INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN
"Understanding brain development in adolescence has profound implications for social and educational policy"
(Blakemore, 2018, p.6)
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By connecting our knowledge of adolescent neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and sound pedagogy we can build lessons uniquely tailored for junior high school students. When we know how the adolescent brain works and what the adolescent mind is seeking, we can adapt instructional design and create optimal conditions for learning that honour this unique stage of development.
The adolescent brain is wired for connection, sensitive to respect threats, sensation seeking and responsive to reward. Lessons designed to engage and motivate junior high school students must appreciate this if authentic learning is to take place.
The science informs us that the optimal learning environment must be safe, caring, and predictable. It also tells us that a connection to place and activities rooted in play create the conditions for learning the adolescent brain is wired for. Click on the links below to learn more.
Connecting Brain-Mind and Pedagogy
Connecting Brain-Mind and Pedagogy
The unique structures and functions of the adolescent brain seek fulfillment of the basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. We can design environments that honour and enhance motivation, support the development of positive self-identity, and promote wellness.
The column on the left indicates the brain structures in development during adolescence and associated needs and/or behaviours. These neural structures both seek, and are supported by, the psychological needs in the middle column.
The column on the right describes an educational environment in which the psychological needs can be supported, which in turn, builds the neural strategies that promote brain development.
Neuroscience: Learning in 4 steps
Neuroscience: Learning in 4 steps
[Click on the terms below for practical strategies and ideas in the classroom]
Attention: is the gateway to all learning process and decisive factor in its success". Multitasking is a myth. The brain can switch focus between sensory input or verbal streams quickly, but must prioritize and filter information.
Active Engagement: - learning is not passive. Learner's must be curious, and the tasks must be within an optimal range of difficulty.
Feedback - learning from mistakes and adopting a growth mindset is key to learning.
Consolidation - new knowledge must be integrated into already existing schema by connecting it to what is already known. Analogies or metaphors are great for this. So is sleep. New research into the brains Default Mode Network (DMN) may reveal this to be an important part of consolidation!
To read the full article, click here.
Recommended Resources
(for more information about brain-based instructional design)
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