Basic
Brain Facts | Left and Right Brain Hemispheres
| Bloom's Taxonomy
Basic
Brain Facts
The more we discover about
how the brain learns, the more successful teaching and learning can be.
Cerebrum
- A soft jellylike mass,
- the largest of the three areas,
- represents over 80 percent
of the brain by weight.
- surface is pale gray, wrinkled,
and marked by furrows called fissures.
- One large fissure runs from
front to back dividing the cerebrum into two halves called the cerebral
hemispheres. .
- Controls thinking, memory, speech,
and muscular movement deep within the cerebrum limbic system, that is involved
with emotional responses lies here and permits the interplay of emotion
and reason.
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Hippocampus
- located at the base of the cerebrum
- assists in consolidating learning
and in converting information from working memory via electrical signals
to longterm storage, a process that may take weeks.
- constantly checks information
relayed to working memory and compares it to stored experiences.
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Amygdala
- almond-shaped structure is part
of the limbic system
- appears to play an important
role in emotions.
- Stimulation can produce rage
but can also cause fear or pleasure.
- encodes an emotional message,
if one is present, when learning is transferred from working memory to longterm
storage. The emotional message is recalled whenever the memory is recalled.
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Cerebellum
- is located just below the rear
part of the cerebrum.
- coordinates every movement.
- monitors impulses from nerve
endings in the muscles.
- modifies and coordinates commands
to swing a golf club, smooth a dancer's footsteps, and allow a hand to bring
a cup to the lips without spilling its contents.
- may also store the memory of
rote movements, such as touchtyping and tying a shoelace.
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Brain Stem
- the oldest and deepest part
of the brain,
- often referred to as the reptilian
brain since it resembles the entire brain of a reptile. of the 12 body nerves
that go to the brain, 11 end in the brain stem (the olfactory nerve goes
directly to the cerebrum,).
- Centre of sensory reception
- monitors vital body functions
such as heartbeat and body temperature.
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Implications for Teaching
and Learning
- During a learning
situation students remember best that which comes first, second best that
which comes last and least that which comes just past the middle. Use the
middle time to have students practice the new learning
- Memory strategies such as concept
maps, mnemonics, or chunking can help in retention.
- There is no long term retention
without opportunities for rehearsal.
- The lecture method produces
the lowest degree of learning for most learners.
The graph illustrates
how two 20 minute lessons are likely to result in more prime-time retention
than one 40 minute lesson.
- Practice aids in the retention
of learning
- Calling on the first student
who puts his hand up signals the slow retriever to stop the retrieval process.
- Thematic
units and integrated curriculum enhance the transfer of learning process.
- Two concepts that are very similar
to each other should not be taught at the same time.
- Eg. Longitude and latitude
Basic
Brain Facts | Left and Right Brain Hemispheres
| Bloom's Taxonomy
Left and
Right Brain Processing
The left and the
right hemispheres of the brain process information differently.
The left and right
hemispheres of the human brain process information differently.
|
LEFT
HEMISPHERE FUNCTIONS
|
RIGHT
HEMISPHERE FUNCTIONS
|
| Connected to right
side of the body. |
Connected to left
side of the body |
| Integrates many
inputs at once |
Deals with inputs one at
a time.
|
| Processes information
in a linear fashion |
Processes information
more diffusely and simultaneously. |
| Deals with time.
|
Deals with space. |
| Responsible for
verbal expression |
Responsible for
gestures, facial movements and body language. |
| Responsible for
arithmetic operations |
Responsible for
relational and mathematical operations |
| Specializes in
recognizing words and numbers |
Specializes in
recognizing places, faces, objects, and music. |
| Does logical and
analytical thinking. |
Does intuitive
and holistic thinking. |
| The seat of reason. |
The seat of passion
and dreams. |
|
Crucial side for wordsmiths
and engineers
|
Crucial side for
artists, craftspeople, and musicians |
Most people have a dominant hemisphere.
This dominance affects their personality, abilities, and learning style.
- More girls than boys are left
hemisphere dominant and more boys than girls are right
hemisphere dominant.
- Most schools tend to favor left
hemisphere dominant learners.
- Teachers should plan lessons
that include activities that are directed at both hemispheres:
- Deal with concepts verbally
and visually
- Discuss concepts logically
and intuitively.
- Avoid conflicting messages.
- Design activities and Assessments
for both hemispheres.
Skills and Strategies for
the Left Hemisphere
- Organize the class into an
efficient workplace. Distribute the talkers around the room; they will spark
discussions when needed.
- Organize bulletin boards to
be relevant to the current content and easily understood.
- Make sure blackboard is clean.
This reduces the chance that previous and unrelated word cues will become
associated with the topic under discussion.
- Let students read, write, and
compute often to enhance left hemisphere activity.
- Create and analyze metaphors
to enhance meaning and encourage higher order thinking.
- Stress the importance of being
punctual. Encourage students to carry daytimers.
- Teach students to set study
goals for themselves, to stick to their goals, and to reward themselves
when they achieve them.
- Ask "what if" questions to encourage
logical thinking as they consider all possibilities for solving problems.
Skills and Strategies
for the Right Hemisphere
- Give students options and allow
them to do oral or written reports. Oral reports allow the right hemisphere
to fit concepts together while requiring fewer mechanics than written work.
- Use the chalkboard and overhead
projector to show illustrations, cartoons, charts, timelines and graphs
to allow students to visually organize information and relationships.
- Tying lessons together and using
proper closure allows the brain to compare new information to previous learning.
- Use role playing and simulations
to provide direct experiences where the learning may be applied.
- Allow students time to interact
with each other as they discuss the new learnings.
- Teach students to use generalities
and perceptions. Have them use metaphors and similes to make connections
between unlike items. This is an important function for future transfer
of learning.
- Provide frequent opportunities
for hands-on learning. Students need to realize that they must discover
and order relationships in the real world.
Learning Which Requires
both Hemispheres
- Acquiring a second language
- Using imagery
- Visualized notetaking
-
Concept mapping
Benjamin Bloom developed
a system of classification or taxonomy which identifies six levels of complexity
of thought. Using this taxonomy can improve the level of instruction and student
learning. It is a useful tool for moving all learners especially slower learners
to higher levels of thinking.
Complexity
and difficulty are different. Complexity establishes the level of thought;
difficulty determines the amount of work within a level.
Knowledge
- is defined as the mere rote
recall of previously learned material.
- lowest level of learning in
the cognitive domain.
- learner isn't asked for understanding.
- Activities at this level ask
students to define, list, label, locate or recall information.
- Long term retention may be difficult
for students with mild disabilities.
Comprehension
- describes the ability to make
sense of the material.
- may require converting the material
from one form to another
- repetition may be necessary
for students with mild disabilities.
- concrete rather than abstract
information is easier to understand.
- concepts become available for
future use to solve problems and make decisions..
-
Activities at
this level ask students to compare, convert, explain, give examples or
summarize.
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Application
- is the ability to use learned
material in new situations with little direction.
- includes the application of
such things as rules, concepts, methods and theories to solve problems.
- learner uses convergent thinking
to select, transfer, and apply data to a new task.
- need practice at this level
- handson teaching and functional
uses of information make application easier for students.
- demonstrate and calculate are
also activities.
Analysis
- is the ability to break material
into parts so its structure may be understood.
- includes identifying parts,
examining the relationships of the parts to the whole
- being able to organize and reorganize
information into categories.
- use whole/part/whole teaching
method.
- make analysis concrete by letting
students see or touch the division of whole into parts.
- Activities could include analyze,
contrast, deduce, differentiate, distinguish, infer, outline, diagnose,
reduce, separate
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Synthesis
- is the ability to put parts
together to form a plan that is new to the learner.
- may involve production of an
unique form of communicating the information.
- learners use divergent thinking
to produce, rearrange, create, design, formulate, compose
- let students see or touch the
combining of parts into a whole.
- Activities could include combine,
compile, compose, create, design, propose, revise, extend, rewrite, generalize,
rearrange, project.
Evaluation
- is the ability to judge the
value of material based on specific criteria.
- learner may determine the criteria
or they may be externally imposed.
- learners consolidate their thinking.
- this is the highest level of
cognitive thought because it contains elements of all the other levels.
- evaluation in real life situations
is a good approach to use.
- Opportunities are provided for
the learner to support, judge, compare, weigh, deduce evaluate, criticize,
assess or appraise.
Basic
Brain Facts | Left and Right Brain Hemispheres
| Bloom's Taxonomy
