On her back in a dark tube, Blair Smith held still as a scanner combed her brain with magnetic waves. Words flashed by her eyes: tack, vase, hope, glow, vague, cade.
The 11-year-old had been told to press the button in her right hand if the word was real, the button in her left if it was nonsense. The answer itself was less important than the map the scanner would make of which areas of Blair's brain lighted up when she struggled with a word.
The aim of the study, said Dr Laurie Cutting, director of the Education and Brain Research Programme at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, is to understand the neurological differences among students who are skilled readers, those who have difficulties and those with diagnosed learning disabilities.
If neuroscientists can pinpoint which parts of the brain are activated when a reader puzzles over an unknown word, they may eventually help teachers tailor reading instruction for individuals.
That is only the beginning. Many educators hunger for scientific data to help them structure their lessons, and neuroscience is beginning to offer them broad guidance about what works best.
One of the most startling recent revelations in neuroscience has been that the brain's structure is much more flexible (a concept called neuroplasticity) than was previously thought; this understanding may help teachers find ways to train the brain to better solve mathematical problems or understand a book.
'There's an awful lot that neuroscience can begin to tell us in broad strokes that's relevant for education and that ultimately 10 or 20 years downstream can provide us with prescriptive information,' said Professor Robert Pianta, dean of the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education.
'I think we're looking at a period of five years of very rich territory for investigation here.'
Brain research already is opening the way to help teachers detect and address complex conditions - such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia and its mathematical cousin, dyscalculia - that defy blood tests and other simple medical diagnostics.
Cognitive scientists are developing a theory of 'micro-development' that could turn some lesson plans upside down.
Studies have found that, on a minute-to-minute basis, children and adults learn in fits and starts, often going backwards. That could indicate that students should be allowed to grope their way to understanding - for instance, by being asked to power up a light bulb using a battery and a strand of wire before having the theory of electricity explained to them.
How the brain functions remains deeply mysterious, with studies seeming to unfold at a glacial pace.
One expert noted that it took decades for researchers, examining data from brain and behavioural studies and other sources, to confirm the belief of many educators that focusing on phonics helps youngsters who struggle with reading.
Still, top educational institutions have recently shown new interest in the link between brain activity and education.
Harvard University founded its mind, brain and education degree programme in 2002. Johns Hopkins University last year briefed the Maryland State Board of Education on a neuro-education initiative that aims to 'explore how current findings have application to educational practice'.
A study published in the journal Nature recently reported a link between a primitive, intuitive sense of the size of numbers and performance in maths classes, a finding that could lead to ways to identify young students who may have trouble with maths and better ways of teaching them being developed. Advocates of expanding pre-kindergarten classes point to studies that show the importance of early education in moulding young minds.
Prof Pianta, of the Curry School, said neuroscience has also influenced the education of autistic students.
'Twenty years ago, you might have seen an intervention that was far more oriented towards trying to get those kids to be affectionate, let's say. Or the therapist in that case would be promoting physical contact with kids who didn't like physical contact,' he said.
'Now we would look at that (response) as sort of saying this kid's behaviour is a result of their brain's ability to process social, emotional information. You would structure your interactions with an autistic child so as not to overwhelm their capacity to process that information.'
Dr Kurt Fischer, director of Harvard's mind, brain and education master's degree programme, warned that many educational theories claim to be based on science but are not.
'One of the major problems we face is that there are a whole lot of things that claim to be 'brain- based education' that are nonsense,' he said. 'One of them is the belief that boys and girls have totally different brains and learn totally differently. That's not what the evidence shows. Not at all.
'The other is kind of a rigid idea of sensitive periods: that after a certain age you can't learn a foreign language. You've also heard that there are left-brained and right- brained people. Total nonsense, unless they've had their left or right hemisphere removed. All of us use all our brains.'
Another example Dr Fischer cited is the widely-held but dubious notion that listening to Bach in the bassinet will make babies smarter.
Still, Dr Fischer said, the popularity of such ideas shows that educators and the public crave scientific backing for classroom innovations.
At Kennedy Krieger, Dr Cutting gave a nifty copy of her brain scan to Blair, her young research subject. The research team prepared Blair's identical twin sister to go inside the tube for a new round of scans.
They are both perfectly good readers, but the data from their studies might help others.
'Creepy but cool at the same time,' said Blair, an aspiring veterinarian. 'It's good because you help other kids.'
Washington Post
There are no gender-based brains
'One of the major problems we face is that there are a whole lot of things that claim to be 'brain- based education' that are nonsense. One of them is the belief that boys and girls have totally different brains and learn totally differently. That's not what the evidence shows. Not at all.'
DR KURT FISCHER, director of Harvard's mind, brain and education master's degree programme
Hare-brained ideas
'The other is kind of a rigid idea of sensitive periods: that after a certain age you can't learn a foreign language. You've also heard that there are left-brained and right-brained people. Total nonsense, unless they've had their left or right hemisphere removed. All of us use all our brains.'
DR FISCHER, on beliefs about the limitations of the brain
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
No comments:
Post a Comment