How to Apply Brain-Based Learning to Classroom Practice

Active participation in music is part of brain-based learning.

Brain-based learning is an educational theory and approach. In this approach, learning is thought to be accomplished most efficiently by basing instruction on the way the brain functions. Teachers can incorporate brain-based learning into their classrooms through immersion, construction of the environment and allowing students to actively process instructional material. This caters to students' individual learning styles, such as visual, auditory and kinesthetic (tactile) learning modalities.

Instructions

1. Structure your classroom in a way that stimulates students. You can do this by using plenty of light, bright colors and cozy places for students to relax. Create spaces in which students have room to move for certain activities. Change your decorations and visual educational displays to accommodate various seasons and units of study.

2. Incorporate music and art activities as ways to enhance learning and allow for creativity and emotional expression.

3. Structure activities and assignments in a variety of ways so that students have opportunities to work as part of a group, as well as alone.

4. Maintain flexibility. If you are teaching a concept and a student seems to grasp the idea in an alternative way, adapt your teaching to accommodate the student's method of learning. What makes an idea "click" for one student might work for others.

5. Use visual aids, auditory supplements and hands-on activities in your lessons. This helps to immerse students in learning in ways that tap into their personal learning styles.

6. Assess your students in a variety of ways. Traditional tests, exams and quizzes assess the acquisition of certain types of learning, but portfolios, self-assessments, projects and presentations can be valid means of assessing students as well. For example, some students might not take standardized tests well, but they may be able to demonstrate their learning by creating a skit, poem or song.

References

• University of Wisconsin Stevens Point: Overview of Brain-based Education
• Funderstanding: Brain-based Learning