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Anna Digby

Mindset Works®: Student Motivation through a Growth Mindset, by Carol Dweck, ... - 1 views

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    Brainology is an interesting activity to introduce students to the idea that their brain controls their scholastic success rather than their innate ability. It gave them impression that in continuing lessons it would give suggestions of study skills and activities which would help students who struggle with the list of "challenges" provided. It started doing this already through its recommendation in the first unit of combining pathways, or parts of the brain, in activities in order to keep your brain engaged and working at a higher level. In addition, it gave students options for self reflection, which would allow them to think about what they are learning and how it may apply to their own life. I also like that although they used simple explanations, they still used the scientific terms for parts of the brain. For example, calling it the "Frontal Lobe" (its proper name) rather than something like "The decision making center". Although the program has a lot of positives I think it is limited in the age groups that it will most effectively reach. I believe that high schoolers and even most middle schoolers who are asked to participated in Brainology, will think it is stupid, and spend their time finding ways to make fun of it rather than focusing on the content of the material. In addition, I believe that the lesson seemed to have been broken up, by the reflections (the blue screen that pops up) in a confusing manner and it seemed like some of them would have been better to wait a little longer before stopping to write what the student had learned. This may have been the nature of the 45-minute parents' trial rather than the nature of the full length program. I am not sure. I hope that the full length program allows for more information and learning activities and forms of review other than the question and answer that was provided in the free trial.
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    I am very intrigued by the ideas behind Brainology, more so than the program itself. I think the growth mindset versus fixed mindset could indeed have huge ramifications for many students, and I am curious to learn more about the outcomes of the Brainology project. I found myself more interested in the reading accompanying the Brainology demo than the demo itself. It seems like how a teacher implements the ideas behind Brainology in their classroom could be a deciding factor of whether or not the program is successful. They list, for example, useful questions to be asking your students that reinforce the growth mindset, and give good language to use to make sure a teacher is not encouraging a fixed mindset. It seems like the program by itself would not be enough, and that the teacher would really have to make sure he or she is embracing the ideas in the classroom in other ways as well. I worry that teachers could just show the program and that would be the end of it. As for the program itself, I find myself agreeing with some of the statements Malika and Connor have made. It does seem catered towards a younger age, and I can imagine older kids not going along with it. I enjoyed the Brain Book that I could click on for more information. I appreciated that the kids would be getting these straight facts about the brain and their own learning. I'm not sure if the reflection parts would be effective with kids or not. I found myself clicking through those sections rapidly just to get to the next section, and I wonder if kids would do the same. I think for high-schoolers, who are also desperately in need of this information, that a different interface would be needed. All in all, I love the ideas behind the program, but would be curious to see how different aged students respond to the Brainology interface.
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    Brainology Review: I found the Brainology program to have many positive ideas about student learning and intelligence. The premise behind the program, that fostering a "growth mindset" will allow students to understand that intelligence can be developed, is a technique I found intriguing and one that seemed to be supported by research. The program that students will see seems to coincide with this idea of developing a growth mindset through understanding the brain and how it functions. I liked that the teaching guide allowed the teacher to explore and learn about the ideas presented in that lesson through additional research while working with students. Each lesson also provided a variety of materials that could be used, in addition to the video portion of the program, to engage students and create discussion, which was one of my favorite parts of this program. I also found the many opportunities for student reflection within the program helpful and especially liked how the student's answers were saved in a journal which could be referenced at anytime during the program. While I found the ideas behind this program very positive and helpful, I found fault with the video presentation. While it was obvious that the creators were attempting to make their characters modern and relatable, I found the two students stereotypically and believe it would be difficult for students, especially older students, to get past these stereotypes and concentrate on the material presented. I also felt that the way the characters interacted with material reinforced ideas about learning, and especially about science, that could be harmful. Most of the material was passed down to the children in auditory, lecture-type format (the doctor or brain orb spent a lot of time talking while flashing images appear on the screen). There are some interactive activities in "the lab", but these seemed like reiterations of previously taught ideas and have no real discovery or thinking
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    This seemed like an interesting and engaging program for middle school students. The interactive approach I would say is the most effective element to this program. It allows the user to not only feel like they are participating in the activity, but also provides space for reflection. The reflection opportunities seemed effective because some were prompted and required while others were open-ended and optional. It was hard to tell if the program was set up like this, but I wonder if the reflections and other inputs ("My Challenges" and the agree/disagree multiple choice questions at the beginning) are used to cater the lessons and challenges to meet the needs of individual students. This would provide even greater interactivity, but it would be a negative aspect if it were not set up that way. The humor and multicultural characters were pluses as well. The characters' willingness to talk about their academic shortcomings is also helpful to students who may be self-conscious about their struggles. I'm not sure if there was something that I was missing, or if this is something that happened because I only signed up for a free trial, but I had issues starting up the program. If I clicked on the "save and exit" button in the program while I was in the middle of doing the program, it didn't seem to "save" because when I restarted the program, I had to go through the whole introduction again. I could skip through it somewhat quickly, but it was an inconvenience. I would imagine that for a student with a short attention span, it could be a major inconvenience. Of course, it could just be my error.
Malika Onstad

HowStuffWorks "Teenage Brain Development" - 0 views

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    The How Stuff Works of teenage brains
Malika Onstad

Teenage Brains - Pictures, More From National Geographic Magazine - 0 views

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    National geographic Article from 2011 on Teenage brains
Brandon Ferguson

HowStuffWorks "How Human Memory Works" - 0 views

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    Longform on memory and how out brain functions. I only read the first couple pages but it's fascinating. I'll come back and read the rest later.
Alyssa Ogle

How the Brain Works - 2 views

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    I think we overlook the importance of our brains and how they really comprehend the information we learn.
Matt Kitchin

Brain Games: Do They Really Work?: Scientific American - 1 views

    • Matt Kitchin
       
      We've mostly studied video games that teach content, but there are many games out there that are developed by neuroscientists (like Lumosity) and designed to increase brain performance.  Here's an article about the efficacy of brain games. 
Connor Nelson

Strengths and Weaknesses with the Brainology - 0 views

shared by Connor Nelson on 29 Jul 13 - No Cached
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    Overall, I very much enjoyed this program. One of the greatest strengths of the program is that it appeals to the user-interface trend of learning that kids really enjoy; they get to interact with their learning materials! Rather than reading descriptions of the brain, students can click on different parts and hear descriptions, processing and/or reprocessing information at their own pace. Also, the program integrates knowledge of the brain with tips on how to use such knowledge of succeed in school. The role models are struggling students, thus the program provides characters that players can relate to. I found very few weaknesses with the program, although I did find some ways for the program to improve. My greatest concern is that the program can be hard to navigate. I managed -- I still don't know how -- to skip a large part of the program. I had to redo the program from scratch in order to go through it properly. Also, the very erratic jumps from image to image, for me, was a bit distracting, although perhaps a student observer may appreciate the quick pace of the program. Overall, although there are ways for the program to improve, I think it is a wonderful tool for brain and learning education.
Connor Nelson

The Teen Brain: Still Under Construction - 0 views

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    This page outlines some of the visible and abstract changes of the brain as teens progress through adolescence.
Connor Nelson

Alcohol's Effects on Teenage Brain - 1 views

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    This page discusses the negative impacts that chronic alcohol use will have on the teenage brain. Adolescents that use alcohol at their young age can experience permanent brain damage, specifically concerning with the ability to commit information to memory.
Connor Nelson

Teen Marijuana Use Could Negatively Affect Brain -- At Least In Mice - 1 views

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    This is another study that shows the impact that marijuana can have on memory, especially in adolescence. It is important to note that studies that abide by ethical and legal constraints do not conduct these sort of tests on human subjects, rather they use mice.
Malika Onstad

Normal Teenage Attitude and Behavior | A Parent's Guide to the Teen Brain - 0 views

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    Interesting description of "typical" teen behaviors as related to neuroscience
Alyssa Ogle

The Brain - 3 views

shared by Alyssa Ogle on 17 Oct 13 - Cached
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    This has the functions of the brain and how they are relevant to our thinking.
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    COOOOOLLLL
Allix Strahon

Neurons & Synapses - Memory & the Brain - The Human Memory - 0 views

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    This is an entire website dedicated to human memory and how it works at the neuronal levels! It is inclusive of memory disorders and memory processes. Not quite related to what we read, but still pretty cool.
Lisa Pitts

Center for Investigating Healthy Minds - 0 views

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    Cool center at UW-Madison researching brain plasticity.
Lisa Pitts

Richard Davidson Podcast - 0 views

shared by Lisa Pitts on 31 Jul 13 - No Cached
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    Podcast from neuroscientist Richard Davidson (same one who founded the org in my link below). Talks about many of the topics from this past week- emotions, rewiring brain, etc.
Malika Onstad

Home | The Creativity Post - 0 views

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    Interesting articles on all range of education and creativity and nueroscience
Malika Onstad

FunBrain.com - The Internet's #1 Education Site for K-8 Kids and Teachers - Funbrain.com - 0 views

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    Website with different interactive games as well as teacher curriculum
Hailey Knettles

Neuroscience For Kids - 0 views

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    Intersting website and links on how to present neuroscience to kids
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    Yes, probably the best Web Site out there.
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    Shoot! Malika got to this one first! Does look fantastic though, especially the synaptic tag! I never considered how little we actually learn about the brain until we grow older. we teach thinking strategies and studying strategies throughout elementary school, but we never explain why they work or the science behind them, wouldn't that make the lessons more effective?
Malika Onstad

The Education Media Network | EdReach - 0 views

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    Broadcasting network created by educators for educators with tons of channels for different educational subject including EdGamer. Very interesting, so much to explore and learn and see what other educators have written.
Lisa Pitts

Learning Strategies - 0 views

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    Some learning strategies and teaching ideas for adolescent brains.
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