Transcript Enhancing Teaching by Understanding How Students Learn Jie Zhang, Ph.D. Department of Education and Human Development References Terry Doyle (2012).

Enhancing Teaching by
Understanding How
Students Learn
Jie Zhang, Ph.D.
Department of Education and Human Development
References
Terry Doyle (2012). Helping students learn in harmony
with their brain. Bethesda, MD, May 30-June 2,
2012. Lilly Conference on College and
University Teaching and Learning .
www.learnercenteredteaching.wordpress.com
WHAT IS LEARNING?
Guido Sarducci Five Minute University:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO8x8eoU3L4
 Teachers’ definition of learning:
Learning is the ability to use information after
significant periods of disuse AND it is the ability to
use the information to solve problems that arise in
a context different (if only slightly) from the context
in which the information was originally taught
(Robert Bjork, Memories and Metamemories,
1994).

QUESTION: WHAT DO WE WANT
OUR STUDENTS TO LEARN?
WE ARE BORN TO LEARN.
The brain was meant to explore and learn.
 The brain needs … to function effectively:
Exercise
Sleep
Oxygen
Hydration
Food (glucose)

MOVEMENT HELPS LEARNING.




Exercise stimulates synaptic growth, whose capacity
and efficiency underlie superior intelligence (Art Kramer
of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).
Exercise increases production of neurotransmitters
that help focus and attention, motivation, patience,
and mood (more optimistic) (Ratey, 2008).
Exercise produces BDNF, which improves brain health,
enhances the wiring of neurons, is a stress inoculator,
and makes the brain cells more resilient (Ratey, 2008).
Question: Is it possible to find way to get more
movement into our classes?
MULTISENSORY TEACHING HELPS LEARNING.
Interactions between vision, hearing, smell, touch,
and taste are the rule (Aaron Seitz, 2006).
 The more senses used in learning and in
practicing what has been learned, the more
pathways are available for recall.
 Proust effect is the unusual ability of smell to
enhance recall. Best results when smells are
congruent with the situation (Medina, 2008).
 Vision trumps all other senses.
 Question: How can we use more multisensory
teaching activities in our classrooms and online?

WHY STUDENTS FORGET?
Blocking: Information stored but cannot be
accessed (Schacter, 2001).
 Misattribution: Attributing a memory to the
wrong situation or source (Zola, 2002).
 Transience: Memory lost over time (65% of a
lecture is lost in the first hour) (Schacter,
2001).

TEACHING FOR LONG TERM RECALL
Cumulative tests lead to improved student
performance (Thomas Edmonds, 1984).
 If the intervening test includes correct answer
feedback, testing often improves long-term
retention (Cull, 2000).
 Practice, use, repetition, review, reflection or other
meaningful ways we engage with new learning
over time is a major key to its recall.
 Reviews may shift the learner’s attention away
from the verbatim details of the material being
studied to its deeper conceptual structures
(Dempster, 1986).

TEACHING FOR LONG TERM RECALL (CONT’D)
The best way to minimize memory decay is to use
elaborative strategies:
Visualizing
Singing
Writing
Semantics mapping
Drawing pictures
Symbolizing
Mnemonics
 Emotions helps boost activity in the areas of the
brain that form memories (Hamann & Emony, UN).
 Using multiple senses and emotion can create
powerful memories.
 Question: What strategies can we use to get our
students to do more recalling of information rather
than just reading or studying information?

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING TWO SLIDES IS
EASIER TO REMEMBER? WHY?
FIXED MINDSET VS. GROWTH MINDSET
Fixed Mindset
Growth Mindset
Intelligence is unchangeable.
Intelligence is malleable and can be improved.
Look smart.
Desire to learn;
Is paramount.
Avoid challenges.
Failure is seen as an opportunity to learn;
Risks are necessary for growth.
Make excuses and try to avoid
difficulties.
Effort is necessary for growth and success.
Criticism is taken personally.
Criticism is directed at their current skills level.
Students know they can improve.
FIXED MINDSET VS. GROWTH MINDSET (CONT’D)
There is no relation between students’ abilities
or intelligence and the development of a growth
mindset.
 A mindset is contextual—not held in all areas of
learning.
 Feedback: Teachers should focus on students’
efforts and strategies.
 Question: How can we get students to change
their mindset from fixed to growth?

PATTERNS HELP LEARNING.
The brain is a pattern seeking device that relates
whole concepts to one another and looks for
similarities, differences, or relationship between
them (Ratey, 2002).
 Use clustering to organize related information into
groups to help remember and recall.
 Common patterns for learning:
Similarity and Difference
Cause and Effect
Comparison and Contrast In students’ own words
 Question: What are the patterns you are using in
your teaching that are helping students to learn?

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING TWO NUMBERS IS
EASIER TO REMEMBER? WHY?
5853955547
(585) 395-5547
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING TWO WORD SERIES
IS EASIER TO REMEMBER? WHY?
NSFFBINBCUSAMTV
NSF FBI NBC USA MTV
REST AFTER LEARNING IMPROVES RECALL.

During rest, the areas of the brain were just as
active as they were when they were learning
the task -- The greater the correlation between
rest and learning, the greater the chance of
remembering the task in later tests (Lila Davachi,
NYU’s Department of Psychology and Center for Neural
Science).

Question: Should students not take classes
back to back?
SLEEP HELPS LEARNING.
It takes 6 hours of sleep to just stabilize new
memories.
 Consolidation of the new memories requires 7 to 8
hours of sleep each night (Gyorgy Buzsaki, Professor at the

Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience at Rutgers
University).
When the brain is sleep deprived, even though the
person is fully awake, the neurons used for
important mental task switch off (Chiara Corelli, 2011).
 Sleeping soon after learning something new is
beneficial for memory: Rehearsal of learning prior
to sleep (Payne, et al., 2012).

CAFFEINE + SUGAR (GLUCOSE) HELP LEARNING.

The combination of caffeine and sugar
enhances sustained attention, working
memory, and learning (Grabulosa, Adan,
Falcon, & Bargallo, 2010).
PROGRESS HELPS LEARNING.

A feeling of making progress is what allows
humans to deal with tasks, esp. tasks we don’t
necessarily like to do (James Zull, 2002).
THE BRAIN IS SOCIAL.
Survival is accomplished by working with other
brains.
 Groups of brains almost always outperform a
single brain.

MULTITASKING SLOWS LEARNING.

The memory task and the distraction stimuli
engage different parts of the brain. These regions
probably compete with each other (Foerde, Knowlton,
Poldrack, & Russell, 2006).

It is not possible to multitask when it comes to
activities that require the brain’s attention (Foerde,
Knowlton, & Poldrack, 2006).
When trying to do two things at once, the brain
temporarily shuts down one task while trying to do
the other (Dux, Ivanoff, Asplund, Lo, & Marois, 2007).
 Selective attention test:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo

STRESS HARMS LEARNING.
Long term and short term stress
diminishes/harms brain function.
 Toxic levels of stress erode the connections
between the billions of nerve cells in the brain.
 Chronic depression shrinks certain areas of the
brain.
