the student brain

The Student Brain

College of Applied Technologies WorkshopSponsored by the Center for Educational Excellence

Presented byRandy Blank, Department Chair - Psychology

Lynn Lease, Director - Center for Educational Excellence

True or False...?• We only use ten percent of our brains.

• Everything important is determined by the age of three.

• The brain remembers everything it has ever experienced; forgetting is an absence of recall ability.

• You can't change your brain.

Brains are adaptable and flexible• We are born with dependent but adaptable and flexible

brains...• http://tinyurl.com/hgxzoxa

We want to move from this...to this...

Image Source: https://teachertwoteacher.wordpress.com/2010/03/05/making-connections-brain-research-and-esol/

And from this...to this...

Image Source: https://visiblechild.wordpress.com/2014/12/01/oh-toddlerhood-why-dont-we-see-you-coming/

Our Goals for Today:• list 3 levels of memory

• describe how learning occurs in each of these 3 levels

• identify specific learning techniques supported by the physiology of learning to use in the classroom

Three Stage Model of Memory

Image Source: https://www.studyblue.com/notes/note/n/chapter-8/deck/748572

Image Source: http://www.slideshare.net/08655082/1-atkinson-shiffrin-model-of-memory

What gets our students' attention?

The Role of Meaning and Attention

Image Source: http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/05/10-things-you-cant-unsee-and-what-that-says-about-your-brain/361335/

Image Source: http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/05/10-things-you-cant-unsee-and-what-that-says-about-your-brain/361335/

The Role of Emotion

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Instructional Strategies to activate Sensory Memory

• Settling In Period – ATTENTION SPAN??• Anticipatory Set• Activate Prior Schema• Set the tone – expectations

• Time to process . . .

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Short Term (Working) Memory• Where most of our

everyday memory chores are processed

• Provides temporary storage of just the right amount of information without overloading itself

• But has limitations... Image Source: http://www.dreamstime.com/photos-images/pencil-notepad.html

Short Term (Working) Memory• Can only retain information

for about 15-25 seconds

• Auditory attention is highly selective

• Is also limited in capacity

• Try this STM test...Image Source: http://www.investorsinsight.com/cfs-filesystemfile.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/thoughts_5F00_from_5F00_the_5F00_frontline/image001_5F00_760AE965.gif

Role of Meaning and STM• Chunking--serves to extend

information within STM

• Recoding--serves as a strategy for later transfer to LTM by elaborating on the information

• Elaborative rehearsal hooks new information into something already stored in LTM

Image Source: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/7e/bf/15/7ebf15bc1a3af737d875b9cf020e9a31.jpg

Role of Emotion and STM• Emotions stamp extra

vividness onto our memories

• But use with caution...

Image Source: http://wakingupinwonder.com/pixar-inside-out/

Role of Emotion and STM• Beware of the stress

response (fight-or-flight)

• Perceived threats take precedence over other strands of thought

• Emotion dominates over rational thinking in these circumstances!Image Source:

http://wallpapersboom.net/inside-out/

Instructional Strategies to activate Short-Term Memory

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• Cognitive Load• Chunking (the dash in the SS#)

• Discuss the relevance• Activate prior schema – circle back• Emotion – rapport, environment

• Time to process . . .

Long Term Memory• Information stored in LTM

is relatively permanent

• Is "reconstructed" and not necessarily accurate

• Capacity estimated to involve "a million billion" synaptic connections

Image Source: http://psychology.about.com/od/memory/f/long-term-memory.htm

Long Term Memory• Two major types of LTM

Image Source: http://163.178.103.176/Fisiologia/neurofisiologia/Objetivo_7/Transparencies5.htm

Elaborative Rehearsal, Meaning, and Retention in LTM

• A single exposure to new material won't likely be sufficient for consolidation

• Consolidation is enhanced by rehearsal

• The more fully we process information over time, the more connections we make, and the better memory will be

Image Source: http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/v6/n2/fig_tab/nrn1607_F1.html

Instructional Strategies to activate Long-Term Memory

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• TIME & PRACTICE• Formative assessments

• Low stakes practice• Self-checks

• Pair and Share – Restate – Offer examples

• Time to process . . .

Call to Action!

Available for checkout in the CEE - contact Lynn

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