Science of Learning Course Week 2

This is the second week of the Science of Learning course from Future Learn. Last week one of the biggest "hooks" for me was the Engage, Build, Consolidate model for learning. I was excited to learn more about it, and in week 2 we looked at the Engage part

Firstly we get an overview of the concepts of approach response and avoidance response. Fear and anxiety in the classroom increase activity in the amygdala, which has an effect on the frontal cortex. This hinders learning in that it stops us engaging with learning. On the other hand, the brains reward system can spark an approach response in the brain. Our frontal cortex focuses attention on the source of excitement, and this engenders engagement in learning. As teachers, we need to work out what causes this approach response in our students (and it will be a bit different for all)

The term "reward" is used for anything that sparks the reward system in the brain, which includes social rewards, such as praise, physical rewards, such as prizes, and internal rewards, such as satisfying curiosity. The approach response leads to students paying attention to the learning. It also appears that triggering the reward system in the brain leads neuromodulators to improve learning

Something new to us can in itself trigger the reward systems, as we anticipate finding out more about it. It seems that curiosity is its own reward. As teachers we can make use of hooks to generate curiosity in students, and to help them trigger the approach response to learning.

Interestingly, there appears to be a similar reaction in the brain when working collaboratively. Sharing attention is something uniquely human, and this is why it feels good to explain something to somebody else: it triggers our reward system

The last part of this week looked at the negative impacts on engagement, through anxiety. When students are anxious, they are less able to manage their working memory, and struggle to maintain focus on learning

As teachers we need to be careful to reduce anxiety or stress responses in our students, in order to maximise learning. Some examples given are: inappropriate timed tests, forcing students to speak in front of the class

Finally we looked at unconscious communication, and the messages we might be sending students without even realising it. When we make a gesture or facial expression, this activates an area of the brain (depending on the gesture), and, interestingly, it activates the same area of the brain in someone watching us. This is called the Mirror Neuron System, and helps learning through imitation. That is, if we express a particular emotion, the person watching us will, in some way, "feel" that same emotion

If there is a topic you do not feel confident in, or do not enjoy, this will "rub off" on your students. If, on the other hand, you are enthusiastic about a topic, this will also become evident in your students. As teachers we need to think about these unconscious messages we are sending to our students

Reflections on Week 2
The big message this week was that we need to focus on getting students "engaged" before learning can happen. I do not always like the way the word engage is used in education though. Often it is used as a synonym for fun, or being "active" in a lesson. Both "active" and "engage" are the correct terms, but they have been mangled to mean something different to their original meanings. To be clear, being active in your learning is important, but this does not mean you need to stand up and run around! It means you need to be actively thinking about what you are trying to learn. As Daniel Willingham says, "memory is the residue of thought"

I like the way engagement has been discussed here, as the process of stimulating the brain to be ready to learn. I think this is a useful way to think about it, instead of as it looking like students are enjoying themselves. Trying to reduce anxiety and an avoidance response to learning is very important, and I can definitely see links with Dweck's work on fixed mindsets here. Also, as a teacher, trying to create experiences which prime the mind for learning are important. Triggering the reward system of our students' brain can be a challenge at times, but this must not be interpreted as using classroom rewards to "buy" attention

The idea of unconscious communication is really important for teachers too. I know in the past I have made flippant comments like "I was rubbish at music at school", and these do not help students. The big message for me here is that I should allow my inner geek to shine through! Making it clear to students every day that I love Maths, I enjoy the challenge it offers, and I want them to enjoy that too, is an unconscious message I am comfortable sending! Hopefully the Mirror Neuron System will pick up on this