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Brain
Research
New
light on Visualisation, Learning and Retention |
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Foreword
‘Brain friendly teaching’
instruction,
information and processing
in line with neurological processes |
“It
is an art, not a science”. The Introduction
of “Understanding the brain Towards a New
Learning Science” boldly states that the
theoretical foundation of education is still in a
primitive stage of development, so far to beconsidered
as an art, not a science. Only now does this begin
to change with empirical evidence from brain research.
This publication by the OECD, Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development, offers an overview of
findings in 2002 and activities of the OECD-CERI project
(Centre for Educational Research and Innovation, a
special task force launched in 1999). The first chapters
refer to three international fora on brain mechanisms
and learning recently held in New York, in Granada
and in Tokyo; subsequent chapters discuss various
fields including language learning, mathematics, emotional
regulation and imagery. This is followed by an extensive
overview of research identified in literature.
TTE-Visual, fully specialised in LARGE SCREEN PRESENTATIONS,
focuses in on scientific news on visual learning now
coming forward - for better understanding and practical
applications in daily lessons.
Today even linguistics has discarded the idea
that language is the basis for thinking.
Einstein’s comment provides a classic example:
‘Words, verbal or written, seem to play
no role in my way of thinking. The psychic elements
in my thinking are symbols of more or less clear images’.
In this series of articles, we explore views and opinions
about learning and retention which have changed so
much in the last ten years. The working of the brain
has become a major area of scientific research and
cognitive psychology.
The Copernican revolution currently in education
can be explained from the working of the brain.
The written word as the information carrier since
the Stone Age, is nowadays often complemented or even
replaced by image language. After the era of the written
word, modern technology allows us to communicate in
the ways the brain has always processed information
best: via imagery. It is no coincidence that today’s
students strongest point is their visual ability,
it has always been so. In the (recent) past, illustrations
sometimes supported textual information. Now this
is being reversed: visual imagery is becoming the
main source of information, supported with short texts.
Teaching strategies and teacher activities are changing
even more.
Previously, without real insight into the
workings of the brain, efficiency in education
could only be pursued by applying educational theories
to our daily practices. Now, recent discoveries allow
for fine-tuning on a more scientific basis. ‘Brain
friendly teaching’: instruction, information
and processing can now be brought into line with neurological
processes. We start with: ‘Image and memory’. |
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Selected
literature ON VISUAL LEARNING |
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special sources to provide a wider perspective and deeper
insight |
Introductory
handbooks on neurology and the workings of the
brain, visual perception and memory: |
| 2+6 |
The
feeling of what happens: Body and Emotion in the
Making of Consciousness, A. Damasio, Harcourt
Brace, 1999*; |
| 6 |
How
the brain creates the mind, A. Damasio in: The
Hidden Mind - Scientific American, Special Edition
Aug. 2002; |
| 3+6 |
Phantoms
in the brain, V. Ramachandran, Lifetime, 1998*; |
| 1 |
Brain
story - Unlocking our inner world of emotions,
memories, ideas and desires, S. Greenfield, BBC
Worldwide Ltd, 2000; |
| 5 |
The
Secret Life of the Brain, Richard Restak, M.D.,The
Dana Press and Joseph Henry Press, 2001*; |
| 3+4 |
Het
BREIN, ons innerlijk universum (The BRAIN - our
inner universe), Ad Bergsma, Teleac Utrecht, 1996. |
More specialised
literature on: Intellectual skills |
| 4 |
The
Executive Brain - Frontal Lobes and the Civilized
Mind, E. Goldberg, Oxford University Press, 2001 |
| 1 |
The
effects of visual object priming on brain activation
before and after recognition, T.W. James (Uni
Western Ontario) in: Current Biology 10, 2000; |
| 1 |
Advances
in neuroscience 1950-2000, W. Maxwell Cowan in:
Visions of the Brain, a progress report on brain
research, The Dana Press 2001*; |
| 2 |
The
theory of multiple intelligence, M. Gardner in:
Teaching in the secondary school, Open University
Press, Milton Keynes, 1994; |
| 5 |
Debating
Multiple Intelligences, H. Gardner and J. Traub
in: Cerebrum Vol. 2 The Dana Press 1999; |
| 4 |
Sign
language in the brain, G. Hickok et al in: The
Hidden Mind - Scientific American, Special Edition
Aug. 2002; |
| 2 |
Niveaus
van leren (Levels of learning), A. Lagerwerf en
F. Korthagen in: Tijdschrift voor Didactiek der
ß-wetenschappen 11 nr. 3 1993. |
Visual perception |
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Fundamentals
of Sensation and Perception, M. Levine, Oxford
University Press 2000; |
| 3 |
Sensation
and Perception, An integrated Aprproach, H. Schiffman,
J.W.&S, New York 2001; |
| 2 |
Niveaus
van leren, A. Lagerwerf en F. Korthagen in Tijdschrift
voor Didactiek der ß-wetenschappen 11 nr.
3 1993; |
| 2 |
Reading
Images, The Grammar of Visual Design, G. Kress
and T. van Leewen, Routledge 1996; |
| 2 |
The
Rise of the Image, The Fall of the Word, Michael
Stephens, Oxford University Press, 1998. |
| 3 |
The
problem of consciousness, F. Crick and C. Koch
in: The Hidden Mind - Scientific American, Special
Edition Aug. 2002; |
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Vision:
a window on consciousness, N. Logothetis in: The
Hidden Mind - Scientific American, Special Edition
Aug. 2002. |
The memory |
| 5 |
Memory,
From Mind To Molucules, Larry Squire and Eric
Kandel, Scientific American Library, 1999; |
| 1+6 |
Human
Memory, Theory and Practice, Revised Ed., Oxford
2000; |
| 6 |
Het
heerlijke vergeten (How lovely to forget) M. Mieras,
Psychologie Magazine, Nov. 2001; |
| 5 |
The
meaning of dreams (for memorizing), J. Winson
in: The Hidden Mind - Scientific American, Special
Edition Aug. 2002; |
| 3+6 |
Emotion,
memory and the brain, J. Ledoux in: The Hidden
Mind - Scientific American, Special Edition Aug.
2002. |
Historical perspectives
on the Human Mind |
| 2 |
Wolfsklem.
De evolutie van het menselijk gedrag (Wolf trap.
The evolution of human behaviour), P. Vroon, 1992; |
| 6 |
Het
bewustzijn (The Consciousnes), M. van der Laar,
artikelenserie in Trouw sept. 2001; |
| 2 |
The
Prehistory of the Mind. The Cognitive Origins
of Art, Religion and Science, Stephen Mithen,
London 1996; |
| 2+3 |
How
the Mind Works, Steven Pinker, 1999. |
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Language
in homonides followed 450 million years after
the evolution of the eyes and the neural network
for interpretation. |
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Modern man has existed for ca. 80,000 years,
lived for 8,000 years as farmers and a minority
for 5,000 in cities with ‘higher civilisations’.
Now, after 200 years of industrialisation, we
are probing the mysteries of our brain via the
computer. |
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Introduction
- Dear Teacher,
In
1992 I resigned from school to develop visual material
specially for classical instruction. My teaching experiences
had convinced me of the enormous benefits of the overhead
projector and the impact of obtained visual support.
The
large projected images are able to produce an amazing
learning yield. The reasons for this have only become
clear from recent advances in brain sciences.
Let
me take TTE-Visual’s tenth anniversary is an ideal
opportunity to take a look at this.
As
early as 1991, my assumptions were confirmed by research
by the American neurologist L. Squire, who proved that our
memory depends on images. Advancing brain science opened
a new era of investigations into ever deeper levels of brain
function and at various levels of complexity.
“The Quantum Brain”, published in 2000 by J. Satinover,
describes how, on a sub-atomic level, quarks and leptons
as bricks of our reality determine the working of the brain.
This is an appropriate sequel to the publication one year
earlier by L. Squire and E. Kandall of “Memory From
Mind to Molecules” for which the first Nobel Prize
of the twenty first century was awarded.
Thanks to new monitoring techniques such as EEGs, PET and
TMS scans, the secrets of the human brain, “the great
unknown”, are beginning to be revealed and this calls
for great jubilation among researchers. But only by simplifying
these secrets can new insights be made useful for education.
Neurological and cognitive psychology cast an important
new light on effective teaching. In this series of articles,
they are applied to the acquisition of visual knowledge.
Jan Krol, director TTE-Visual
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fascinating themes
summarized (PDF-files)
With
thanks for advice to:
Dr. Fred Kortenhagen, Professor in Didactics of training
teachers at the University of Utrecht, Drs Ad Bergsma, author
of several dictionaries and books on the brain, including
“The brain, our inner universe”; Dr. Paul Eling,
Lecturer in Memorising and
Dr. Ellen Hijmans, Lecturer in Human Communications, University
of Nijmegen; and
Dr. Alex van den Bosch, Centre for Behavioural and Cognitive
Neuroscience, Groningen University.
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