Neuroscience research over the last two decades has shown that the standard classroom isn’t as exciting for student learning as it may be. Enter brain-based learning, a cutting-edge educational technique based on scientific evidence. It incorporates a teaching technique that emphasizes activity breaks, team learning, and peer teaching over lectures. Neuroplasticity, or the remapping of the brain’s connections while learning new concepts, is at the heart of brain-based learning.

1. Definition, History, and Principles of Brain-Based Learning

Brain-based learning makes use of neuroscience to develop curriculum and lesson plans. What is the goal? Learning that is both quick and efficient. According to Education Reform, the science that underlies this strategy focuses on the brain’s ability to alter, remap, and rearrange itself when acquiring new knowledge. Exercise, food, and stress levels all have an impact on this capacity. The emotional condition of a person has an influence on their capacity to learn.

The brain is able to perform better, its resilience is boosted, and its total functioning intelligence is improved when information is given in an efficient manner. According to studies, learning creates physical changes in the brain. As a result, the more new skills are practiced, the easier it becomes to learn new skills.

Teachers employ brain-based learning methods in the classroom using this research as a springboard. They concentrate on lowering stress, effectively conveying content, boosting student activity, and including practice opportunities. While the concepts stay the same regardless of a student’s age, people learn in different ways as they become older. As a result, the ways through which these concepts are delivered change.

History of Brain-Based Learning

The 1990s saw a surge in neurological research. Little was known about cerebral circuits at the time, and the left and right brain idea, which had been proposed in the 1960s, was decades old. According to the Global Digital Citizen Foundation, scientists have learned more about the brain during the 1990s than in all previous centuries combined.

Geoffrey Caine and Renate Nummela founded Geoffrey Caine and Renate Nummela in 1994. Students’ memory and knowledge of concepts improved in a brain-based teaching environment, according to Caine’s research. Brain-based learning has been increasingly popular in schools since then.

Principles

The following are the fundamentals of brain-based learning. Each concept gives out a method for improving student retention and learning.

Health and Exercise

The more physically active and engaged pupils are, the better their learning results will be. It will take more than a noon recess or a walk between courses to do this. Allowing students to take walking breaks throughout courses and throughout the day, for example, revitalizes them, boosts their attention span, and improves their ability to remember material.

Positive Emotions

The more content pupils are, the more ready they are to study and think critically. Teacher affirmations are one approach to boost a student’s self-esteem.

Group Work

Students can learn from one another by working in groups with peers. This aids their retention of knowledge from the teacher that they may not have absorbed or comprehended.

Peer Teaching

When students teach content to their classmates, they are more likely to remember it themselves. Small groups or presentations can be used to accomplish this.

Practice

Simple memory is less effective than learning via repetition and trial and error. Practicing the subject rather than remembering the specifics can help students develop a deeper knowledge of the subject.

Limited Lectures

According to Classcraft, just 5 to 10% of knowledge is remembered during a lecture. Students learn more when classes are mostly discussion-based.

Meaningful Information

If students are engaged in the lesson, they are more likely to remember it. Students will find the content more relevant if they relate it to their daily life. A lecture on economics, for example, may be linked to smartphone ownership.

Written and Verbal Information

Students who write and articulate material will be better able to transfer it from short-term to long-term memory.

Stimulation

Using comedy, dance, or games to capture pupils’ attention activates the emotional center of their brains. As a result, pupils’ engagement and information processing improve.

Less Stress

The brain undergoes chemical changes as a result of stress. Students can achieve greater levels of performance in a peaceful classroom atmosphere.

2. Benefits of Brain-Based Learning

The advantages of brain-based learning are based on these ideas. These are some of them:

• Health. This method encourages kids to be healthy and active, improving their overall fitness and well-being.
• Better psyches. Positive affirmations and constructive criticism make pupils feel good about themselves and have a positive outlook on life.
• Cooperation. Students learn to collaborate and compromise more as they conduct more group work.
• Improved memory. Brain-based learning helps pupils improve their memory and recall in general. The peer-teaching approach, in particular, promotes knowledge memory and comprehension.

Another significant benefit of this technique for teachers is that it allows them to use many strategies. This isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to teaching and learning. Teachers can use a variety of tactics based on the principles, increasing the likelihood of seeing success with their pupils.

3. Classroom Application

Because it employs a variety of methodologies, brain-based learning has a wide range of applications in the classroom. Lessons can incorporate both vocal and textual content, for example, which improves recall. Hands-on activities, such as presenting pupils with tangible clocks to understand time, can also be constructed.

Modeling tasks based on real-world issues that students face is another use. When teaching percentages, for example, a shopping activity might be put up. Each item may be on sale, and the student will be required to compute the discounted price before receiving it. This project may also be done in groups with a budget to stick to. This allows learners to learn problem solving and critical thinking in one exercise, moving away from the lecture and into the lesson’s practical applications.

It’s crucial to keep in mind that not every strategy will work for every learner. The easiest way to start adopting brain-based learning in the classroom is to explore different ways on a regular basis and learn from your mistakes.