The Brain and Learning

There is still lots of research being conducted on our most fascinating organ: the brain. If you have ever wondered exactly what goes on as you learn new things, then the following resources may be of interest to you.


BrainConnection: The Brain and Learning
http://brainconnection.positscience.com/
This website offers information on how the brain works while we are learning. They provide this information with the belief that having access to this information will provide practical tools for teaching and learning. This website also offers fun activities such as brain teasers and illusion games. The illusion games describe what is going on in our brains as we look at the illusion, and why it is actually an illusion. There are also brain facts, book and website reviews, and the option to subscribe to their montly newsletter, Brain Fitness News.


A Fresh Look at Brain-Based Education
http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k_v89/k0802jen.htm
I found this article on the Phi Delta Kappa International website, which is a professional association in education. In this article, the author, Eric P. Jensen, challenges the notion that educators should not be concerned with how the brain works in relation to learning and should focus instead on the information presented by psychologists on teaching and learning. I found this interesting because I am new to the field of instructional design and education. I would have never guessed that this type of debate was happening.

Information Processing Model

Learning and Memory
http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/learning/memory.html
This website discusses how information is processed and stored in the brain. It talks about George Miller's study in 1956 on information storage in which he concluded that we can remember what we are exposed to if it amount of information is between 5 and 9 items (or 7 units +/- 2 units). The number 7 became known as Miller's Magic Number, as the number of items tht can be held in short term memory at any given time.