AERA Presentation Highlights Graduates' Success Stories

Among the highlights of my spring was Marcus' and my April 27 presentation at the American Educational Association's (AERA) 2013 Annual Meeting. We were pleased to have the opportunity to share the impressive success stories that graduates of our programs are experiencing in classrooms across the country and internationally.

Speaking at the AERA gathering in San Francisco, Marcus led a presentation describing how graduates who have completed our brain-based teaching program are well equipped to help students achieve their learning potential.

Our presentation, “Exploring the Impact of a Graduate Degree Program Connecting the Implications of Mind, Brain, and Education Research to Teaching and Learning,” was presented through the conference segment of the AERA Special Interest Group on Brain, Neurosciences and Education, a group that I joined in the early 1990s. We are happy to have been a pioneering part of this movement over the past two decades.

Wishing You A Great New School Year!

Each year of my life for decades has brought excitement in August and beginning September with the beginning of a brand new school year! First as a young elementary aged child I anticipated both fun reconnecting to friends as well as learning of new knowledge and skills and, yes fear of failure. Would I be able to succeed?  Would my friends be in my class? Would my teacher help me learn? Now as a teacher educator and learner I am honored to know many teachers who make a positive difference in the lives of students each day. As the 2012-2013 academic year begins, we wish teachers across the country all the best and look forward to communicating with you throughout the year ahead. It is YOU who are creating our collective future through your exemplary teaching. Thanks for all you do!

Press Release

For immediate release

Research on NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler School of Education Graduate Programs with Majors in Brain-Based Teaching Shared at National Teacher Education Conference

A qualitative study on the effective teaching practices of graduates of the Nova Southeastern University programs with majors in Brain-Based Teaching was featured in a presentation at the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) recent annual conference.

Donna Wilson, codeveloper of the M.S. and Ed.S. degree programs with majors in Brain-Based Teaching, presented the study “Strengthening Teacher Effectiveness with Education, Mind, and Brain Research: A Qualitative Study of K-12 Teachers Focusing on Higher Needs Students” at the AACTE Annual Meeting in Chicago on Feb. 18. Wilson is Team Leader of Academic Affairs for the Center for Innovative Education and Prevention (CIEP, www.ciep.org) and BrainSMART (www.brainsmart.org).

Wilson’s presentation summarized ethnographic research involving seven recent NSU graduates with a focus on how what they had learned about education, mind, and brain research influenced their teaching practice. Several of the teachers who participated in the study reported student achievement gains, and they attributed that progress, in part, to the neuroeducational principles and strategies they learned while earning their degrees.

The term neuroeducation refers to an interdisciplinary field bringing together research from neuroscience, psychology, and education with the aim of improving teaching methods and outcomes. The NSU graduate degree programs with majors in Brain-Based Teaching emphasize several principles from neuroeducation, including the potential for all students to learn, physical changes in the brain that result from learning, and classroom research demonstrating the academic gains that result from teaching students metacognitive strategies, or thinking about their thinking with the aim of improving learning.

“This study is based on in-depth interviews with seven graduates, but many of the teachers who have earned their degrees with majors in Brain-Based Teaching tell us this foundation from neuroeducation on how student learn best has been extremely useful in their classroom practice,” Wilson said.

Wilson is a nationally known presenter at educational conferences and professional development events for teachers and school administrators throughout the United States and in other nations. In fact, she will be presenting next at the International Roundtable on School, Family, and Community Partnerships on April 13 in Vancouver, British Columbia, on “Improving Students’ Health and Cognitive Skills: An Examination of the Impact of Education, Mind, and Brain Research on Teachers’ Interactions with Parents.” The upcoming roundtable conference is sponsored in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA, www.aera.net).

We are enjoying a great conference!

The New York Academy of Sciences and the The Aspen Brain Forum Foundation are putting on a very informative conference about the educational implications of cognitive neuroscience. A host of well known researchers such as Bruce McCandliss-Vanderbilt are sharing recent findings with regard to learning and the brain. As we listen and dialogue, it is clear that instruction makes the largest difference for children at school. We hope that policymakers take away the point that it is critically important that teachers have the support needed to help all students reach their potential through effective instruction.

Effective Teaching in the Learning Zone

When teachers and students are engaged in learning, the class seems to be "in the groove" or "in the learning zone." When this is happening it feels as if the day flies by! Effective teachers provide these experiences often as they continuously improve their expertise and foster student learning. Whereas in the past the focus was more often on what happens in individual minds, many cognitive scientists today focus study on learning as both a social and cognitive endeavor.  Therefore, since school is a place where most of nation's children have opportunity for learning and thinking with others socially, the support of effective teaching is of great national importance. It is teachers who make the positive difference for our children each day! Support teaching!

Welcome Back to School - Good Teaching Matters!

Most realize the importance of good teachers! Today scientists give us one more reason to understand why teaching is key to student success and that teachers should be supported. Educators who study with us have been fascinated to read about experience-dependent synaptogenesis. This process involves the connecting of neurons ongoingly when learning occurs, followed by pruning of those connections that are not frequently used. As a new year begins, do support the important work of schooling our nation's children! Support good teaching practice! It matters!