Are making connections really making connections?

Mary Oliver Graduate School of Education mary.oliver@uwa.edu.au

Educational neuroscience: rationale

What is neuroscience?
Imaging, resources, what we have learned so far

Reflect on the survey data

Use and mis-use of neuroscience in education

Possible directions
Critical thinking about research

6.2 Engage in professional learning and improve practice

Graduate
Understand the relevant and appropriate sources of professional learning for teachers.

Proficient
Participate in learning to update knowledge and practice, targeted to professional needs and school and/or system priorities.

Highly Accomplished Lead

Plan for professional learning by accessing and critiquing relevant research, engage in high quality targeted opportunities to improve practice and offer quality placements for preservice teachers where applicable. Initiate collaborative relationships to expand professional learning opportunities, engage in research, and provide quality opportunities and placements for preservice teachers.

Teaching area (early childhood, primary, secondary)

Teaching area other, please specify early childhood primary secondary Numbers 9 11 16 89 % 7% 9% 13 % 71 %

What is your subject of your first degree?

Subject of first degree English Science Numbers 22 20 % % %

Mathematics
History, Geography Human Movement

6
13 9

%
% %

Languages other than 7 English

Music, Art, Design Religion, Philosophy Law, Legal Studies Other, please specify Total 10 1 1 36

%
% % % % %

A childs educational achievement: genes, environment, education?

Choice Average Value

Education
Genes Home environment

66 %
38 % 62 %

93 % think: Cognitive abilities are inherited and cannot be modified by the environment or by life experience

Levels of development
Classroom Educational theory Psychology

Cognitive neuroscience
Neuroscience
Tommerdahl, 2010

What is neuroscience?
Neuroscience
Cellular processes Chemical and electrical

Cognitive neuroscience
Brain function Coordination of neural activity

signalling
Underpins all neural activity Information transfer mechanisms Concerned with cognition Working memory, speech perception
Tommerdahl, 2010

How do the following contribute to a childs educational achievement? ( 100 is 100%)

93 % think: Cognitive abilities are inherited and cannot be modified by the environment or by life experience

Intelligence
Intelligence is a very general capability that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience. It is not merely book learning, a narrow academic skill, or test-taking smarts.

after Gottfredson 1997 in Deary, Penke & Johnson, 2010 p. 201).

Scotland, 1993

Does socioeconomic status effect school grades?

Is there a relationship between ICSEA and the baseline test score?

7
6.5

Mean score for Year 8 students

5.5

4.5

n= 1 3250 r=.87

3.5

2.5

2 750 800 850 900 950 1000 1050 1100 1150 1200 1250

Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA)

Possible interventions

Hackman, Farah Meaney, 2010

Genes, shared, non shared environment

Tucker-Drob E M et al. Psychological Science 2010;0956797610392926

Copyright by Association for Psychological Science

Hackman, Farah Meaney, 2010

Good neuroscience
Teenagers knowing about brain plasticity improves their self concept, academic achievement

Brain regions for fingers and processing of numbers are proximal and has led to successful educational intervention
Brain-related activity at birth can predict risk of dyslexia Deprivation may persist inter-generationally
Paul Howard-Jones, 2011

Imaging, images and imagination

We only use 10% of our brains

MRI

Measuring blood oxygen demand

Brain imaging
social exclusion is linked with activation of the same brain areas activated for physical pain whole brain activity

Eisenberger, Liberman, & Williams (2003) Kay, Naselaris, Prenger, & Gallant (2008)

London taxi drivers

Navigation expertise: positive outcomes

Woollett K et al. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 2009;364:1407-1416

2009 by The Royal Society

Extended rehearsal of some mental processes can change the shape and structure of some parts of the brain
Answer Agree Don't know Disagree Response 90 27 8 % 72 % 22 % 6%

Age-dependent difference.

G Kempermann Science 2012;335:1175-1176

Published by AAAS

Memory is stored in the brain much like as in a computer. That is, each memory goes into a tiny piece of the brain
Answer
Agree Don't know Disagree
Is the computer analogy useful?

Response

55 34 35

44 27 28

Learning to read English is difficult: phonemes are the problem

46 English
23 French bib pip did

19 Italian
14 Hawaiian

... ough ....

About 90% of children use primarily the left brain, which is responsible for logic and analytical ability.

Differences in hemispheric dominance (left brain, right brain) can help explain individual differences
Answer Agree Don't know Disagree Response 85 26 14 % 68 % 21 % 11 %

MRI and PET scans overlaid

Activity in left cerebral hemisphere (language centre) Extra activity in dyslexic Reduced neural connection

Learning to read
connecting 2 sets of brain regions
object recognition language circuit

3 stages:
pictorial (photopgrahic) phonological orthographic (automatic)

(Upper) Sample stimulus from the Graphogame (3) used to teach kindergarten children letter speech sound associations.

McCandliss B D PNAS 2010;107:8049-8050

2010 by National Academy of Sciences

 Twice tested
Mean increase of 2 points in 3 years PIQ and VIQ correlated ( = g)

changes in IQ correlated with changes in local brain structure.

Ramsden et al. Nature 479, 113-116. (2011)

The developing brain

Functional brain maturation curve: long range networks strengthened, short range weakened

Dosenbach et al. Science 2010;329:1358-1361

Intelligence during adolescence?

Considered to be stable across lifespan
Power of prediction

Ability and brain correlates

Strength of relationship

Ability and brain correlates

Male and female brains

http://www .newscientist.com/data/images/archive/2802/28021401.jpg

Male and female: different?

BOYS Boy toys Height Girls toys Mathematical concepts SAT verbal Leadership potential Verbal fluency Physical aggression Empathy 0.4-1.3 0.3-1.3 0.5 2.1 2 1.8 GIRLS NO DIFFERENCE

Male and female: all in the brain?

BOYS Boy toys Height Girls toys Mathematical concepts SAT verbal Leadership potential Verbal fluency Physical aggression Empathy Pfaff. 2010 0.4-1.3 0.3-1.3 0.5 2.1 2 GIRLS NO DIFFERENCE

2
1.8

Can you wait and what does it mean if you can?

Eat it now or wait 15 minutes and have 2 What would you do?

Decision, decisions and self control

rational thoughts, urgent decisions such as If I wait, I take place in the get the second more primitive sweet, take place ventral striatum in the pre-frontal These decisions cortex
that connect to deeper desire and reward depend on the environment around us

Sort out hot and cool cues: can we learn to be more rational?
Hot cues Impulse Anger Sadness Happiness
Limbic, primitive system

Cool cues Planning Problem solving Working memory Reasoning

Activate cognitive system

A stable trait? ... 40 years later

fMRI, delay tasks, hot and cool stimuli Hot cues Reduced self-control
Addiction Weight control Mental health

Cool cues Better social and emotional coping

Adolescence a time when cognitive control vulnerable to alluring environmental cues

p.15001

B. J. Casey, L. H. Somerville, I. H. Gotlib, O. Ayduk, N. T. Franklin, M. K. Askren, J. Jonides, M. G. Berman, N. L. Wilson, T. Teslovich, G. Glover, V. Zayas, W. Mischel, Y. Shoda. Behavioral and neural correlates of delay of gratification 40 years later. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2011 vol. 108 no. 36 14998-15003

BrainU (http://brainu.org/)
Inquiry-based pedagogy and neuroscience Synaptic plasticity
Creating new connections turns on genes Alters teachers perceptions of students Motivates students to apply themselves in school

Dubinsky, 2010

The parallel world of pseudo-neuroscience in schools

82% think learning styles help children learn 20% think you need to drink 6-8 glasses of water a day to prevent shrinkage of the brain 75% think we use only 10% of the brain at a time

90% of children use primarily the left brain

Brain Gym helps children learn

To learn how to do something, it is necessary to pay attention to it.

Answer
Agree

Response
65

%
53 %

Don't know
Disagree

5
49

7%
40 %

What colour are the words?

Conflict evidence in the brain

Ovaysikia, S., Chan, J. L., Tahir, K., & DeSouza, J. F. X. Word wins over Face: Emotional Stroop effect activates the frontal cortical network. [Original Research]. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 4.

Visuo-spatial capacity over a life span

8

7
6

WM Capacity

5 4 3 2 1 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60

Age in years
Data from Swanson (1999) in Klingberg

Individual learners show preferences for the mode in which they receive information (e.g. visual, etc)
Answer Agree Don't know Disagree Response 119 4 1 % 96 3 1

children and adults will, if asked, express preferences about how they prefer information to be presented to them
Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. (2008). Learning Styles. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 9(3), 105-119.

How to evaluate brain-based products

Focus Goals Match Research Pros and cons Impact on behaviour Action Identify educational goals and student population Between educational goal and purpose of product Evidence, methods of evaluating merits, theory base of research PMI Better attention, memory, learning, juggling
Sylvan &Christodoulou, 2010

The Hattie Effect

Hattie, 2009

Halfway through the exam, he pulls out a bigger brain .

Intervention?
To explain how xxx works, the xxx describe human brain function in terms of three dimensions: laterality, focus, and centering. Successful brain function requires efficient connections across the neural pathways located throughout the brain. Stress inhibits these connections, while the xxx movements stimulate a flow of information along these networks, restoring the innate ability to learn and function with curiosity and joy.

International renowned program

XXX structures are aligned with the principles of brain compatible learning. They provide a safe team context and interpersonal support, so students feel secure. Reduced threat is a hallmark of brain compatible learning. Because of the stimulating interaction and intelligence shifts, the XXX structures create high stimulation and novelty which are conditions for brain compatible learning.

Summary
What you do can change your brain (plasticity) Use of learning styles is not justified (Pashler, 2008) Focus, pay attention Deprivation / SES: issues of social justice Critically examine programs:
Theoretical basis, evidence, worthwhile

Teachers responsibilities
authentic consumers of research evaluate research findings discriminate relevant information from neuromyths understand research and potential implications for practice

Future possibilities
Brain science a useful partner in improving
knowledge diagnosis and remediation

The best age to start school for early education?

Regular exercise throughout the day?

Are there critical ages for development in numeracy and literacy?
Tommerdahl, 2010

Evaluate
The de Bono Institute, Melbourne http://www.thinkplus.info/
BrainGym at http://www.braingym.com.au/About-Brain-Gympg6639.html

Learning styles and school children at http://extension.missouri.edu/publications/Display Pub.aspx?P=GH6127

Some references
Blackwell, L. S., Trzesniewski, K. H., & Dweck, C. S. (2007). Implicit Theories of Intelligence Predict Achievement Across an Adolescent Transition: A Longitudinal Study and an Intervention. Child Development, 78(1), 246-263. Crossland, J. (2008). The myths surrounding brain-based learning. School Science Review (90) 330, 119-121 Dubinsky, J. M. (2010). Neuroscience Education for Prekindergarten-12 Teachers. J. Neurosci., 30(24), 8057-8060. Eisenberger, N.I., Liberman, M.D., & Williams, K.D. (2003). Does rejection hurt? An fMRI study of social exclusion. Science, 302, 290 - 292. Howard-Jones, P. (2011). From Brain Scan to Lesson Plan. The Psychologist, 24(2), 110-113. Kay, K. N., Naselaris, T., Prenger, R. J., & Gallant, J. L. (2008). Identifying natural images from human brain activity. Nature, 452(7185), 352-355. Oliver, M. (2011). Towards an understanding of neuroscience for science educators. Studies in Science Education 47(2), 207-231. Ramsden, S., Richardson, F. M., Josse, G., Thomas, M. S. C., Ellis, C., Shakeshaft, C., et al. (2011). Verbal and non-verbal intelligence changes in the teenage brain. Nature, 479, 113-116. Tommerdahl, J. (2010). A model for bridging the gap between neuroscience and education. Oxford Review of Education, 36(1), 97 - 109. Tucker-Drob, E. M., Rhemtulla, M., Harden, K. P., Turkheimer, E., & Fask, D. (2010). Emergence of a Gene Socioeconomic Status Interaction on Infant Mental Ability Between 10 Months and 2 Years. Psychological Science.

Go boldly
Try this out at http://www.dnalc.org/view/1723Memory-Lanes-Brain-Imaging-and-TaxiDrivers.html Neuroscience for Kids is at: http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/neurok.html