Educational Neuroscience

Principles of Brain-based Learning
Eric Jensen noticed in his research that a lot of misunderstandings have occured in relation to the brain and how it is applied in teaching methods. He published an article in 2000 with the intent of debunking myths that are currently being followed by practitioners as they try to implement neuroscience into their practices. Eric Jensen understands the importance of using neuroscience to become effective practitioners, but cautions teachers about taking research from the laboratory directly into the classroom. He makes it abundently clear that teachers must use research that has not only been tested, but applied. Eric Jensen has been teaching pratitioners methods that have been thouroughly applied in a classroom and proved to be effective. He calls his instruction the Principles of Brain-based Learning.

He demonstrates in his lectures that the memory isn't able to retain what teachers want it to because of the complexities of the human body. The memory fails when it is interupted by things like inattention, erosion, and bias. He also teaches that because our bodies are so complex that the brain often does its business on auto-pilot. Thus, we aren't concious about things like breathing, or digesting, and repeated behaviours become automatic. He suggests that this creates problems for learning. Eric Jensen also teaches practitioners about the effect limitations have. For example, humans have short attention spans unless they are in a flow state. Thus, teachers must gear their lessons toward the attention span length of their students. He also discusses they capacity our brains have to learn new information. When a teacher desires quality learning, quantity is not its equivalent. The deeper the understandings, the longer the retention of the input information.

As a teacher, understanding the principles that Eric Jensen is teaching will ultimately lead to a reduction of debilitating anxiety. If I am able to gear my teaching strategies toward the needs of my students' cognitive capabilities, then my goals and the students goals automatically become the same and we create a win-win situation. Eric Jensen also taught another classroom aplicable notion. He explains that our brains rarely understand something completely the first time. Our brains begin creating something of a rough draft, and that through repetion we put finishing touches on our learning that make it more concrete. In a classroom setting, we are always asking our students to create rough drafts and then improve upon them, so it only makes sense that we would do the same thing as we teach them. I believe that as I apply principles of brain-based learning to my classroom, I will be a more effective teacher, and my students will be more effective learners. In this way we both achieve the desired outcome.