The Art of Changing the Brain
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Abstract
L et's begin with an idea that seems obvious: When we leam, we change. We do something new or better, or we may stop doing something. Learning makes a difference. Sometimes learning is incremental, and we don't even notice the changes. At other times, learning brings about powerful changes. In the most dramatic cases, learning transforms otu life. This potential for change is what attracts many of us to teaching. We hear about teachers who inflttenced students' lives in important ways; we remember our own teachers and the effect they had on us; and we recognize how learning lias changed our own lives. We see the opportunity to be a vehicle for change and growth in others. We see that we can make a difference. But until recently, our ideas about how learning produces change have been unclear. Good teaching seems to be an art, and good teachers seem to have special, hard-to-define skills. In feet, such teachers sometimes shy away from trying to analyze their art, perhaps out of fear of losing it. Now, however, education research and cognitive science have given us deeper insights into the process of learning, hi addition, we are beginning to understand more of the fundamental neurological processes that happen in the brain when we learn and remember. This new knowledge fascinates and tantalizes teachers. Maybe we will actually tind out how it all w orks! My own experience as a biochetnist and teacher for nearly four decades has given me the opportunity to investigate what we are learning about the brain. And to my surprise, neuroscientiflc research has given me new ideas that have informed my teaching.