A

1. List the three paths in which the authors say neuroscience can help education.

• Neuroscience indirectly improves education by improving psychology theories.

• Neuroscience directly improves education, by biological (metabolic) factors that influence learning.

• Neuroscience indirectly improves education by providing self-knowledge of the brain, supporting meta-cognitive strategies.

1. Identify three or more pitfalls of “educational neuroscience” mentioned.

• Can only be relabeling terms from cognitive psychology with neuroanatomical names.
• Can be poorly communicates, thereby spawning myths.
• Can be used as after-the-fact justification for existing educational techniques (aka “window-dressing”).
• Can be reductionist: explain everything at the lowest possible level, which is less applicable/relevant to educational practise.

1. What are two concrete, relevant insights for teachers/educators from educational neuroscience, according to the authors?

• The way we learn and forget differs per knowledge type (due to evolutionary biology), which is useful for educators to know, so they can adjust their teaching strategies accordingly.

• Learning is influenced by biological factords such as sleep, nutrition etc. which influence how the brain works. Understanding these properties means educators can adjust their teaching accordingly.

• Sensorimotoric, emotional and social processing have priority over cognitive processing. Educators need to ensure those to enhance/not impede learning.

teacher needs to ensure that they dont hinder, but facilitate.

1. For three empirical studies that the authors describe topic, method, results, and rate (0 = no relevance, 5 = high relevance) how relevant you think the findings are for educational practice.

Rodriguez Buritica et al.

Topic: academic self-concept (with a behavioural and neuroscientific perspective) Method: self-report and MCRI scans Results: behavioural findings are interesting and useful, but cannot be linked to neuroscientific findings Rating: 1, it might be useful to know how self-concept influences learning, but I feel like this was already known.

Menabò et al.

Topic: children’s experience of bullying Method: verbal self-report + eye-tracking Results: self-report from children indicates they pay attention to bully and victim, but eye-tracking shows they are also aware of bystanders, and more specifically, defenders. Rating: 4, these findings can be used in designing interventions/programs to deal with bullying.

Janssen & van Atteveldt

Topic: fixed/growth mindset & meta-cognition Method: randomized trial with control group (and the neuroscientific method is using real-time ‘experiential’ neurofeedback) Results: more students reported a growth mindset, and their scores dropped less than in the control group. Rating: 4, the topic of the study is very relevant, because mindset is very important (self-efficacy etc.), but the results are a little disappointing (the intervention does not prevent burn-out or help low SES-students)

B

1. https://www.jensenlearning.com/products/7-discoveries-from-brain-research-that-impact-education/

Claims:

• teachers can build or reduce students’ brain size
• teachers can influence which genes are switched on or off in students’ brain size

Evaluation:

• Neuroplasticity and neurogenesis are real terms, but it’s not as simple as ‘use this teaching methods and it increases the size of the brain of your students’
• Environment can influence gene expression, but it’s also not as simple as ‘use this teaching method and it switches genes on or off’

Red flags:

• Website contains many CAPITAL LETTERS and emotional/exaggerated language
• it’s a commercial website, which can be a potential conflict of interest
• “1–2 years of reading gains in just 40–60 hours” and “lasting gains” sound too good to be true

WG

1. classical: ns = presentation, ucs = laughing, cr = axiety. operant: negative reinforcement active avoidance learning

   advice: dont say yes

   doing the presentation normally would lead to extiction eventually or doing counter-conditioning to override the conditioning. (eg. via positive reinforcement in the form of feedback / praise)

2. token economy. positive reinforcement (with delayed gratification, secondary reinforcement) fixed schedule, should be variable

   advice: reward the correct thing. not just completed homework, but correct homework.

3. positive reinforcement. might lead to extinction.

   advice: just dont respond, or use punishment if it really disrupts class. gently correct them.

4. positive reinforcement

   :