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How Can Brain Research Inform Academic Learning and Instruction?

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This paper explores the potential of neuroscience for improving educational practice by describing the perspective of educational psychology as a linking science; providing historical context showing educational psychology’s 100-year search for an educationally relevant neuroscience; offering a conceptual framework for the connections among neuroscience, cognitive science, educational psychology, and educational practice; and laying out a research agenda for the emerging field of educational neuroscience.
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How Can Brain Research Inform Academic
Learning and Instruction?
Richard E. Mayer
1
Published online: 7 November 2016
#Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016
Abstract This paper explores the potential of neuroscience for improving educational practice
by describing the perspective of educational psychology as a linking science; providing
historical context showing educational psychologys 100-year search for an educationally
relevant neuroscience; offering a conceptual framework for the connections among neurosci-
ence, cognitive science, educational psychology, and educational practice; and laying out a
research agenda for the emerging field of educational neuroscience.
Keywords Educational neuroscience .Brain-based learning .Brain research .Cognitive
neuroscience
Educational Psychology as a Linking Science
Educational neuroscience is a scientific field that attempts to connect educatione.g., under-
standing how instruction affects learning of school subjects such as reading or arithmeticand
neurosciencee.g., understanding how the nervous system works. Consider whether you
agree with each of the following statements about the relation between education and
neuroscience:
Educ Psychol Rev (2017) 29:835846
DOI 10.1007/s10648-016-9391-1
This paper is based on a symposium on BBrain Science and Education: Is It Still a Bridge Too Far?^organized by
Ray S. Perez, Danielle S. McNamara, Gregg Solomon, and Wayne D. Gray and presented at the 2016 Annual
Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society.
*Richard E. Mayer
mayer@psych.ucsb.edu
1
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106,
USA
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
... Researchers are, therefore, looking at how to create the best possible conditions for students to learn. One direction is the integration of neuroscience with educational sciences [1], combining the collaboration of different researchers (educators, psychologists, neuroscientists) [2]. However, with regard to the relevance of the field of educational neuroscience, a debate is brewing in the research community about whether neuroscience can improve teaching and learning processes in the classroom. ...
... Neuroscience provides explanations about teaching and learning processes [7][8][9], but according to Mayer [2], these are still rarely applied in teaching practice. Teachers are still guided by various neuromyths [10][11][12]. ...
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The aim of this paper is to show how teachers apply teaching and learning strategies related to the principles of the nervous system’s functions. In our view, understanding what constitutes good teaching is about identifying how it engages the underlying cognitive and neurosystemic processes within the human brain in relation to learning. Using a student self-assessment questionnaire, we have investigated several key processes involved in neurodidactics (excitation, perception, memory, and the use, transfer, and adaptation of information and/or actions). The sample consisted of 884 7–10th grade students. The results showed that students’ excitation, understanding, and consolidation of educational material are directly related to the work of the teacher and the teaching strategies they apply to attract and stimulate the student’s attention and to help the student to understand and remember information. The learning strategies used by the students reflect the learner’s learning activity, i.e., the use and application of strategies that allow internal knowledge to emerge. The consolidation of the learning material and the learning strategies used by the students was statistically significantly higher among the female participants. There are significant differences between low- and high-achieving students in terms of the effectiveness of teaching strategies for consolidation and the learning strategies applied by learners. The paper provides practical recommendations for teachers.
... Dual-code theory (DCT) (Paivio, 1971;Sadoski & Paivio, 2012) postulates that human cognition involves two distinct systems for processing information, one specializing in verbal information and the other non-verbal information, particularly imagery. Combining written and visual information has shown to enhance comprehension, problem-solving, and learning outcomes across different educational domains (Clark & Paivio, 1991;Mayer, 2017). Visual information is also typically perceived as easier, faster, and more enjoyable than written information (Grabe, 2020). ...
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... Brain-based education has been shown to enhance students' performance as well as motivation in the classroom. Several studies (e.g., Tate, 2013;Marope, 2016;Mayer, 2017) have shown that brain centric strategies utilised in the Brain-based approach was developed based on the understanding of the various mechanisms of brain functions which has been shown to be effective in enhancing students' performance. In addition, the educational environment recommended by Brain-based education provides students with the opportunity to experience activities that are compatible with the brains' natural learning systems which has been shown to motivate students to learn, encourage achievement, as well as inspire creative thinking (Ashraf Atta, 2017). ...
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... Nowadays, the application of cognitive neuroscience results in the field of education has become one of the research focuses [1]. The Default Mode Network (DMN) is a novel and recently valued brain system that participates in internal cognitive patterns [2]. ...
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... The tendency has led to an increasing number of teaching methods that are gradually being influenced and improved by these neuroscience findings. This is because cognitive neuroscience data in learning and teaching research not only support behavioral findings from previous studies, but also provide new insights into cognitive processes in the brain during learning that are not known from behavioral research alone (Mayer, 2017). ...
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... This study demonstrates the value of using fNIRS technology to study brain activity during learning, and thereby adds to the field of educational neuroscience. Although interest in neuroscience has a long history in our field, dating back to Thorndike's (1913) early textbooks of educational psychology, there is consensus over the years that educational neuroscience has not yet reached its potential in our field (Bruer, 1997;Mayer, 1998Mayer, , 2017Wittrock, 1980). The present study adds to the growing research base using fNIRS as a direct way to study the effects of instructional methods on learning processes (as measured by brain activity). ...
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Background Two generative learning activities aimed at improving students' learning are explaining learning materials to oneself or to others. Although these techniques have been shown to improve learning outcomes, there is less evidence concerning the role of brain activity during learning. Aims This study explored the effects of these techniques on brain activation patterns (as measured by fNIRS) and learning outcomes (as measured by retention and transfer tests). Sample and methods Ninety-nine college students studied a text-based multimedia lesson about the Doppler Effect and then either explained the material to a real person (explain-to-others group, n = 33), explained the material to themselves (explain-to-oneself group, n = 34), or restudied the text (restudy group, n = 32). Students' brain activity during learning was recorded using fNIRS techniques and all students completed retention and transfer posttests and mental effort, presence, and anxiety surveys. Results Both the explain-to-others group and the explain-to-oneself group obtained higher scores on retention, mental effort, and state anxiety than the restudy group. The explain-to-others and explain-to-oneself groups also displayed greater activation of brain networks associated with attention, working memory, and metacognitive processing (i.e., the bilateral TPJ and the right OFC). The explain-to-others group outperformed the restudy group on transfer test, social presence ratings, and explanation quality. The explain-to-others group also displayed greater activation in brain networks associated with social processing (the left dlPFC and the left TPJ) compared to the explain-to-oneself group. Conclusions This study extended generative learning theory and pointed out the advantage of learning-by-teaching based on neuroscience evidence.
... Nowadays, attaching importance to the application of cognitive neuroscience results in the field of education has become a hot spot and trend [1]. The discovery of Default Mode Network (DMN) has made people realize the importance of rest in learning, changed the cognition of human brain function and learning, and subverted the understanding of "rest". ...
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... In the scientific literature of various fields related to the educational process, representatives of neuroscience increasingly offer information about the process of learning (Ekman et al., 2022). However, according to Mayer (2017), this knowledge is rarely applied. Learning results from the activity of the pupil's brain, a neurological process that can be analysed by answering the following questions: How does learning occur, and what factors can facilitate learning? ...
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