I often come across articles and workshops on brain-based learning but am often confused and disappointed because there doesn’t seem to be much, well, science.  There’s often claims that sound scientific, but it turns out many people are talking about left brains, right brains, boys brains, girls brains, multiple learning styles and not talking about real science.  So I did a deep dive to learn more and have resources to share about brain-based learning rooted in science.

Start with this section on the science of brain-based learning.  The first article “Resources” is the go to place to bookmark and draw your own resources.  The second article was the best one for me to read because it gives 9 specific lessons.  The third article is from Daniel Willingham whose books have landed on my queue and I’ll read them soon.  The rest of this section is a group of scientific articles (or learning articles based in science).  I especially liked the last four articles on the changing adolescent brain.

Then I gathered articles that talk about how to change your brain or how our brains are changed by circumstances.  I find the articles on stress and pain especially relevant.  Under those conditions, our brains are unable to function normally.  Seems obvious, right?  But perhaps we’ve never considered emotional trauma or socio-economic distress in this light.

In this section, I present some applications and strategies that will benefit learners and are worth considering for teachers and principals as they design instruction.

Finally, I found 4 relevant videos.  The first is one of my all-time favorites about how we learn (or rather, how we unlearn).  The second video is a short 3 minute video on the effect of social media on your brain.  The third video is a short 5 minute video from TED-Ed about the effects of stress.  The last one is a TED-Ed video about the benefits of bilingualism.