Purposes, goals or desired outcomes

• Help students

  • Learn more effectively
  • Recognize possible difficulties
  • Recognize solutions

• Help educators

  • Purposeful, informed teaching
  • Non-threatening, conducive environments

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• There are many reasons for studying how people learn. By learning about how people learn, students may be able to learn more effectively themselves and to know what difficulties they may face. Also, knowing about the limitations of human learning can help teachers to anticipate problems (their own and those of others) in learning how to teach children better.

• Brain based learning is the informed process of using a group of practical strategies that are driven by sound principles derived from brain research.(Brain-Based Learning: Wheres the Proof? Jensen Learning Corporations http://www.jlcbrain.com/truth.html )

• Schools should not be run based solely on the biology of the brain. However, to ignore what we do know about the brain would be equally irresponsible. Brain-based learning offers some direction for educators who want more purposeful, informed teaching. It offers the possibility of less hit or miss in the classroom. We have learned about how environments impact our learning, the role of trauma and the effects of distress and threat. With additional clarity in research, brain-based approaches may soon suggest far better options for those struggling with learning. (Brain-Based Learning: Wheres the Proof? Jensen Learning Corporations http://www.jlcbrain.com/truth.html )

• Brain research certainly will have more to tell us about how children's brains develop, but each small step, each specific finding, must be replicated by other studies. Hypotheses that generalize from MRI images to classroom teaching methods may be interesting and fun to read, but they should be regarded with a true scientist's skeptical eye. At the present time, the best judge of effective classroom practice is not the neuroscientist, but the knowledgeable and experienced educator. (Bergen 2002, 377)

• Brain research is not the be all and end all that will solve all education problems. However, it is going to make us work harder and understand better. (Covino 2002, 25)

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