists, educators, and clinicians, linked to an academic institution. We anticipate that MBE graduates can play a critical role in the collaboratory model. With additional training, they can become “neuroeducators” capable of moving comfortably among the disciplines, building linkages, fostering communication, and facilitating collaboration.