Brain And Learning Vaishali Shah, Research Associate, GCERT, Gujarat Presented at NIEPA, Delhi in the ualitati!

e Research "or#sho$ in August %&&'

The De(inition o( the Brain ) Learning Brain-based learning involves using approaches to schooling that rely on recent brain research to support and develop improved teaching strategies. Researchers theorize that the human brain is constantly searching for meaning and seeking patterns and connections. Authentic learning situations increase the brain's ability to make connections and retain new information. Teaching strategies that enhance brain-based learning include manipulative active learning field trips guest speakers and real-life pro!ects that allow students to use many learning styles and multiple intelligences. An interdisciplinary curriculum or integrated learning also reinforces brain-based learning because the brain can better make connections when material is presented in an integrated way rather than as isolated bits of information. A rela"ed non threatening environment that removes students' fear of failure is considered best for brain-based learning. Research also documents brain plasticity which is the notion that the brain grows and adapts in response to e"ternal stimuli. *% Design Princi$les Based on Brain+,ased Learning Research By #effery A. $ackney %h.&. Based on a workshop facilitated by Randall 'ielding A(A ). Rich-simulating environments * color te"ture +teaching architecture+ displays created by students ,not teacher- so students have connection and ownership of the product. .. %laces for group learning * breakout spaces alcoves table groupings to facilitate social learning and stimulate the social brain/ turning breakout spaces into living rooms for conversation. 0. $inking indoor and outdoor places * movement engaging the motor corte" linked to the cerebral corte" for o"ygenation. 1. 2orridors and public places containing symbols of the school community3s larger purpose to provide coherency and meaning that increases motivation ,warning4 go beyond slogans-. 5. 6afe places * reduce threat especially in urban settings. 7. 8ariety of places * provide a variety of places of different shapes color light nooks 9 crannies. :. 2hanging displays * changing the environment interacting with the environment stimulates brain development. %rovide display areas that allow for stage set type constructions to further push the envelope with regard to environmental change. ;. <ave all resources available * provide educational physical and the variety of settings in close pro"imity to encourage rapid development of ideas generated in

a learning episode. This is an argument for wet areas= science computer-rich workspaces all integrated and not segregated. >ultiple functions and crossfertilization of ideas are primary goal. ?. 'le"ibility * a common principle in the past continues to be relevant. >any dimensions of fle"ibility of place are reflected in other principles. )@. Active=passive places * students need places for reflection and retreat away from others for intrapersonal intelligence as well as places for active engagement for interpersonal intelligence. 11. %ersonalized space * the concept of home base needs to be emphasized more than the metal locker or the desk/ this speaks to the principle of uniAueness/ the need to allow learners to e"press their self-identity personalize their special places and places to e"press territorial behaviors. ).. The community-at-large as the optimal learning environment * need to find ways to fully utilize all urban and natural environments as the primary learning setting the school as the fortress of learning needs to be challenged and conceptualized more as a resource-rich learning center that supplements life-long learning. Technology distance learning community and business partnerships homebased learning all need to be e"plored as alternative organizational structures for educational institutions of the present and future. This list is not intended to be comprehensive in any way. The brain-based learning workshop track offered participants the ability to e"plore implications in an open and reflective way. The intention for these workshops was primarily to start the public dialogue concerning the implications of research on brain-based learning in the design of school environments. A second caveat to presenting these design principles for brain-compatible learning environments concerns the need to use as many of these principles in combination in the design of a school building as possible. >any principles reinforce each other in providing a coherency and wholeness often lacking in buildings designed around a single concept=fad like open schools or house concepts. 6chool designs that incorporate a variety of these principles will by definition have the fle"ibility to accommodate a wide array of learning styles. "hat do -e #no- (ro. ,rain research a,out ho- -e learn/ The brain is a vastly comple" and adaptive system with hundreds of billions of neurons and interneuron3s that can generate an astronomical number of neural nets or groups of neurons acting in concert from which our daily e"perience is constructed. >any findings seem obvious and intuitive as one outsider asked me +isn3t all learning brain-basedB+ 'or e"ample we all know intuitively that the best age to learn a new language is during our early childhood/ what neuroscientists call the principle of windows of opportunity. Ce can accept that all brains are uniAue and a product of interactions with different environments generating a lifetime of different and varied e"periences/ what scientists call plasticity. Ce can accept the notion that either you use it or you lose it/ new neural pathways are created every time we use our brains in thinking through problems but are lost forever * are pruned * if we do not use them.

Det with all we know now scientifically and claim we have known intuitively why do so many people educators and design professionals make instructional and physical design decisions that contradict these findingsB The findings from neuroscience are now validating scientifically much of the new instructional strategies being advocated in educational reform efforts since the )?7@s. (ndividualized instruction for instance is validated by findings concerning the importance of intrapersonal intelligence. Activity-based learning is now on solid footing with what we know about body-kinesthetic intelligence. 2ooperative learning strategies are a logical e"tension of the growing body of knowledge about the importance of interpersonal=social intelligence and brain development. Det it was the consensus of many participants at the brain-based workshop that brainbased learning and the strategies that are emerging from that research is still at a buzzword stage. Eardner3s >ultiple (ntelligences theory that posits a number of dimensions of intelligence ,linguistic logical=mathematical spatial musical body=kinesthetic interpersonal and intrapersonal- is !ust one of a number of eAually valid theories about intelligence and brain-based learning. Eardner himself has been frustrated by what he sees as reductionist thinking of many educational practitioners that talk the language but walk using their old instructional strategies dividing up learning activities into distinct learning modalities to the e"clusion of other dimensions. Brainbased learning reAuires a more systemic way of conceptualizing how learning takes place and how to facilitate it. Another concern with knowledge emerging from neuroscience is the need for translation into brain-based learning strategies that can be used by educators. Fver ninety percent of all neuroscientists are alive and still practicing today. (nterpreting the rapidly growing information on brain research generated by these scientists especially when some of that information is contradictory can be a daunting task The conclusion reached by both facilitators and general participants was that we should use caution when applying the findings of brain-based research but at the same time move ahead with what we know. Ce should not wait/ we need to act on what is known today knowing that some of this will change in the future. Fne e"ample that was brought up during the workshop was that scientists used to think that the brain was hardwired at a very early age and set for the rest of life what is called pruning. This assumption is only partially true today. %runing does take place at an early age but research has confirmed that nerves continue to grow throughout one3s life. Dou can teach old dogs a few new tricks after all. This is a huge discovery and has implications for life-long learning. Chen we learn a skill later in life such as when we learn stick-shift driving or skiing we find the learning process to be frustrating and awkward at first but soon these skills become automatic. This is a clear e"ample growing new neural connections and the principle of plasticity in connection with the development of body=kinesthetic intelligence. As with any new learning frustration seems to follow as in the case of learning to drive stick-shift. There is a period of time when we can3t get our body to do what our mind wants it to do. Ce get emotional. 'rom brain research we know now that when we get emotional about a task we are involved in learning. Brain research has confirmed that emotions are linked to learning by assisting us in recall of memories that are stored in

our central nervous system. Gmotions originate in the midbrain or what has been termed the limbic system and the neo-mammalian brain. 6ensory information is relayed to the thalamus in the midbrain which acts as a relay station to the sensory corte" auditory corte" etc. Chen sensory information reaches the amygdale another structure in the midbrain that sensory information is evaluated as either a threat or not creating the familiar fight or flight response * the physiological response of stress. This information is only then relayed to the frontal corte" our higher cognitive functions where we take the appropriate action. <ow does information from the midbrain reach the frontal corte"B 2hemicals neurotransmitters are released into the endocrine system which is connected to synapses altering coloring and intensifying our conscious e"perience of a situation. Gmotions aid in memory retention ,learning- of this situation as being good or bad. &ecreasing threat ,+driving our fear+ mistrust an"iety and competition- through cooperation providing safe places and providing a motivational climate for positive emotions ensure that learning will be retained. But brain research also suggests that the brain learns best when confronted with a balance between stress and comfort4 high challenge and low threat. The brain needs some challenge or environmental press that generates stress as described above to activate emotions and learning. ChyB 6tress motivates a survival imperative in the brain. Too much and an"iety shuts down opportunities for learning. Too little and the brain becomes too rela"ed and comfortable to become actively engaged. The phrase used to describe the brain state for optimal learning is that of rela"ed-alertness. %ractically speaking this means as designers and educators need to create places that are not only safe to learn but also spark some emotional interest through celebrations and rituals. Another general finding from brain research is that the brain is a pattern maker. %attern making is pleasing ,emotional content- for the brain. The brain takes great pleasure in taking random and chaotic information and ordering it. The implications for learning and instruction is that presenting a learner with random and unordered information provides the ma"imum opportunity for the brain to order this information and form meaningful patterns that will be remembered that will be learned. 6etting up a learning environment in this way mirrors real life that is often random and chaotic. The brain when allowed to e"press its pattern-making behavior creates coherency and meaning. $earning is best accomplished when the learning activity is connected directly to physical e"perience. Ce remember best when facts and skills are embedded in natural spatial memory in real-life activity in e"periential learning. Ce learn by doing. The implications of applying the findings of neuroscience related to coherency and meaning suggest that learning be facilitated in an environment of total immersion in a multitude of comple" interactive e"periences which could include traditional instructional methods of lecture and analysis as part of this larger e"perience. (nteraction of the brain with its environment suggests that the more enriched environment the more enriched brain. As one observer suggests we need to enrich like crazy. According to Ronald Hotulak in his )??7 book +(nside the Brain+ an enriched environment can contribute up to a .5I increase in the number of brain connections both early and later in life. Fur environments need to allow for active manipulation. To summarize there are at least twelve principles of brain-compatible learning that have emerged from brain research.

). JniAueness * every single brain is totally uniAue. .. (mpact of threat or high stress can alter and impair learning and even kill brain cells 0. Gmotions are critical to learning * they drive our attention health learning meaning and memory. 1. (nformation is stored and retrieved through multiple memory and neural pathways 5. All learning is mind-body * movement foods attentional cycles drugs and chemicals all have powerful modulating effects on learning. 7. The brain is a comple" and adaptive system * effective change involves the entire comple" system :. %atterns and programs drive our understanding * intelligence is the ability to elicit and to construct useful patterns. ;. The brain is meaning-driven * meaning is more important to the brain than information. ?. $earning is often rich and non-conscious * we process both parts and wholes simultaneously and are affected a great deal by peripheral influences. )@. The brain develops better in concert with other brains * intelligence is valued in the conte"t of the society in which we live. )). The brain develops with various stages of readiness. ).. Gnrichment * the brain can grow new connections at any age. 2omple" challenging e"periences with feedback are best. 2ognitive skills develop better with music and motor skills. "hat .ight ,e so.e school design $rinci$les that su$$ort ,rain+,ased learning/ Burton 2ohen and %eter <ilts took the material we discussed in the previous two workshops and challenged the group to think about how as planners and designers we might begin to create places for learning that support what they referred to as optimal learning e"periences. Chat would a brain-forming environment look likeB The first caveat we recognized as a group was that attempting to link research literature on brain research in neuroscience first to interpretations about this research forming principles of brain-based learning and second to facility implications is a very tentative e"ercise at best. Cith this in mind we attempted to outline what we felt were a dozen sound principles for design. (nterestingly many of these principles seemed intuitively right * principles any good designer would use. (f this is so then why we asked do most schools appear to work against brain-formingB Chat makes these principles new is the way in which they have been framed4 as brain-forming principles based directly on what we know about the neurophysiology of the brain and optimal learning environments. Gmbracing the concept of +place+ and place making * an opposed to space design -- is critical to understanding the way in which design principles for optimal learning environments are intended to be approached. Chen designing for optimal learning environments design must be approached in a holistic systemic way comprising not only the physical setting but also the social organizational pedagogical and emotional environments that are integral to the e"perience of place. Reducing these design principles to +physical+ design solutions negates the potential for creating authentically brain-compatible learning environments. This point can not be stressed strongly enough. &esigning successful brain-compatible learning environments will reAuire us as educators and design professionals to transform our traditional disciplinary thinking and

challenge us to think in much more interdisciplinary ways * !ust as cognitive scientists have had to do to address the comple"ity of brain research. +The 'hidden nine-tenths' of your mental strength lies buried... discover release and use it to gain new success personal happinessKa fuller richer life.+ - Advertisement for The >agic %ower of Dour >ind C.B. Eermain )?57 They say Lyou only use )@I of it.+ - Advertisement for database software )??? They say +Dou only use ))I of its potential.+ - Advertisement for digital T8 )??? They say +(t's been said that we use a mere )@I of our brain capacity.+ Advertisers believe it. The popular media promote it. &o we use only a small portion of our brainsB (f the answer to this Auestion is Des then knowing how to access the +unused+ part of our brain should unleash untapped mental powers and allow us perform at top efficiency. But is it true that we only use )@I of our brainsB $et's e"amine the issue of brain use and attempt to get at the truth behind the myth. "here Did the *&0 State.ent Begin/ The origin of the belief that we use only a small part of our brain is unclear. %erhaps the belief is derived from debates during the early );@@s between those who believed that brain function could be localized to particular regions of the brain and those who believed that the brain acted as a whole. These debates centered around 'ranz #oseph Eall ,):5:-);.;- and #ohann 6purzheim ,)::7-);0.- who developed the field of phrenology4 the idea that specific human behaviors and characteristics could be deduced by the pattern and size of bumps on the skull. Mot everyone agreed with Eall and 6purzheim. >arie-#ean-%ierre 'lourens ,):?1-);7:- an outspoken critic of phrenology believed that although the cerebral corte" cerebellum and brainstem had separate functions each of these areas functioned globally as a whole ,+eAuipotential+-. 'lourens supported his theories with e"periments in which he removed areas of the brain ,mostly in pigeons- and showed that behavioral deficits increased with size of the ablation. Although the work of Eustav 'ritsch ,);0;-)?.:- Gduard <itzig ,);0;-)?@:%aul Broca ,);.1-);;;- and Harl Cernicke ,);1;-)?@1- in the late );@@s provided strong data to counter the theory of eAuipotentiality some scientists in the early )?@@s appeared to once again favor the notion that the brain acted as a whole. Fne prominent researcher who promoted the theories of eAuipotentiality and +mass action+ was Harl 6pencer $ashley ,);?@-)?5;-. $ashley believed that memory was not dependent on any specific portion of the cerebral corte" and that the loss of memory was proportional to the amount of cerebral corte" that was removed. <is e"periments showed that the ability of rats to solve simple tasks such as mazes and visual discrimination tests were unaffected by large cerebral cortical lesions. As long as a certain amount of corte" remained the rats appeared normal on the tests he administered. 'or e"ample in )?0? $ashley reported that rats could perform visual discriminations with only .I of the visual thalamocortical pathway intact. <e even

estimated that this behavior reAuired only :@@ neurons. (n another e"periment in )?05 $ashley found that removal of up to 5;I of the cerebral corte" did not affect certain types of learning. (t is possible that over interpretation and e"aggeration of these data led to the belief that only a small portion of the brain is used. 'or e"ample although $ashley's rats may have been able to perform the simple tasks they were not tested on other more complicated paradigms. (n other words the brain tissue that was removed may have been used for tasks that $ashley did not test. >oreover $ashley was interested primarily in the cerebral corte" not in other areas of the brain. Therefore these data should not be e"trapolated to other parts of the brain. 6everal public figures have made reference to the )@I brain use statement. American psychologist Cilliam #ames wrote in )?@;4 +Ce are making use of only a small part of our possible mental and physical resources+. 6ome famous people without training in neuroscience such as physicist Albert Ginstein and anthropologist >argaret >ead are also attributed with statements regarding human use of only a small portion of the brain. Regardless of its origin the statement that we use only )@I of our brains has been promoted by the popular media for many years. (ndeed many advertisers have !umped on the statement to sell their products. According to these advertisements if we buy their products devices or programs we will be able to tap into the brain's unused powers and enrich our lives. Chat does it mean to +use only )@I of your brainB+ &oes this statement imply that only )@I of the brain's neurons is active at any one timeB (f so how could this be measuredB &oes the statement assume that only )@I of the brain is firing action potentials at one timeB Gven if this was true the discharge of action potentials is not the only function of neurons. Meurons receive a constant barrage of signals from other neurons that result in postsynaptic potentials. %ostsynaptic potentials do not always result in the generation of action potentials. Mevertheless these neurons even in the absence of generating action potentials are active. 1ee$ing the Brain uiet

(f all neurons of the brain were generating action potentials at the same time it is highly likely to result in dysfunction. (n fact some neurotransmitters such as EABA act to inhibit the activity of neurons and reduce the probability that an action potential will be produced. >assive e"citation of neurons in the cerebral corte" may result in seizures such as those that occur during epilepsy. (nhibition of neuronal activity is a normal and important function of the brain. (n other words some areas of the brain keep other areas Auiet. (t is also important to keep in mind that neurons are not the only type of brain cell. Although there are an estimated )@@ billion neurons in the human brain there are another ten to fifty times that number of glial cells in the brain. Elial cells do not generate action potentials. Elial cells function to4

support the brain structurally insulate a"ons clean up cellular debris around neurons regulate the chemical composition of the e"tra cellular space

Could we behave normally without ?@ billion neurons and billions of glial cellsB Could we be !ust fine if ?@I of our brains was removedB (f the average human brain weighs ) 1@@ grams ,about 0 lb- and ?@I of it was removed that would leave )1@ grams ,about @.0 lb- of brain tissue. That's about the size of a sheep's brain. 2linical evidence indicates that damage to even a small area of the brain such as that caused by a stroke may have devastating effects. 6ome neurological disorders ,e.g. %arkinson's diseasealso affect only specific areas of the brain. &isabilities may arise after damage to far less ?@I of any particular brain area. Because removal of small essential brain areas may have severe functional conseAuences neurosurgeons must map the brain carefully before removing brain tissue during operations for epilepsy or brain tumors. I.aging the Acti!e Brain (n addition to clinical evidence brain imaging methods appear to refute the )@I brain use statement. 'or e"ample positron emission tomography ,%GT- scans show that much of the brain is active during many different tasks. Fften when brain scans are published they have been manipulated to show relative amounts of brain activity rather than absolute activity. This graphical presentation of the data shows differences in brain activity. Therefore it may appear that some areas of the brain are inactive when in fact they were active but at a lower level compared to other sites. Brain scans only show activity for the carefully designed isolated tasks being tested such as memory or visual processing. They do not show activity related to other untested abilities. (magine the brain is a restaurant kitchen. (f you looked in on the kitchen at one time you may see the chef preparing salad. <owever you may not know that the main course is cooking in the oven. 6imilarly if you image the brain during a visual task you will not see the other patterns of activity associated with performing different ,simultaneous- tasks. E!olution and De!elo$.ent "eigh In 'rom an evolutionary perspective it is unlikely that a brain that is ?@I useless would develop. The brain is an e"pensive organ to maintain and utilizes a large supply of the body's energy resources. 2ertainly there are redundant pathways that serve similar functions. This redundancy may be a type of +safety mechanism+ should one pathway for a specific function fail. 6till functional brain imaging studies show that all parts of the brain function. Gven during sleep the brain is active. The brain is still being +used+/ it is !ust in a different active state. 'rom a developmental perspective the )@I of the brain statement also fails. The adage +use it or lose it+ seems to apply to the developing nervous system. &uring development many new synapses in the brain are formed. After birth many synapses are eliminated later on in development. This period of synaptic development and elimination goes on to +fine tune+ the wiring of the nervous system. (t appears that correct input is reAuired to maintain a synapse. (f input to a particular neural system is eliminated then neurons in this system may not function properly. Mobel %rize winners &avid <. <ubel and Torsten M. Ciesel demonstrated this in the visual system. They showed that complete loss of vision would occur when visual information was eliminated during early development. (t seems reasonable to suggest that if ?@I of the brain was not used then many neural pathways would likely degenerate.

Brains are Auite adaptable and do have the ability to recover after damage. Chen a brain is damaged remaining neural tissue can sometimes take over and compensate for the loss. The ability of the brain to recover lost functions does not indicate that the damaged tissue had no function. Rather this ability illustrates the brain's capacity to reorganize and rewire itself. (t appears that there is no hidden storehouse of untapped brain power. Ce use all of our brain. T-el!e Brain23ind Learning Princi$les Among the many supporters of <art3s approach to educating with the brain3s functions and design in mind are Renate Mummela 2aine and Eeoffrey 2aine authors of >aking 2onnections4 Teaching and the <uman Brain ,)??)- Jnleashing the %ower of %erceptual 2hange4 The %otential of Brain-Based Teaching ,)??:- and Gducation on the Gdge of %ossibility ,)??:-. They build on the idea of brain-compatible learning with a list of twelve +brain=mind learning principles.+ These principles according to 2aine and 2aine synthesize research related to the brain and learning from many disciplines and present it in a form that is useful to educators. The twelve principles they continue can function as a theoretical foundation for brain-based learning and offer guidelines and a framework for teaching and learning. Their e"plicitly cautious approach to bridging neuroscience and teaching practices reveals a fundamental and important dilemma4 how to achieve a balance between taking advantage of new research findings that have important implications for education and avoiding grand ,and potentially irresponsible- conclusions with tenuous scientific basis. (n >aking 2onnections where 2aine and 2aine3s approach to brain-based education is formalized they state the need to refrain from prematurely over-concluding given the dynamic nature of current brain research4 +Both in the neurosciences and in education we will no doubt learn more in the years to come. Though we make strong recommendations and suggestions the book has an open-ended Auality.+ $ike <art 2aine and 2aine choose to interpret brain research holistically. And the +). Brain=>ind $earning %rinciples + though the name may lead you to believe otherwise are not based solely on the findings of neuroscience. (nstead these principles and the ideas generated from them come from a wide range of additional disciplines including cognitive psychology sociology philosophy education technology sports psychology creativity research and physics. As 2aine and 2aine e"plain all of the principles are +the result of a cross-disciplinary search.+ These principles are not the authors are the first to admit definitive or closed to revision/ as more is discovered about the brain and how we learn and remember educators will need to update their knowledge4 These principles are not meant to represent the final word on learning. 2ollectively they do however result in a fundamentally new integrated view of the learning process and the learner. They move us away from seeing the learner as a blank slate and toward an appreciation of the fact that body brain and mind are a dynamic unity.

"here Did the 4*% Brain23ind Learning Princi$les4 Co.e 5ro./ %rinciple ))--+2omple" learning is enhanced by challenge and inhibited by threat+* illustrates how each principle is derived from a mi"ture of disciplines. (n Gducation on the Gdge of %ossibility 2aine and 2aine illustrate the origins of %rinciple )) a principle that many brain-based learning advocates discuss but the cross-disciplinary origins of which few actually reveal. The effects of perceived threat or distress on cognitive functioning led 2aine and 2aine to identify the optimal state of mind for learning +rela"ed alertness + one of three central elements accompanying comple" learning. To translate into practical terms no one who has e"perienced the +fight or flight+ fear response would identify this state as optimal for learning. +Brain-based learning+ theory is a combination of common sense and brain science*in this case the brain3s physiological reaction to stress*making neuroscience a useful partner for improving education. The research areas that contributed to principle )) include4 +6tress Theory/ An"iety Research/ 6elf-Gfficacy/ Meurosciences/ 6ports %sychology/ and 2reativity.+ Practical 6se o( Brain23ind Princi$les 2aine and 2aine do not use the principles to prescribe any single teaching method. (nstead the principles are intended to provide a framework for +selecting the methodologies that will ma"imize learning and make teaching more effective and fulfilling.+ They may open doors for educators increase teaching options or serve as a guidepost to educators already working to implement brain-compatible teaching practices. 'ollowing is the complete list of the twelve brain=mind learning principles as defined by 2aine and 2aine4 ). The brain is a comple" adaptive system. .. The brain is a social brain. 0. The search for meaning is innate. 1. The search for meaning occurs through patterning. 5. Gmotions are critical to patterning. 7. Gvery brain simultaneously perceives and creates parts and wholes. :. $earning involves both focused attention and peripheral attention. ;. $earning always involves conscious and unconscious processes. ?. Ce have at least two ways of organizing memory. )@. $earning is developmental. )). 2omple" learning is enhanced by challenge and inhibited by threat. ).. Gvery brain is uniAuely organized. ,2aine and 2aine )??:Three Conditions (or Learning 2aine and 2aine conclude that +Fptimizing the use of the human brain means using the brain3s infinite capacity to make connections*and understanding what conditions ma"imize this process.+ They identify three interactive and mutually supportive elements that should be present in order for comple" learning to occur4 +rela"ed alertness + +orchestrated immersion + and +active processing.+

1. An optimal state of mind that we call rela7ed alertness consisting of low

threat and high challenge.

2. The orchestrated i..ersion of the learner in multiple comple"

authentic e"perience.

3. The regular acti!e $rocessing of e"perience as the basis for making

meaning.

Real+li(e E7a.$les Rather than offering a list of +how to3s + 2aine and 2aine provide many illustrations of how these three elements may manifest themselves in real-life learning situations. They analyze for instance the success of famous math teacher #aime Gscalante whose students from the $os Angeles barrio passed the calculus advanced placement e"am in astounding numbers. They claim that Gscalante whose teaching career was portrayed in the movie +6tand and &eliver + was using brain-based practices4 +Although we Auestion his te"tbook approach to the content of the sub!ect he understands his students and the world students live in. (n his classes calculus becomes a way of life is a source of pride and is linked to deeper understanding of how mathematics opens doors to further study and the individual student3s future.+ As the term +orchestrated immersion+ implies the teacher becomes the orchestrator or the architect designing e"periences that will lead students to make meaningful connections. A second grade teacher3s successful efforts to teach punctuation specifically commas periods and e"clamation points serves as a good e"ample of how a teacher may use what students already know to teach what is abstract and unfamiliar. After giving her students verbal e"planations of what each of these punctuation marks means ,the comma +slow down+/ the period +stop+/ and the e"clamation mark +emphasis+- the teacher had her students read out loud. But the verbal e"planations she had given them did not affect the way they read. 'inally e"asperated she had them put on their coats and follows her outside. 6he told them +( am going to read to you and ( want you to walk around in a circle. Chen ( say Ncomma3 ( want you to slooow down whenever ( say Nperiod3 ( want you to stop dead in your tracks and when ( say Ne"clamation mark3 ( want you to !ump up and downO.+ 6he tried this for five minutes with perfect success. Chen they went back inside and read all of them slowed down at the commas paused at periods and used emphasis at e"clamations points. Teaching and the 8rgan o( Learning >aking 2onnections4 Teaching and the <uman Brain includes many wonderful real-life e"amples of how the three elements of rela"ed alertness orchestrated immersion and active processing occur in successful teaching situations at all levels from elementary school to college and beyond and with a variety of methods. 2urrent neuroscience research does not yet fully and accurately e"plain why such real-life e"amples are effective. Mevertheless teaching and a need for understanding how +the organ of learning+ works are now linked as never before. Meuroscience is currently so dynamic that this connection although secure will inevitably grow and change and strengthen. The educator3s role will increasingly take on

an added and +brain-based+ dimension -- that of remaining open to and curious about a growing field of information. (nterpreting information in a way that leads to appropriate and responsible classroom practices is a crucial and often overlooked link in building this bridge between education and research on in <art3s words +the most comple" apparatus we know of in the universe + the human brain. "hat is 4Brain+Based Learning4/

The 8rgan o( Learning To many the term +brain-based learning+ sounds redundant. (sn3t all learning and teaching brain-basedB Advocates of brain-based teaching insist that there is a difference between +brain-compatible+ education and +brain-antagonistic+ teaching practices and methods which can actually prevent learning. (n his book <uman Brain and <uman $earning ,)?;0- $eslie <art argues that teaching without an awareness of how the brain learns is like designing a glove with no sense of what a hand looks like*its shape how it moves. <art pushes this analogy even further in order to drive home his primary point4 if classrooms are to be places of learning then +the organ of learning + the brain must be understood and accommodated4 All around us are hand-compatible tools and machines and keyboards designed to fit the hand. Ce are not apt to think of them in that light because it does not occur to us that anyone would bring out some device to be used by human hands without being sure that the nature of hands was considered. A keyboard machine or musical instrument that called for eight fingers on each hand would draw instant ridicule. Det we force millions of children into schools that have never seriously studied the nature and shape of the human brain and which not surprisingly prove actively brain-antagonistic. ,<art )?;0Eranted the brain is infinitely more comple" than the hand. Although <art does not deny the brain3s vast intricacy and he admits to his own deliberate simplifications regarding the brain3s design he argues that some knowledge even if it is partial and simplified can still be applied to Ldesign brain-fitting brain-compatible instructional settings and procedures.+ 6uch settings and procedures would emphasize +real-world+ e"posure. The school in <art3s words would become an +e"citing center where there is constant encounter with the richness and variety of the real world+ as opposed to a +dreary egg crate of classroomsOalmost empty of anything real one might learn from.+

Re(erences9 Gducation on the Gdge of %ossibility 2aine and 2aine <uman Brain and <uman $earning ,)?;0- $eslie <art +(nside the Brain ,)??7- Ronald Hotulak >aking 2onnections4 Teaching and the <uman Brain >aking 2onnections4 Teaching and the <uman Brain ,)??)- Mummela 2aine and Eeoffrey 2aine The $anguage of $earning4 A Euide to Gducation Terms, by J. L. McBrien & R. S. Brandt, 1997, Alexandria, VA: Association for S !er"ision and # rric l $ %e"elo!$ent. Jnleashing the %ower of %erceptual 2hange4 The %otential of Brain-Based Teaching ,)??:- 2aine and 2aine ). &esign %rinciples Based on Brain-based $earning Research By #effery A. $ackney %h.&.