Brain Science And Education

Education today is a pre-scientific discipline, reliant upon psychology (philosophy, sociology etc.) for its theoretical foundation. Although behaviorism dominated education for a long time, an understanding of cognitive psychology has begun to significantly impact the educational community. But the cognitive psychology haven't radically changed the education practice. Educators need a strong theoretical base for what they do to guarantee that a approach to teaching is appropriate. During the most recent decades, much research conducted on the brain has provides scientific explanations for many existing classroom practices, offers new challenges to develop brain-friendly curricula. Educators are now confronting an explosion of new information about the workings of our brain that will profoundly affect educational policy and practice.But due to the fact that there have historically been few direct contacts between brain research and education, and there is no widespread consensus on the potential applications of brain research to education, the number of discoveries from brain research that have been exploited by education is still slim. To realize its full potential in education, meaningful collaborations between brain research and education are essential. This article tries to explore the possibility that brain research might offer a sounder basis for education and create more bridges between the two research communities.Introduction, based on analyzing the limit of psychology-behaviorism and cognitive learning theory, points out that educators need to know about the knowledge of human brain.The first part makes a brief review the history of brain research's application in education and analyses the current situation. There are three phases, which all have limits.The second part makes a thorough analysis on four essential questions: how the plastic brain, and the brain's critical development, and the modular brain, and the emotional brain, are challenging basic assumptions about traditional education. These brain theories meeting education are found below, (a) The evolved brain andconstructivism. Brain research already suggests that brain growth and development are epigenetic. While brain development is obviously a matter of genetics, it is not reducible to genetics alone. Genes control the whole business indirectly, but the brain's fate is determined by epigenetic events that depend on developmental histories unique to individual experiences. These facts appear to bear out each learner's active learning, the value of constructivist approach to foster meaningful connections with prior understanding.(b) Opportunities for Learning. Brain development is a remarkable process. Progemtor cells are born, differentiate, and migrate to their final locations. Axons and dendrites branch and form synaptic connections within most regions. This process results in different critical and sensitive periods of brain development. A popular but problematic idea found in the brain-based literature is that during these periods children learn faster, easier, and with more meaning than at any other time in their lives. Many claims found in the emerging brain and education literature are vague, metaphorical, or based on misconceptions. This part intends to address what we really do know about the critical period, and what that in turn tells us about education practice. (c)The modular brain meets education. The brain is arranged according to a distributed system composed of large numbers of modular elements linked together. Then the brain is designed to perceive and generate patterns and is constantly seeking to place new information into existing neurological networks. The search for meaning is basic to the human brain and takes place by patterning. Learning is enhanced by meaningful challenges. Isolated pieces of information unrelated to what makes sense to a student is resisted by the brain. Understanding and memory are enhanced when facts and skills are embedded in natural, real world. (d)Emotion and education. Research on...