WilkersonJohnson,V.

CritiqueSupportingtheUseofBrainBasedResearchintheClassroom
PostedDate:
November7,20142:33AM
Status:
Published
CritiqueSupportingtheUseofBrainBasedResearchintheClassroomVeronicaWilkersonJohnson

Wemuststudythewaysinwhichthebrainworksinordertoresponsiblyteachourstudentsthrough
methodsthatwillhelpthemtolearnbest.Theefficacyofpursuingbrainbasedresearchintheeffortto
betterimprovecognitiveresponseintheclassroomcannotbeoverstated.Lookattheevidence
demonstratedinotherfieldsofendeavor!Americaandtheworldpursuemoderntechnologyinfieldof
medicine,forinstance.Agoodexamplewouldbetheuseofa3Dprinterto"print"anorganforsurgical
implantintoapatient(UMHS,2013).Anotherexamplewouldbetheuseofartificialintelligencesoftware
toteachstudentsintheclassroom(IBMWatson,2014).Ourworldisrapidlypursuinginnovationtogo
beyondallthatwehaveknownbefore.Whyshouldn'tthisinnovativerealityalsobeacknowledgedinthe
fieldofeducation,wheremosthumanbeingsobtaintheirinitiallearningblueprint?
JoshMyershaswagedtheargumentthatthereisnoempiricalevidencetosupporttheuseofbrain
basedresearchintheclassroom,andhecallsJensen'sargument"wellintentionedbutflawed."However,it
wasJensenwhowiselystatedthat"toignorewhatweknowabouthowthebrainworksisirresponsibleand
reckless"(Jensen,2008).Jensenalsoadvisedustousewhatweknowaboutbrainfunctioningtoinform
ourdecisionsaboutwhatmethodsandapproacheswillbebestforstudentlearning.Inessence,hisisa
responsibleandinnovativegoal,onethathasatitscoreacommonsenseapproachtobringingthebest
learninginnovationstoourstudentsbasedonascientificunderstandingofhowtheirbrainsreceiveand
interpretthelearning.Thisistrulyaspirited,dynamicandwellconceivedapproachthatfliesinthefaceof
JoshMyers'assertionthatbrainbasedresearchis,atbest,experimentalandwithoutsubstance.
Furthermore,JoshMyerscontendsthat,basedonthesummaryofColes(2004),certaininnovative
approachesintheclassroom,suchasthereadinginstructionprograminNoChildLeftBehind,are
"inappropriateapproximationsofactuallearning",yetMr.Myersdoesnotprovideempiricalevidenceto
supportthispurelyargumentativestance.Actually,theU.S.DepartmentofEducation(DOE,2011)
recommendedthatprogramsasNoChildLeftBehindbestrengthenedbyimplementingandexpanding
"ResponsetoIntervention"modelsinreadingacrossallgradelevels,whenfeasible,startinginK3reading,
andexpandingpotentiallyintohighergradesaswell.TheDOEhasdonethisinanefforttomaximizethe
implementationofSchoolImprovementGrantsnationwide.Brainbasedsciencewillcertainlybeacatalyst
inthisendeavoraswell.
Inaddition,Caine(1994)hascontributedgreatlytothefieldofbrainresearchanditsimplications
forlearningandteaching.Thevalidprincipleshehasinspiredhavebeenwellreceived,andtheyhave
helpedinstructorsbetterutilizetheirtimeintheclassroom.Heremindsusthatenrichmenthastwocritical
ingredients:thelearningmustbechallenging,andinteractivefeedbackmustbepresent.Challengesfor
studentsmaycomethroughopportunitiesforcriticalthinking,problemsolving,andcomplexprojectsand
activities.Importantly,Caineremindsusthatwearetoseekabalancethattoomuchofachallengemay

leadstudentstogiveup,whiletoolittlechallengemayleadtoboredom.Inorderforustodeterminethe
correctchallengelevels,wemustknowourstudents,andwemustbeabletoindividualizethelearning
experiencebasedontheircognitivedifferencessothatwecanenhancetheirlearningexperience.Jensen
callsthis"developmentalresponsiveness."Hefurthercounselsusthatthebrainisselfreferencing,
meaningthatitdecideswhattodobasedonwhathasjustbeendone(p.33).Thisiswhyinteractive
feedbackisthesecondingredientofenrichment.Jensenaddsthatwearemosteffectivewhenthefeedback
weprovidestudentsisspecificandimmediate.Basedonthisclearpathtoresponsibleteachingthroughthe
understandingofthehumanbrain,itisfurtherevidentthattheimplicationsforcurriculum,instruction,and
assessment,throughbrainbasedresearchandutilizationintheclassroom,aretremendous

References
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Good critique, Veronica. Well done. Professor Laurie Chesney