"Our understanding of learning and teaching is constantly reshaped by theory, applied research, and changing media. As our knowledge of the distributed processing in the brain grows, we know that students do not have one kind of intelligence or one way of learning; they have many. To accommodate these many ways of learning, we can use what we know about how each brain network operates to make our teaching methods and curriculum materials flexible in specific ways."
This really could matter. In the past, I heard educators talking about the latest trend in education. Even though I was very excited to find out about these new theories, they could tell me the names of several other theories based on the same information. I thought they were just being negative. As time passes, I see the same thing. Cross-curricular learning has become grade-level PLC’s, with a twist, admittedly. We cannot blame anyone for trying to rejuvenate the theories of education.
As we continue with brain-based research, we cannot help but find quantitative ways to measure learning, and therefore, measure teaching. As a teacher, I have always tried to present information through all of the senses. Usually, I could hit every sense but smell, if you consider speaking as tasting. This approach has been very successful. My students, if I access all of the senses, learn to recognize new information in one-fifth the time it would otherwise take. With the identification of three areas, Recognition, Strategic, and Affective, we have more direct access to successful teaching. I anticipate the information to become far more specific in the near future. Intuitively, good teachers know, and can then prove a student’s best mode of learning. The brain-based research can validate that information and allow us to pinpoint instruction.
Rose, D., & Myer A. (2002) Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning. Alexandria, VA.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Available online at the Center for Applied Science Technology Website. Retrieved on March 18, 2012 from: http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/
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