Download as PDF, PPTX
Uploaded byMorgan Appel
Urban Discovery Academy: Brain-Compatible Learning
The document discusses concepts related to learning and the brain including: - Ancient Egyptians viewed the heart as the center of emotion and learning, not the brain. - The brain is the ultimate "smart device" that can continuously update itself through learning. - Memory formation involves the growth of dendrites and synapses to create neural networks. - Positive emotions during learning produce endorphins and dopamine that aid memory formation, while negative emotions produce stress hormones. - The brain seeks patterns and meaning in new information by relating it to prior knowledge stored across neural networks.
More Related Content
Similar to Urban Discovery Academy: Brain-Compatible Learning
Urban Discovery Academy: Brain-Compatible Learning
- 1. MorganAppel,Assistant Dean Department ofEducation and CommunityOutreach
- 2. Recurring Themes Good For Heart, GoodFor Head, Good for Hands: UDAValues Optimism Empathy Curiosity Integrity Innovation Impact Happy Productive Confident Well Being
- 3. Wisdom from theAncients In ancientEgypt, when humans were preserved through mummification, the brain was discarded— it viewed as a superfluous organ. Egyptians believed that the heart was the center of all emotion and learning. Learning lies at the heart of surviving and thriving as humans.
- 4. Wisdom from the Original RenaissanceMan “As every divided kingdom falls, so every mind divided by many studies confounds and saps itself.” “I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing isnot enough;we must apply.Being willing is not enough.We must do.” “He who loves practice without theory is like a sailor who boardsa ship without a rudder and a compassand never knows where he may cast.” “All our knowledge hasits origin in our perceptions.”
- 6. The Smartest Device Though notas sleek as the latest and greatest from Apple or Samsung, we are all in possession of the ultimate smart device. We may not be able as yet to download music or respond to queries as quickly as Alexa, but our device is much, much older and much more capable. Plus, we have a lifelong contract and the ability to update everyday.
- 7. Impulse Control Judgment Language Working Memory MotorFunction Socialization Spontaneity Integration of Sensory information From different modalities Auditory processing Speech Vision Semantics Visual processing Motor control Sensory pathways Some cognition ‘Little Brain’
- 8.
- 9. How Does the BrainLearn? Over 100 billion nerve endings in the brain that process sensory information. Active learning creates dendrites/fibers that bridge across them. As dendrites grow closer, they create synapses (bridges). This is the process of learning—the creation of neural networks or pathways. Information stored in various parts of the brain TACTILE VISUAL AUDITORY OLFACTORY
- 10. Learning involvesmultiple parts of the brain, multiple modalities and senses New informationstored in different parts of the brain, but connected looselyby neural networks(bridges between different parts of the brain) Because the brain is ‘networkbased’, it searches for meaning and context withinto help processnew informationand its significance In practical terms, the brainasks itself ‘have I seen this before?Where?Was it important?’ ThinkGoogle.
- 11. When thebrain is ‘excited’ by new information (that is, meaningful),a variety of physiological processes occur: Adrenalin (fight or fight) flows: harkens back to an earlier time The brain says: STOP! This is important— PAY ATTENTION! Digestion processes slow The logic/rational part of the brain begins to shut down so that the brain may pay better attention Recall a time that you learned (or taught) something that really grabbed you— were you emotionally engaged?
- 12. 1. The brainis a complex adaptive system. 2. The brain is a social brain. 3. The search for meaning is innate. 4. The search for meaning occursthrough patterning. 5. Emotions are criticalto patterning. 6. Every brain simultaneouslyperceives and creates parts and wholes. 7. Learning involves both focused attention and peripheral attention. 8. Learning always involves consciousand unconsciousprocesses. 9. We have at least two ways of organizing memory. 10.Learning is developmental. 11.Complex learning is enhanced by challenge and inhibited by threat. 12.Every brain is uniquely organized. Source: Caine and Caine (1997)
- 13. How Does Memory Work? Incontext,searching formeaning Memoryis reactivation ofpre- existingneural networksand buildingupon them (scaffolding) The importanceof redundancyand reinforcement across thecurriculum
- 14. Positive feelingsabout a learning experience produce endorphins (euphoria), dopamine (stimulates the prefrontal cortex), oxytocin (puppy love/trust/relationships) and serotonin (well-being) Negative feelings about a learning experience produce adrenalin and cortisol –which puts the brain in survival mode and causes anxiety/ stress
- 15. The Dynamics ofMemory Sensory Memory • Receivedthroughthe senses:auditory,olfactoryandvisual (immediate) • Filtersintoshort-termmemoryby attention (whatisimportant at thetime?)– survival mechanism Short-Term Memory • “ScratchPad” for recall ofinformationunderprocess(needto recall beginningofsentencetounderstandtheend) • 30 secondswithout repetition • “Chunking”helps(hyphenatedtelephone numbersandcredit cards/organizingessays) Long-Term Memory • Long-TermStorage(littledecay) • EpisodicandSemanticMemory(scaffolding)
- 16. More About Long-TermMemory • Three functions: Storage,Deletion,Retrieval • Repeated exposure/rehearsaltransfers from Short- term to Long-termMemory—encodingrepeatedly processed in the hippocampus • Learning is most effective over time • Deletionthroughinterference or decay • Retrieval: recall(reproduction)and recognition (knowledgethat informationhas been seen before) • Memoriesnot stored in a specific location,but spread throughthe brain’s entire surface
- 17. Source: Edutopia andHarvardUniversity,2021 Youare Here Plasticity: The brain’sability to formsynaptic connectionsin responsetolearning or injury
- 18. Source: Edutopia,2021 Adolescent brainscans reveal that reward systems mature well before inhibitory systems.
- 19. mo·ti·va·tion is thedriving desire behind all action and is the precursor and cornerstone to learning. It is no exaggeration to say that children have boundless energy for living and learning. From an evolutionary perspective, behaviors that are important for survival (like eating or reproducing) must be pleasurable to do in and of themselves. Young children survive by exploring their world via manipulation, locomotion, language, and social interaction. But they also love doing these things.The immediate satisfaction of "being good at" something also has adaptive significance for cognitive growth. Source:ASCD, 2021.
- 20.
- 21. • Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi(1975, 1990), emerging from positive psychology (Primal Scream therapy) • A Zen-like, intensive state in which an individual becomes completely emerged in an experience • “In the groove,” OPTIMAL EXPERIENCE, “In the zone” • Time stops (almost a meditative state) or flies • “Seeing the seams of the baseball” or “seeing the Matrix” • Losing oneself so that one is so focused, s/heis unaware of distractions, even bodily needs • A universal and cross-cultural experience
- 22. Balance betweenindividual’s ability and level of difficulty in the challenge (cannot be too easy or difficult or flow cannot occur). Goals should be clear. Expectations are foreseen and goals are attainable. High degree of concentration in a limited field of attention— person should be able to focus and become deeply engaged in the activity. A loss of self-consciousness is experienced (unaware of self and what the self is doing). Sense of time transcendence (subjective experience of time is altered—passes quickly/slowly/slow motion)
- 23. When in theflow state, the brain is actively seeking out information from multiple sources to engage in problem solving activities. That is where motivation, Persistence and creativity make their homes. That is where cognitive meets affective. That is FLOW. Binge watching VideoGames
- 24. BeingThere When it comesright down to it, we have an innatesensibilitythat pushes us forward creatively. Studentswantto feel appreciated,confident andexperience a general sense of solaceand successas they move through school, career andlife. But in theend, it is support thatwe offer as educatorsthathelps to make it through.
- 26. MorganAppel AssistantDean EducationandCommunityOutreach UCSan Diego Extension 9500Gilman Drive,MC 0170-N La Jolla,California 92093-0170 mappel@ucsd.edu 858-534-9273 extension.ucsd.edu/education