Monthly Summary
During
the month of September I began looking at brain and mind based learning and
development theories as the focus of my research for this course. I spent a lot of time working through the
details of the physical structures of the brain and how they work together in
cognition, learning and memory. From
here, I worked out a literature review that focused on my findings during the
research phase. Of specific interest
were the works focused on understanding the triune brain and how each structure
supports a unique function while still collaborating towards the unified
activity involved in cognition. Also
considered were the importance of the brain’s plasticity allowing for new
learning to occur through repetition and patter recognition as older under used
information is lost. Finally a distinction
was made between the concept of the brain and the typical yet very generic comparison
that is made between it and what we think of as a computer system.
For the
next step in this process I am turning my attention to the program review looking
for examples of brain based learning technique being put to use in the practice
of adult learning. I have begun by
searching the internet using key word combinations such as “brain-based
Learning”. So far I found a school that
offers degree programs in brain based learning so I am interested to see what
comes from a closer look there. I have
also found lots of theory but not a great deal of in practice discussion. Honestly this doesn’t much surprise me. I think that the topic while very timely is
not one that lends itself to flashy program design. This is an issue I think I will contend with
for much of this course.
Once I have identified a solid
program I will conduct a deep dive into its inner workings and try to pull out
the main points for review. I need to
really look hard at the instructions for the assignment and make sure that I am
covering the requested material. I feel
like there is a lot of room for error in this especially with regard to the
topic I have selected. I would like to
identify two to three different programs to review and hopefully they will
provide me with enough information to make a successful study.
Chris,
ReplyDeleteVery good summary! I like how you described what you have found about brain and learning in quite academic language. Since it is not a easy topic, how to apply it in practice will be very beneficial for practitioners. We look forward to reading more about your project!
Bo