Brain Science: The Neuroscience of Teaching and Learning

Let me begin with a confession: I thinkthat brain science is the most fascinating topic in the world. Our braincontrols everything that is interesting about us; our memories, our passions,our thinking, and our learning are all controlled by our brain. And in thecoming months I will do my best to show you how a knowledge of the brain willhelp you to become a more effective designer and developer of eLearning andperformance support.

An introduction

Let me begin by introducing myself. I ama neuropsychologist and I earned my PhD more than 20 years ago at DukeUniversity. Since then, I have had the privilege of teaching and conductingresearch in more than 50 countries, and in some of the world’s finestlaboratories. The focus of my work is to understand the way people learn,think, and behave.

In this column, I want to share mypassion for the brain and to offer examples of the ways in which brain sciencecan be intriguing, fun, and ultimately useful.

Each month, we will have a chance to explorehow the brain creates our experience of the world. We will begin in thehippocampus, a structure buried deep inside the brain that stores, andsometimes invents, our short- and long-term memories. We will also explore thefrontal lobe, the massive cortical area that coordinates our thoughts, emotions,and planning.

In turn, we will explore how we can applybrain science to the real world. For example, we will visit a large corporationthat has vastly improved recall and behavior transfer by applying a few simple brainrules. We will also visit Zimbabwe, an African country were we are trying touse training to help people stay safe in the face of the world’s deadliestpandemic.

Whyshould we study the mind?

It is reasonable to ask why we ought tospend time studying the brain. After all, we are busy educators and isn’t thebrain really in the domain of biology? What does the brain have to do withteaching and learning? It is a fair question, and I’d like to provide you withtwo answers.

First, let me ask you a question. Can youremember the first car you owned? What was its brand and color? Can you recitethe alphabet? Can you imagine the color red? You can certainly do all of thesethings, and the reason is because this information is somehow stored in yourbrain. Indeed, your every memory, thought, image, and dream, all of them, aresomehow stored within the 100-billion nerve cells in your brain. Everythingabout you is somehow, miraculously, encoded within these cells. So, if you wantto understand the learner, if you want to understand yourself, it is essentialto look at the way that our brains function.

Theergonomics of the brain

The second reason to study the brain ismore practical, and I can explain it with a metaphor. Let’s say you are tryingto design a new chair. You want the chair to be comfortable, so you need tostudy the people who will ultimately be using it. You need to know about theshape of their posterior, and about the curvature of their spine. You will alsowant to know about their average height and weight and what they are going tobe doing while sitting in your chair.

In other words, you are going to want tostudy the ergonomics of yourcustomers. Ergonomics (whichis also called Human Factors) is the science of designing products and tools inways that are compatible with people’s strengths.

Thesame logic should apply if you are creating an effective teaching and learningprogram. If you want people to learn, retain, and ultimately transfer knowledgeto the workplace, it is essential that you understand the ergonomics of the brain. Our brain is enormously powerful; it canremember vast amounts of information, so we need to design training that iscompatible with the brain’s natural ways of learning.

Andso we are begun. In the following months, I will explore topics likeassessment, consciousness, critical thinking, decision making, leadership,gender, IQ, and personality. I can’t wait to get started. Please stay in touch.

Want to learn more?

Each month I will recommend a book or website where you can learn moreabout the brain and learning. This month, I point you toward Thinking, Fast andSlow by Daniel Kahneman. Dr. Kahneman won the Nobel Prize for hisgroundbreaking work in cognition. His book is very readable, and it summarizesmaterials that will be of interest to everyone who shares my passion for thebrain.