Brain Research

Essential Educational Components
Brain Research

Key Research Summary Points

The 21st Century Learning Initiative's essential purpose is to facilitate the emergence of new approaches to learning that draw upon a range of insights into the human brain, the functioning of human societies, and learning as a community-wide activity.

When we understand how the brain works and the various motives which drive human behavior, we can address that education has to be about much more than intellectual development, and that learning and schooling are certainly not necessarily synonymous.

Brain research tell us…

Learning environments must provide emotional safety
Stress is toxic
Boredom is as toxic to the brain as stress
Construction of individualized meaning promotes higher level intellectual functioning
Differentiation offers the best opportunity for appropriate use of challenge.
Differentiation offers the best opportunity for building on students’ interest and need for engagement.
Differentiation gives individual students meaningful experiences.

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SUPPORTING
RESOURCES/TOOLS

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Administrators: A                Educators: E                Families:  F

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Videos/Power Point Presentations
Building A Better School with Brain-based Learning

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Documents/Tables
~Optimizing Learning

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Articles/Journals/Books
~ Brain Research and the Gifted and Talented Student
~Brain Teasers: Scientists Dissect Mystery of Genius
~12 Brain/Mind Principles in Action
~Cortex Matures Faster in Youth With Highest IQ
~Publication: Gifted Learning & Teaching
~Psychology of Gifted Learning
~Teenage Brain: A Work in Progress
~Understanding & Identifying Gifted Learning-Disabled Students

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Websites
~ Brain.Org
~Funderstanding - Left vs Right Brain
~Online Quiz - Are You a Right or Left Brain Thinker?

*Brain Research -* *Videos/Power Point Presentations*
Title/URL *Click on a link for more information*	Implementation/Content Description
Building A Better School with Brain-based Learning	Brain-based curriculum video demonstrating how the research is incorporated in an elementary classroom

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*Brain Research -* *Documents/Tables*
Title/URL *Click on a link for more information*	Implementation/Content Description
Optimizing Learning	Three steps to optimizing learning: Understanding brain development, creating responsive learning environments and integrating intellectual processes.

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*Brain Research -* *Articles/Journals/Books*
Title/URL *Click on a link for more information*	Implementation/Content Description
Brain Research and the Gifted and Talented Student (Page Bulletin) by James LoGiudice, Bucks County Intermediate Unit #22, PAGE Bulletin Editor Lawrence E. Martin, Ph.D., Bucks County Intermediate Unit #22	The following pages contain a number of suggestions specifically for gifted learners and classroom teachers on this body of work.
Brainteaser: Scientists dissect mystery of genius by Sanjay Gupta, CNN	...found a strong correlation between intelligence and the size and shape of certain brain structures -- including parts of the superior parietal lobe (involved in sensory perception) and parts of the prefrontal cortex (associated with complex thinking, personality, planning, coordination). Intelligence research is full of surprises. For example, the brains of smarter people, as measured by IQ, tend to be less active but more efficient...
12 Brain/Mind Principles in Action: Developing the Executive Functions of the Human Brain by Caine, Caine, McClintic and Klimek (Corwin Press)	This book is linked to national teaching standards and helps educators build the bridge from brain research to classroom practice.
Cortex Matures Faster in Youth with Highest IQ National Institutes of Health News	Youth with superior IQ are distinguished by how fast the thinking part of their brains thickens and thins as they grow up, researchers at the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) have discovered. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans showed that their brain’s outer mantle, or cortex, thickens more rapidly during childhood, reaching its peak later than in their peers — perhaps reflecting a longer developmental window for high-level thinking circuitry....
Publications - Gifted Learning & Teaching Melbourne Graduate School of Education Studies in Exceptional Learning and Gifted Education	The set of articles in gifted learning and teaching examine aspects how gifted students learn and recommended teaching procedures.
The Psychology of Gifted Learning Melbourne Graduate School of Education Studies in Exceptional Learning and Gifted Education	The set of articles in the psychology of gifted learning review particular aspects of gifted learning research and examine the implications for teaching.
Teenage Brain: A Work in Progress (Fact Sheet	National Institute of Mental Health: A brief overview of research into brain development during adolescence. (2001).
Munro J. (2002). Understanding & identifying giftedlearning disabled students. Australian Journal of Learning Disabilities, 7, (2) 20 - 30 (pdf)	This article describes a framework for identifying and assessing gifted underachieving students.

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*Brain Research -* *Websites*
Title/URL *Click on a link for more information*	Implementation/Content Description
Brains.Org	Practical classroom applications for current brain research
Funderstanding - Left vs Right Brain	In general, schools tend to favor left-brain modes of thinking, while downplaying the right-brain ones. Left-brain scholastic subjects focus on logical. This theory of the structure and functions of the mind suggests that the two different sides of the brain control two different "modes" of thinking. It also suggests that each of us prefers one mode over the other.
Are you a Right or Left Brain Thinker? Online quiz	Take this test to which half of your brain is in charge. Have your family members do this also.

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Page Questions

Kansas Effective Practices Instructional Toolkit

Key Research Summary Points