Brain-friendly coverage.I greatly appreciate your vision to devote an entire issue (December 2006) on how advancements in neuroscience neu·ro·sci·ence n. Any of the sciences, such as neuroanatomy and neurobiology, that deal with the nervous system. neuroscience the embryology, anatomy, physiology, biochemistry and pharmacology of the nervous system. are informing K-12 education today. As an individual who has worked with many companies that develop products to advance student learning, I believe this neurological neurological, neurologic pertaining to or emanating from the nervous system or from neurology. neurological assessment evaluation of the health status of a patient with a nervous system disorder or dysfunction. approach to understanding why and how we learn will become the paradigm shift A dramatic change in methodology or practice. It often refers to a major change in thinking and planning, which ultimately changes the way projects are implemented. For example, accessing applications and data from the Web instead of from local servers is a paradigm shift. See paradigm. needed in closing today's education gap. The proper application of neuroscience principles in the classroom has profound effects on building learning capacity and improving behavior for all students. I am eager to read some of the reactions you receive on this unique educational approach. MARY ANNE PETRILLO Director of Corporate Marketing, Scientific Learning, Oakland, Calif. Robert Sylwester's article ("Cognitive Neuroscience Noun 1. cognitive neuroscience - the branch of neuroscience that studies the biological foundations of mental phenomena neuroscience - the scientific study of the nervous system Discoveries and Educational Practices," December 2006) is so refreshing that I copied it for each of my 44 faculty and seven school board members to help guide our vision in our rural southern Illinois community. I really liked what Sylwester had to say about conscious learning. For the last 40 years, I have studied behavioral psychology behavioral psychology n. See behaviorism. and learning theory along with personality psychology. My book manuscript, which I expect to publish later this year, examines how to teach intrinsic motivation. I've titled it Purposeful pur·pose·ful adj. 1. Having a purpose; intentional: a purposeful musician. 2. Having or manifesting purpose; determined: entered the room with a purposeful look. Intent: Motivating Your Mind From Within. My work is based on a simple triad of three interconnected spheres; where each has specific leadership skills to process and learn to improve over one's lifetime. The three spheres are (1) increase awareness, (2) enhance self-evaluation and (3) connect reward with reinforcement reinforcement /re·in·force·ment/ (-in-fors´ment) in behavioral science, the presentation of a stimulus following a response that increases the frequency of subsequent responses, whether positive to desirable events, or . From my research, I believe this process skill has never been done before, and our schools do not teach these fundamental skills that I find as easy as teaching a 5th grader the strategy skills to shoot a free throw in basketball. When I read Sylwester's description of conscious learning, it seemed like a good summary for what I was detailing in my book. We talk about changing our pedagogy to create interactive learners and then summarily go about teaching the same old lectures. This will not enhance conscious learning. Sylwester deserves gratitude for pointing out what we really need to be doing in our public schools to help students learn to learn. PETE PETE Polyethylene Terephthalate PETE Petroleum Engineering (university department) PETE Petersburg National Battlefield (US National Park Service) PETE Partnership for Environmental Technology Education ANDERSEN Superintendent, Wayne City School District 100, Wayne City, Ill. |
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