Using neuroscience to create effective learning
We use our brains constantly when we learn. And yet, we don’t often use the evidence from neuroscience to support our teaching designs. We’re missing a trick.
Let’s think about the earliest humans for a minute.
Before we had academic textbooks, qualified teachers, or established educational systems, we just had our brains and other humans. These were pretty much the only tools we could use to learn anything. As we evolved, and our brains got bigger and we formed our neocortex, we introduced more tools to help us learn.
But, the way in which our brains fundamentally learn didn’t change all that much. Sure, we may have made it a bit easier, but the principles remain the same.
If we want to create truly effective learning, we need to keep these principles in mind when we design our teaching. So, then, how can we use neuroscience to help us design?
Well, according to research, there are five core components behind the science of human learning: Curiosity, Sociality, Emotion, Authenticity, and Failure (Eyler, 2018).
Curiosity
We all had a favourite subject at school and a least favourite. When you think about your favourite subject, ask yourself: “Why did I like that subject so much?’”And then, when you think about your least favourite subject, ask: “Why did I not enjoy that subject?”
It’s because in order to learn something, we have to first be curious about it. If we’re not curious, it will be difficult to find the intrinsic motivation to learn. You can see this when you look at babies and toddlers. They learn about the world by being curious about it; this is why they can spend hours engrossed in something that seems utterly boring to us. But, once they’ve figured something out and assessed its value to their world, they’ll either keep going back to it or lose interest and move onto the next thing they’re curious about.
Sure, we have more experience than babies, but our brains still work in the same way. When we’re curious about something, it holds our attention until we know how valuable it is to our world. If we consider it valuable, we’ll keep that knowledge and apply it in our lives. If it’s not valuable, it’ll be removed from our long-term memory.
So, before we design how we’re going to teach our students, we first need to look at our content. How can we get students to feel curious about the material we’re sharing? The beautiful thing is that the material doesn’t need to be intrinsically interesting. We can make it interesting. The more interesting or surprising the content, the more curiosity you will foster in your students. A simple method to do this is to think about the world in which your students are living: what is happening in their world? What is trending on social media? What do young people engage in outside of their studies? Know your student body and you’ll be able to transform your content to relate to their world. In doing so, you’ll spark their curiosity and their learning will be far deeper.
Sociality
“The earliest humans probably shared stories to relay vital information and to enhance social learning”
It’s entirely possible to learn in isolation. But, and this is a big but, we will not learn as deeply. Again, let’s think back to the earliest humans.
When you have no textbooks, no lectures, and no Google, how do you learn anything? From other people, of course.
The earliest form of learning was through what we’d now call ‘show and tell’. Someone more experienced would show someone less experienced how to do something, and then they’d copy until they got it right.
Children do the same thing. Like little mirrors, children will copy what adults do in order to learn. The importance of social learning is, of course, not new. Many researchers have expressed the need for humans to learn from each other; from Bandura’s social learning theory to Vygotsky’s ‘zone of proximal development’, the research shows us time and time again that we learn best from one another.
One key method for social learning is the use of stories. As Eyler argues, “related to the evolution of pedagogical behaviors is the development of stories and narrative. The earliest humans probably shared stories to relay vital information and to enhance social learning” (2018, p. 76).
When we’re designing our courses and programmes, we should think about how to incorporate stories into our teaching. Any content can be turned into a story and when students hear content through a story format, it is treated differently in memory than other forms of learning. This is probably because of how our early ancestors learned.
Another form of social learning that is often overlooked is play. This is incorporated into early years education, but for some reason, it has been removed as a teaching method for compulsory and higher education. This is despite the fact that research shows that human beings have always learned effectively through play: “Play often gets a bad rap for falling outside the realm of intellectual pursuits, but the biological evidence is clear. Without play, our learning is hindered, and we are unable to function at our highest levels” (Eyler, 2018, p. 74).
Get your students to engage in play. Make the learning fun.
The more they enjoy learning, the more they will retain what they’ve learned and the better social skills they will develop.
It’s somewhat sad to think that we only really get to enjoy learning before we turn 5, after which we are tested regularly and learning becomes a tickbox mission. It’s little wonder that mental health problems in education are on the rise with students feeling burnt out and exhausted, desperate to shed the pressure and leave the world of learning behind.
Emotion
Maximising on your students’ emotional capacity may seem a less familiar method of teaching than encouraging curiosity or sociality. But actually, when we have an emotional connection to something, we tend to engage with the material on a deeper level. Think about stories or events that have tapped into your emotions; I bet you still remember them.
You might be thinking that it’s difficult to encourage your students to form an emotional connection with the material you’re teaching, but it doesn’t have to be.
Say you’re teaching Law and you’re trying to get your students to understand a specific part. Sure, you can give them a case study that will help them see it in a real-world scenario, and that can be effective. But, if we add an emotional element to the case study, it’s going to help it stick even more.
How about if you’re teaching medical students, and the topic is breast cancer. Pairing the content with the human element of survival stories is going to engage them on an emotional level.
This is human-centred learning at its finest.
Authenticity
Authenticity is one of the most essential components of learning for humans.
“The human brain is pretty adept at detecting the degree to which an activity, assignment, or exercise is authentic or artificial. The greater the authenticity, the deeper the learning. By contrast, artificiality leads to weaker, or more strategic, learning behaviors. Students quickly zone out (and their cognitive functions go on holiday) if they are not asked to apply their knowledge meaningfully in realistic conditions”
Designing authentic learning experiences is a crucial element of deep learning. Authentic experiences involve creating opportunities for students to engage with real-world problems, scenarios, or contexts that closely resemble those encountered in their personal or professional lives. From a neuroscience perspective, we need to tap into the brain’s ability to recognise authenticity and to dismiss artificiality.
If we think about the science of human learning, the emphasis on authenticity makes a lot of sense. Our brains were designed to help us survive, so naturally, the brain favours information that is going to be relevant to our everyday living. Of course, most of us no longer need to think about hunting animals or avoiding being eaten by predators, but the premise remains the same. If our brains detect the authentic value of information to our everyday lives, then it will store it to be used when needed.
Human babies only learn in authentic ways. We don’t create artificial learning scenarios for them, they just go ahead and try something until they figure it out. If it’s relevant to them, they’ll keep it in their arsenal, if not they’ll probably chuck it at you. Adult brains are the same. The more authentic the task or the assessment, the deeper the learning.
If we think about authenticity in the 21st century, we need to reimagine our teaching materials to be authentic and relevant to the personal and professional lives of our students. We need to bring in the digital, incorporate artificial intelligence, place emphasis on collaborative problem-solving because these are all authentic to our students’ actual lives.
Failure
This is perhaps my favourite component of human learning, but a component that is often overlooked and underutilised, especially in higher education.
When we think about failing, we often think in negative terms. Phrases such as ‘I’m a failure’, ‘I can’t do this’, or ‘I’m not good enough’ might spring to mind. But, failure is essential for learning.
Let’s think about this in its basic form. When we’re little, we are still learning about the world. Say we don’t understand the danger of boiling water on our skin. We might put our hand into boiling water because we know no better. It burns us; we immediately pull our hand out. And, this is the crucial part, we learn that boiling water when it touches our skin is a bad thing. We don’t repeat the same mistake again.
Failing helps us learn.
Despite its criticality for our learning as a species, failure is avoided by students and faculty across all educational institutions. But this makes sense given the pressure that we put on students to prove their learning in high-stakes assessments, where failure can literally mean they are not awarded their qualification. So how can we possibly expect them to be okay with the idea of failing?
But here’s the thing. Without failure, the learning is not as deep. Sure, they might be able to memorise the content and recite it back in the assessments we give them. But have they really learned anything? Will they be able to apply the material in new contexts, years down the line?
They are more likely to cement the understanding of a concept if they experienced failure when attempting to apply it. It would have created a stronger neurological pathway that would solidify in their minds and be remembered the next time they have to apply the same concept.
So, we should encourage failure. Get your students to feel comfortable with failure, with iteration, with continuous trial and error. This is how we grow. Carol Dweck is the pioneer of growth mindsets, which posit that achievement is directly correlated with effort. If you fail, that simply means you need to try harder, not give up or assume you just don’t have the skills or intelligence that is necessary.
The more we can encourage our students to be comfortable with failing and trying again, the more well-rounded, creative, resilient, and empathetic citizens we will send out into the world.
REFERENCES
Eyler, J. R. (2018). How Humans Learn: The Science and Stories Behind Effective College Teaching. West Virginia University Press.
