Education Innovation

Are You Paying Attention? -- Brain Rules Part 5

The Brain Rules Lesson Plan—More from the book Brain Rules by John Medina.

Teachers have always know that the more attention a students pays to a given lesson the better the student will retain the information. The more attention a student pays to the information being learned in a given subject area, the better the learning. Attention = learning.

But, as teachers know, students’ attentions are fleeting. In a typical 50 minute lesson or lecture, after 10 to 15 minutes they have stopped listening. The same is true for the teachers during meetings. After 10 to 15 minutes, teachers have stopped listening to the presenter.

So the key, as well all know, it to find that hook or key that enables we educators to hold somebody’s attention for a given time, be it a lesson or staff development presentation. So where to find the hook or key?

“The messages that do grab your attention are connected to memory, interest, and awareness.”

Memory:
“What we pay attention to is often profoundly influenced by memory.”

John explains that the things a person living in the New Guinea jungle is going to be very different from the things that a person living in New York City is going to pay attention too. Each grew up being trained to pay attention to very different things, and if either person was to switch places with the other, they would have a very difficult time and perform very poorly on those things that need paying attention to.

Interest:
“Does interest create attention? We know that the brain continuously scans the sensory horizon, with events constantly assessed for their potential interest or importance. The more important the events are then given extra attention. Can the reverse occur, with attention creating interest?”

The answer is quite obviously yes. There is a reason companies spend millions developing commercials for the Super Bowl. Are you doing anything in your classroom your students don’t expect? Is there anything in your lesson that your students didn’t see coming?  Humor, unusual stories, strange connections, etc. all create high interest. The reason M. Night Shyamalan movies are so interesting is because you know there is a twist and you are watching and waiting for it. You are very interested in every detail of the plot. When it happens you remember and internalize. You learn!

Awareness:
The brain pays attention to visual stimuli. But, the brain is also capable of paying attention to bad smells or a loud noise. In addition, we pay quite a deal of attention to our inner feelings and emotions.

Idea: Emotions. Sweet emotion!

“Emotionally arousing events tend to be better remembered than neutral events.”

Emotions have a powerful effect on learning.

“An emotionally charged event (usually called and ECS, short for emotionally competent stimulus) is the best processed kind of external stimulus ever measured.”

Chip and Dan Heath in their great book Made to Stick, describe this breaking schema. When you break the schema of what people expect, they remember it. Think of the Volkswagen commercial where the guys are talking and then are suddenly hit by another car. You weren’t expecting that, so consequently, you pay attention and remember it. If it’s unusual, unpredictable, or distinctive in some way, you will pay attention.

When the brain detects and ECS, it produces dopamine into the system. The effect of this to create a Post-It note that reads “Wow, remember this!!” This is what every teacher hope for.

Idea: Teach meaning before detail

“Studies show that emotional arousal focuses attention on the ‘gist’ of an experience at the expense of peripheral details.”

“With the passage of time, our retrieval of gist always trumps our recall of details. This means our heads tend to be filled with generalized pictures of concepts or events, not with lowly fading minutiae.”

Let’s face it, much of our standardized testing focuses on knowing facts and minutiae. It’s much easier to test facts and minutiae than the gist of things. But is this what we should be focused on in the classroom?  It seems clear that we should want students to understand, master, and remember the concept. The facts and minutiae, if remembered, are a bonus but, great for Trivial Pursuit or Jeopardy.

“Memory is enhanced by creating associations between concepts.”  “Words presented in a logically organized hierarchical structure are much better remembered than words placed randomly—typically 40 percent better.”

“If we can derive the meaning of words to one another, we can much more easily recall the details. Meaning before details.”

When I reflect back on some of my teaching, I know I was guilty of starting to quickly with the details before taking the time to develop the gist of the concept and making meaning out of the vocabulary before diving into the details. But a properly structured lesson will provide meaning first then follow with the details.

Idea: The brain cannot multi-task

“Multitasking, when it comes to paying attention, is a myth. The brain naturally focuses on concepts sequentially, one at a time.”

You cannot multitask your attention. Students cannot multitask their attention. I know that “digital natives” are comfortable with multitasking, but according to John Medina, they are able to pay attention to all that is going on. Something is going to suffer. Each activity has it’s own needs and mental processes. Multiple mental processes cannot occur simultaneously and remain effective. Our students may want to do it, but it may not be what they should be doing. Let the debate rage!

Idea: The brain needs a break

“The most common communication mistakes? Relating too much information, with not enough time devoted to connecting the dots. This does nothing for the nourishment of the listeners, whose learning is often sacrificed in the name of expediency.”

Think time or wait time. We know we need to do it our classrooms, but the pressure to meet all the standards often prevents many teachers from taking the time to allow students to fully “connect the dots.”  Information that is brand new to our students or to us as individuals needs time to be mentally digested. To do this requires frequent breaks from the lecture.

Coming up: Brain Rule’s version of a lesson plan.

Catalytic Questions:

In what ways might you structure your lesson to hook emotions?

How might you gain your students’ attention by using emotion?

What shape would your lessons plans take if you provided meaning before details?

What impact would the knowledge that brains cannot multitask attention have on your classroom and lessons?

In what ways might you structure your current teaching to include frequent opportunities for students to take time to digest the information?

What impact would frequent breaks have on student learning and the pacing of your curriculum?

Suggested Reading:

Brain Rules Blog

Future Lab

Deric Bownds' MindBlog

Sharp Brains

Theory of Mind-- Brain Rules Part 4

More from Brain Rules by John Medina…Chapter 3 Wiring

When we last left off, John was just about to share some ideas about what we can do about the Brain Rule theory that all brains are different and learn different.

One idea John mentions is smaller class size.

“All things being equal, it has been known for many years that smaller, more intimate schools create better learning environments than megaplex houses of learning. The Brain Rule may help explain why smaller is better.”

This is an interesting assertion. On the face it seems to match well with the Brain Rule theory, but most research has shown that class size is not an indicator of better learning. Having worked with grants that directly relate to class size reduction, I have not found one study that directly relates class size with better learning.

John may not be saying test scores go up when class size goes down. He explains that…

“Given that every brain is wired differently, being able to read a student’s mind is a powerful tool in the hands of a teacher.”

And we have now arrived at the second theory described in this chapter, The Theory of Mind.

The Theory of Mind has two important parts that apply directly to teachers.

First, “It is defined as the ability to understand the interior motivations of someone else…”

Second, “…and the ability to construct predictable ‘theory of how their mind works’ based on that knowledge.”

John explains the importance of these two parts to teachers.

“This give teachers critical access to their students’ interior educational life. It may include knowledge of when students are confused and when they are fully engaged. It also gives sensitive teachers valuable feedback about whether their teaching is being transformed into learning.” 

So this would explain his preference for small class sizes. Obviously this can be accomplished much easier in a smaller class. In other words a small class size makes it easier to tell if your teaching is working.

“Students comprehend complex knowledge at different times and at different depths. Because a teacher can keep track of only so many minds, there must be limit on the number of students in a class—the smaller, the better.”

And the crowd goes wild. Who doesn’t like that?

In other words teachers are mind managers. They manage several minds at time and quite obviously can better manage fewer minds at one time than the many.

Here is another very interesting idea that results from this theory.

“This suggests that an advanced skill set in Theory of Mind predicts a good teacher. If so, existing Theory of Mind tests could be used like Myers-Briggs personality tests to reveal good teachers from bad, or to help people considering careers as teachers.”

“I have come to believe that people with advanced Theory of Mind skills possess the single most important ingredient for becoming effective communicators of information.”

A test to see if you will be a good teacher would certainly cause some debate.

Another suggestion, aside from smaller class size is the use of customized instruction. The more individualized the instruction, the better the learning. Technology is a key component here.

So, John suggests that future research be conducted between brain and education scientist in three areas.

1.    Evaluate teachers and teachers-to-be for advanced Theory of Mind skills.
2.    Develop adaptive software for a variety of subjects and grade levels.
3.    Test both ideas in various combinations.

Catalytic Questions:

How could Theory of Mind testing be added to the current teacher selection process?

In what ways might we create smaller class sizes?

How would the role of the teacher change if he or she viewed him/herself as a manager of minds?

What would the role of mind manager look like in a classroom, as opposed to the standard view of a teacher’s role?

Suggested Reading:
Brain Rules Part 1

Brain Rules Part 2

Brain Rules Part 3

Brain Rule blog

Beth's Blog

Blue Skunk Blog

Education vs. Your Brain: Whose Side Are You On?

“Though we have been stuffing them into classroom and cubicles for decades, our brains actually were built to survive in jungles and grasslands. We have not outgrown this.”

So says molecular biologist Dr. John Medina in his new book Brain Rules.

After reviewing conducting his own research and studying many others’ research he has some interesting thoughts.

“What do these studies show, viewed as a whole? Most this: If you wanted to create an education environment that was directly opposed to what the brain was good at doing, you probably would design something like a classroom. If you wanted to create a business environment that was directly opposed to what the brain was good at doing, you would probably design something like a cubicle. And if you wanted to change things, you might have to tear down both and start over.”

TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!