From Brain Scan To Lesson Plan it may even change the way we teach all children It will take, he says, steppedupcollaboration between cognitive are beginning to make strides in math and ADHD http://www.apa.org/monitor/mar00/brainscan.html
Extractions: Volume 31, No. 3, March 2000 From Brain Scan to Lesson Plan Neuroscientists are uncovering how the human brain learns, and will soon be able to translate that knowledge to the classroom. But more researchand collaboration between psychology and other fieldsis needed. BY BRIDGET MURRAY Monitor staff Down in the basement of Haskins Laboratories, psychological researchers are starting to unravel a mystery that has long puzzled educators: What happens in the human brain as it wrestles with words? Crowded around computer screens, scrolling through images that show the brain as it reads, the researchers are gaining insight into how we perform this crucial, yet complex, task. It's a scene being repeated in labs everywhere, part of an explosion of imaging research on learning over the past decade. While researchers at sites such as New Haven-based Haskins investigate reading, psychologists in Paris watch what happens in people's brains as they tackle math problems, and neuroscientists at Stanford University in California puzzle over unusual brain patterns in people with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Imaging research is pinpointing what the brain does as people read, calculate and estimate. It's also showing what goes wrong when people have difficulty with those tasks.
Extractions: Writing Paragraphs A Web Collaboration with the Helping Up Mission in Baltimore, Maryland) What follows are answers to a request to clarify the definition and role of the topic sentence in two paragraphs. The comments below include those of high school teachers, university professors, professional editors, writers, and the students themselves. We at PALC hope you enjoy it. Index of Answers Instructor's Comment: At first, I was concerned that presenting these various replies back to the guys would confuse and frustrate them because there was clearly not one *right* answer that came from the 'experts.' However, it had the opposite effect. When the guys read how each of the experts reasoned through the question and how that reasoning resulted in various conclusions, the guys felt more confident in their abilities to reason things through. Hopefully this learning experience is one that others can have through the PALC website.
AAAS EDUCATION & HUMAN RESOURCES--FEATURED PROJECTS HOW WOULD I HANDLE THAT? Using Vignettes to Promote Good math and Science Education. Adrienneis not the best math student in the world, but she does try. http://ehrweb.aaas.org/ehr/3_2_2.html
Extractions: Using Vignettes to Promote Good Math and Science Education AUTHOR Patricia B. Campbell, Ph.D. INTRODUCTION Knowledge of theory, of research, and of potential strategies is an important component of any educational equity effort. However, unless these kinds of knowledge can be applied to specific situations, they are of little "real-life" value. Yet the political and pedagogical complexities of "real-life" situations are often overwhelming. Too, real schools with real children tend not to be the best places to develop the skills necessary to move from theory to practice. The use of vignettes may help. Vignettes are short stories that are written to reflect, in a less complex way, real-life problems of education and of equity. Responding to vignettes, individually or in small groups, can be an effective way to try out some ideas, build on the ideas of others, and even work toward some consensus in a relatively nonthreatening manner. Return to top Our goal is to provide an introduction to the use of vignettes and to encourage people to use them. We also provide a series of vignettes dealing with educational issues related to math, science, and equity.
Extractions: Chemistry Goals ESP is an innovative, award-winning program designed to give capable students the best possible chance to excel in critical freshmen gate-keeping courses. Working jointly with the Mathematics and Chemistry Department, ESP trains mathematics graduate student instructors who teach new teaching techniques designed to foster collaborative learning using innovative curriculum materials. Collaborative Learning Learning calculus and chemistry are not passive activities in which students absorb facts from a teacher as a sponge absorbs water. ESP students are responsible for learning chemistry through active participation in both the teaching and learning process. In order to "think like a mathematician or chemist" students must learn to solve complex problems by understanding the fundamental concepts of calculus and chemistry, not simply using algorithms to get correct answers. To achieve this level of understanding, students learn from a variety of sources:
