Empowering Students with Brain-Based Learning
Brain-based learning — along with evidence-informed teaching practices — are two sides of the same coin. Both of these concepts offer ways in which teachers can develop and share their lessons to better reach students in a lasting, meaningful way. Centering the mind’s physical processes serves to work with the brain, rather than against it, and teaching to evidence increases lessons’ staying power.
Retrieval practice, spaced learning and metacognition are examples of practices that center the brain and teach to evidence. Each can be incorporated into lessons in ways both big and small. For example, retrieval practice can take the form of worksheets asking students to recall previous lessons, while metacognition can look like reflective essays detailing the steps a student took to solve a problem.
Integrating these practices into lessons doesn’t have to be obvious. Students benefit even if they don’t know why. Taking things further, however, can empower students.
Many folks involved in the learning sciences advocate for involving students in building brain-based lessons. They encourage an evidence-informed classroom, and sometimes offer ways to involve parents. One educator, Jennifer Webb, suggests in her book The Metacognition Handbook that classes should be taught “metacognitively,” rather than just having a few assignments based around metacognition.
It’s helpful to inform students (and advocates) on how they’re benefiting from these lessons. Requiring daily retrieval practice is one thing; understanding the process of retrieval on memory is another. If students are aware of how the strategies help them — and how they can harness more effective studying — it can only bolster lessons’ effectiveness.
Whether class is in person or through a learning management system, spend some time early on explaining the benefits of brain-based learning. You might create handouts with information on learning science or provide excerpts from books and blogs. Although a lot of resources are written for educators, there are some written for students as well. Oftentimes, these resources will focus on “studying” rather than learning.
Evidence-informed teaching is useful in that it connects with all sorts of students. Unlike the neuromyth of learning styles, brain-based teaching connects with qualities inherent to the physical brain. It can be adjusted to suit individual students, even neurodiverse learners.
Student empowerment comes from seeing personal growth and having agency. Brain-based teaching can help students remember what they’ve already learned, boosting their learning in the process. They can see personal growth, be it through extrinsic grades or intrinsic awareness. Having students then take those skills and utilize them in their studies gives agency.
In addition to explaining the brain-based teaching built into the curriculum, it would be helpful to give students ideas on how to study. For example, many students cram before big tests, “learning” materials before immediately forgetting them. Instead of simply spacing out your in-class retrieval activities, explain why you’ve spaced them out, and show students how to use spaced practice with flashcards.
It’s possible that students have learned neuromyths before they got to your classroom. It’s also possible that they’ve never considered their own learning before. Imagine discovering that you can make a few tweaks to your studying and see huge benefits. That’s exciting!
Or maybe it’s embarrassing. Or just unbelievable. Students are not a monolith, so don’t expect them to react a certain way. One student’s excitement could be another’s frustration.
Meeting students where they are means that you shouldn’t have any expectations of what students will and won’t know how to do. Learning how to learn can be challenging. Supporting students as they struggle is what leads to eventual empowerment.
Brain-based learning has tangible benefits, and even small steps toward an evidence-informed classroom can help students learn. Creating a classroom culture around brain-based learning, however, can be even more helpful. Not only will students learn practical study skills (and the subject of the class itself!), they’ll also be able to see the change in how they learn.
To look further into brain-based learning as well as evidence-informed practices, check out some of our Summer Reading Book Review posts. You can also search for “brain-based” learning or teaching in your search engine of choice and find plenty of starting points.
About the blogger:
Jesika Brooks
Jesika Brooks is an editor and bookworm with a Master of Library and Information Science degree. She works in the field of higher education as an educational technology librarian, assisting with everything from setting up Learning Management Systems to teaching students how to use edtech tools. A lifelong learner herself, she has always been fascinated by the intersection of education and technology. She edits the Tech-Based Teaching blog (and always wants to hear from new voices!).
