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顿辞苍鈥檛 focus on a single perceived 鈥渓earning style鈥� for each student. No research supports the notion that some students are innately visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learners (read what neuroscientist has to say). Meaning and memory are boosted by connecting representations of knowledge.

So do feed the network by providing not just multiple paths into content but by offering specific instruction to help students see how those representations are connected. In math that can mean consciously using language (鈥渢hree groups of four鈥�) that reinforces the meaning of symbols (3x4) with matching spatial images:

顿辞苍鈥檛 take for granted that your students鈥� reference points are the same as yours. I didn鈥檛 get my parents鈥� references to The Great Depression, and they didn鈥檛 get mine to Marvel comic book heroes. Background knowledge matters. Lack of it can be a big obstacle, for instance, to reading comprehension. Students need to connect the new to something already in their cognitive webs. A story set at the beach can confound students who鈥檝e never seen one.

So do provide the reference experiences and knowledge that students need to incorporate the content you鈥檙e teaching. , for example, in virtual form so that students in middle America can, for example, see the beach before reading about it.

Research suggests that our brains are networks of neural networks. Those cross-wired networks give humans special capabilities. Let鈥檚 consciously take advantage of them in our instruction.

Why are Strategies not Enough?

I have been asked to comment on a few of the best ways to practically implement what we know about how the brain learns and how this might help teachers select appropriate strategies.

My response can be dealt with at two levels. One is to spell out a range of strategies. The other is more complex but much more effective in the long run.

This more complex answer became clear to us after developing the 12 Principles of Brain/Mind Learning we spelled out in the 1991 ASCD publication 鈥淢aking Connections: Teaching and the Human Brain.鈥� We realized that regardless of how many strategies teachers used, even more important is the need for educators to develop a new view of how learning and teaching function in a brain compatible (based, focused, etc.) school and classroom. Strategies emerge out of shifting our deeply held beliefs about learning and teaching in general.

The principles suggested that three overarching elements are essential for great teaching. The first of these three elements was 鈥淩elaxed Alertness鈥� which later we defined as the optimal emotional environment for learning, both for individuals and the classroom as a whole. This came from a new understanding of how sensitive human beings are to threat and helplessness, and how critical intrinsic motivation and challenge, provided by personal choice, decision making and application of meaning, are to learning.

The second element we called 鈥淚mmersion in Complex Experience.鈥� This emerged once we understood that the human brain naturally solves problems posed by experience, and that the whole body, brain and mind participate. That is why today we define 鈥渓earning鈥� as 鈥淢aking sense of experience, and developing new capacities to act in and on the world.鈥�

The third element is the 鈥淎ctive Processing of Experience.鈥� An example of processing can be found in the Socratic method. Ultimately, however, active processing refers to the continuous interaction between learner and teacher using non-judgmental but rigorous questioning and challenging of thinking, decision making and emergent understandings. It takes for granted a more dynamic, ongoing and developmental perspective of what it means to learn.

The deeper problem

Education is caught up in what the biologist Dawkins called a 鈥渕eme.鈥� A meme is an idea that will not go away. That pervasive idea is that teaching is 鈥渄elivered鈥� by the teacher from a plan, and that the better students can memorize, summarize, or 鈥渓earn鈥� the material to be covered, the more successful the teaching. Many of the most popular strategies teachers apply assume that the human brain is relatively passive in learning and therefore the teacher has to spell out the correct way to do things (and so they search for 鈥渟trategies鈥� that work in this old context). The brain is actually made for dynamic, interactive environments that challenge students to apply and engage with new ideas and experiences. And in the right context there is a natural drive to get better. Just think of how video games function - there is a problem the player cares about, this motivates him/her to pursue a course of action, pursue a goal and practice, practice, practice in order to master a new skill.

The way to get beyond the meme, in my view, is to understand and apply the three elements identified above so that genuine problems are dealt with in appropriately dynamic and interesting contexts.

My coauthor and I call this 鈥淣atural Learning鈥� in our newest book 鈥淣atural Learning for a Connected World; Education,Technology and the Human Brain.鈥� This kind of teaching is found in sophisticated project based learning and it is also very compatible with the new science standards still being finalized. This is also very compatible with the CA teaching standards and the incorporation of technology into the classroom. Technology allows students to pursue their own most urgent questions and ideas to share with fellow students. The teacher and curriculum provide the parameters for focusing student ideas. Think of teaching about the Civil War. According to the three elements the teacher would begin by engaging students in what we call a 鈥渕ultisensory immersive (real life) experience.鈥� This can be an actual visit to a site where conflict took place, an intriguing artifact, re-enactment, personal diary written by a soldier or a provocative video that incorporates these elements. Students can generate their own questions such as 鈥淒id women serve in the war?鈥� or 鈥淗ow did they handle the dead bodies?鈥� 鈥淲hat roles did slaves play in the war and did they serve as soldiers?鈥�

Teachers and students can group these questions and students can chose to investigate the most meaningful questions to them alone or in pairs or groups.

Information is shared as the teacher challenges everyone to place the information into 鈥渢ime lines鈥� or connect their variously researched areas to create a comprehensive picture of the war, including the causes.

Students need freedom, respect and agreements to engage in this sort of independent learning. Hence 鈥淩elaxed Alertness鈥� is absolutely critical and plays a part in helping students and teacher to communicate and listen to new ideas and discoveries.

Both the multisensory experience and the active search for information and critical events, and sharing and discussion of ideas are active, and ongoing. Hence, 鈥淚mmersion in Complex Experience.鈥�

And finally, the teacher is continually making certain that facts are correct, conclusions are well thought out, information is accurate, and skills (writing, documentation, historical research) are mastered. Hence the standards become actualized through student dynamic interaction and teacher guidance. Hence 鈥淎ctive Processing鈥�.

We call this way of teaching and learning the Guided Experience Approach.

How can we educators convert breakthroughs in understanding the brain into tools and tactics for teaching?

Choose carefully. Not every finding neuroscientists uncover has value for teachers. I often sit in researchers鈥� presentations and think, 鈥淥kay, so that particular region of the brain 鈥榣ights up鈥� when you have someone in the fMRI and flash a photo of such-and-such before their eyes. If it鈥檚 relevant for learning, how do I generate that neural activity in the classroom?鈥�

Sometimes the interpretation of what is relevant gets misapplied by well-intentioned teachers. A few years ago, many educators thought the brain鈥檚 need for hydration meant that students should have never-empty water bottles at their desks. While this may help with hydration, it definitely increases use of restroom passes. The 鈥渟olution鈥� may create more problems than it solves. Additionally, this is a surface-level response to a below the surface challenge. Does the brain need water? Absolutely. Is constant sipping the best approach? Probably not. Learning is influenced less by water bottles than it is by effective teaching.

Having to discern what is and is not relevant for the classroom is both freeing and frustrating. It suggests that I do not need to be aware of every study and its findings because most will lack classroom relevance. However, to find the useful among the merely interesting, I have to 1) search for findings that may have relevance, 2) be sure I do not ignore research just because an application is not immediately obvious, and 3) identify sources that help me sort through the research avalanche.

I find focusing more on neurocognitive research and less on purely neuroscientific research is helpful. Neuroscience is often, but not always, focused on brain 鈥済eography,鈥� finding the neural islands that come alive when specific stimuli are streamed through the senses. Neurocognitive research focuses more on the interaction of cognitive processes, such as decision-making, and neurobiology. It takes its cues from neuroscience and psychology. As a result, neurocognitive research is more likely to examine learning and its supporting cognitive capacities, and findings from its studies are more likely to have classroom relevance.

Begin small but be consistent. Rather than creating the ideal, 鈥渂rain-friendly鈥� classroom all at once, find a significant fact or principle and apply it in everything you teach.

For example, several years ago David Sousa alerted us to the brain鈥檚 need for 鈥渄owntime,鈥� a period of reflection following intense input of new material. I began planning 鈥減rocessing pauses鈥� in everything I taught. These immediately influenced my students鈥� learning. They were recalling more, understanding more, and able to apply more of the material than they had before. Applying this principle to my teaching became natural and consistent. Now planning 鈥渄owntime鈥� is simply part of 鈥渉ow I teach,鈥� even when I do not have it included in my lesson plan.

Consistently applying one principle at a time provides experience without overwhelming you, and such successes form a foundation for applying additional findings from research.

Find a framework. Whether it鈥檚 an instructional design model based on neurocognitive research (e.g., Architecture of Learning), or another research-based teaching framework, having a referential organizational scheme guides educational applications of neuroscientific findings. For example, I have attended the as often as possible for several years. When I adopted the as a reliable model for designing teaching, I suddenly had a 鈥減lace鈥� for using the often-detailed findings presented by the conference鈥檚 presenters.

At one of these conferences, a presenter explained the brain鈥檚 inclination for metaphor and how the mind uses this cognitive tool to both construct and communicate understanding. With an instructional framework in mind, I was able to identify immediately where such thinking would be optimally effective in learning (and thus, in teaching). As a result of having a 鈥減lace鈥� for the research finding, I鈥檝e been able to apply it much more consistently than I would have if I had just made a note about metaphor being a good activity to include in my teaching.