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Brendan Makidon
Lucia Elden
English 111
20 October 2016

Learning and The Brain (Formal Review)

They sit, cramped in a small and lifeless classroom, frantically taking notes on a lecture
they will be tested on the next day. In order to pass, some will have to stay up all night cramming
for this test. The students are feeling the pressure bearing down on them. Are they really
learning? According to Eric Jensen, author of Teaching With the Brain in Mind, They might be
(As long as they have experience in the subject). The most commonly accepted explanation of
learning is: The ability to identify or predict the relevant associations among variables in the
learning situation. The ability to predict and express accurately the appropriate concepts or
actions. Lastly, the ability to Store, retrieve, and apply that prediction in context next time. If
someone can't do these things we say he hasn't or has only partially learned the information.
However; Most teachers don't take into account the importance of experience when teaching
these things. Learning is a biological process consisting of neuronal connections called synapses.
The more experience you have in a subject the more synapses you have relating to that subject
thus making it easier to retain related information.
Robert Leamnson, author of Thinking About Teaching and Learning, describes the
process of learning in depth. In summary, an adult brain there are numerous and intricate
neuronal connections. When learning a neuron connect to other neurons with axons to create
synapses. On average one neuron has thousands of these connections to other neurons. This is
important for teachers because, according to Leamnson, it means the connections are what

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allows perception or thought not just the neurons existence alone. It is also significant because
initially the connections are quite labile which means they will regress if not used. Jensen
suggests multiple ways for teachers to strengthen these connections and make learning both
easier and enjoyable for students. They are as follows: Engagement, Repetition, Timing, Error
Correction, and Emotional State Consideration.
Robert and Erics ideas tackle the problem of learning difficulties and boring
teaching head on. Chapter three of Teaching With the Brain in Mind presents multiple ways
teaching can improve and practical suggestions for teachers looking to better their teaching style.
Eric states that Engagement, surprisingly, Is not a requirement for all types of teaching and
continues by stating that almost ninety percent of what we learn is picked up through
unconscious acquisition and that it is even possible to learn complex patterns unconsciously.
However; What you are taking in is not a the complex type of learning but rather it is the type
known as priming. Priming is useful for introducing and preparing students to learn
information they have yet studied before. It familiarizes the students with the basic concepts of
the lesson they will be learning and they often don't even know it. According to Eric it is as easy
as the students seeing or hearing a relevant word before the lesson. In contrast Leamnson
presents the idea of Preposterisms. The idea that when students don't know what they are going
to learn and it is then laid on them all at once, assuming they can learn it as easy as the teachers
could themselves, the students can get overwhelmed. Repetition is important, according to both
Jensen and Leamnson, Because the repeated use of synapses enforces what is learned making
recall of relevant information easier. Jensen goes farther and states that repetition is simply a
must. Repetition can be done in many ways with varying timing but the idea is still the same.
The more you correctly use an idea that was learned the more it is ingrained in the brain.

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Both Leamnson and Jensen explore the intricacies of the human learning process.
However; Eric Jensen's article goes deeper in explaining why it matters. It delves into each
individual component of learning and gives readers suggestions on how to implement the
concepts presented. To demonstrate, each section in Jensen's book has a section at the end called
Practical Suggestions which essentially explains how teachers can bring what they just read.
For example under the section Emotional State Consideration it gives a summary of how
emotional state affect the biological process of learning (a stressful event leads to the secretion of
glucocorticoid hormones, including cortisol, which influence cognitive performance, Etc.) In the
section Practical suggestions it is stated that teachers could create a sense of urgency for the
students which evokes stress hormones and makes learning easier due to the release of certain
chemicals like neuromodulators that stimulates the growth of neuronal synapses. This is a large
asset to Jensen's book whereas Leamnson only goes as far as stating the facts of biological
learning and carries on with the next subject. Leamnson archives a lot with his article in the
sense that he paints very vivid images of the processes. Going in depth into the process of which
he is talking about. While it is an appreciated feature the lack of any direction when discussing
the process makes the article fall flat. Leamnson introduced quotes in the beginning of each
section. I like this because it primes you for the rest of the section. The way each article
references its different sections are night and day. Leamnson uses quirky titles that loosely
associate to the article. In contrast Jensen is very direct with the different sections and it makes
the referencing of the article much easier to accomplish.
In conclusion, Jensen's article comes off as more professional and accomplishes the goal
of presenting information about the biological process of learning much more efficiently than
Leamnson. While both articles feature in depth views of the process Jensen's explanation is more

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thorough and well implemented. However; Leamnsons article seems more personal. He often
uses rhetorical devices designed to make the reader connect with the things being said. By using
things like personal anecdotes, inclusionary statements such as Most of us, and even the use of
the word I, it becomes much easier to relate to Leamnsons article rather than Jensen's clear,
cut to the point article. Both articles are aimed towards informing teachers about the process of
learning and how deep it is rooted in human biology but Jensen's achieves this goal more
efficiently and effectively. Still, either article would be a good choice for teachers looking to
bring their classes to new heights.

Works Cited

Jensen, Eric. "3." Teaching with the Brain in Mind. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision
and Curriculum Development, 1998. N. pag. Print.

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Leamnson, Robert. "11 Robert Leamnson: The Biological Basis of Learning and Today's First
Year Students." Exploring Connections. 2nd ed. N.p.: Pearson, 2016. 65-85. Print.