Neuroeducation is defined as an education system that is based on principles of the neurosciences. It results in an education system that is built upon how the brain works.
Technology and advances in science and research have enabled us to peer into the smallest workings of memory, learning, brain development and networks.
It only makes sense that findings of this new research be incorporated into new educational practices.
Knowledge of the learning process and memory formation is and should be crucial to teaching practices in learning spaces.
However, neuroscientists have differing opinions as to when neural circuitry and brain networks are formed. Some advocate that neural networks are formed in early childhood, and perhaps to the early teenage years, while others propose it to be a lifelong process.
The brain is born with lots of redundant circuitry and cells, and a "pruning" process takes place during the developmental stage. This process is crucial in order to maintain an efficient brain.
There appears to be consensus that maximum efficiency and performance is during early childhood.
Need for experts
Children's brains are most ready to learn and most eager for a high level of understanding and clarity. Therefore, childhood education should be delivered by the greatest expertise available.
This is because it takes masters to understand topics in such detail that they are able to simplify it for young learners.
For example, people with a degree in a specific field may be able to present the facts, but PhD holders have huge exposure, overview and details about a field. They are able to explain the forest first before talking about the trees.
Unfortunately, the world's education systems are built on models where the higher your qualification is, the higher your students' levels of education.
This same model also suggests that young children are taught by the least educated people - sometimes by people with no education at all.
What is clear is that the brain is an immensely complex machine, and incorporating learning and memory mechanisms into the subject matter only serves to greatly increase this complexity.
The areas of research and findings in neuroscience that could potentially have the greatest impact on educational practices are:
Emotional states: Fear and anxiety hinder learning
Learning is enhanced by intellectually stimulating and challenging environments, and it is inhibited by environments that elicit fearful responses.
While teachers and other stakeholders cannot hope to control and minimise all negative factors, teachers should strive to maintain these levels as low as possible.
"Relaxed alertness" is the state teachers should strive for in their learning spaces.
Cognition: Provide meaning and relevance
The entire workings of the learning brain is directed towards just one thing - to make sense. That is, to give meaning and relevance from the learner's perceptions.
Perceptions are closely tied to emotional states and types of intelligences, but the teacher needs to only understand one thing - you have to provide meaning and relevance to the activities in your Learning Space.
Dietary concerns: Eat for your brain!
The Omega 3 oils and levels of glucose/insulin in the bloodstream have a great impact on the formation of neural networks and the metabolism of the brain.
Omega 3 oils are the building block of the brain, while the presence of high levels of sugar and insulin work to retard brain growth.
Too much sugar and refined flour will result in elevated insulin levels followed by insulin crashes, which block the formation of new neural pathways and networks.
This should be understood and applied by caregivers, teachers and learners to maximise learning.
Information processing: Help them make connections
Knowledge - be it in problem-based learning, outcome-based education or case studies - must be built and presented in orders of complexities and meaning.
Learners must be able to see current information in the context of previous experiences, and make the necessary connections in order to understand the information.
Theories, facts and data cannot be presented in isolation, as learners must be able to rely on an existing "filing system" in their heads in order to process new knowledge, skills and talents.
Multiple intelligences: Every child is different
Howard Gardner popularised the theory of multiple intelligences and since then, this theory has provided an excellent model of how to reach students.
Although it is not practical to suggest that every lesson be taught in eight different ways, teachers should try to present different methods and perspectives for different subject matters, rather than to stand lecturing at the centre of the classroom during every lesson.
Perceptions in learning spaces
The brain has been shown to work at many different levels and to perceive many different stimuli and events occurring simultaneously, through the different senses - be it at the conscious or subconscious levels.
Teachers should not underestimate the power of the brain, and should cater to the brain's ability for complexity and provide learning instruction that will create opportunities for the learner to assimilate, analyse and understand subject matter in his learning space.
Evaluations versus examinations: Give timely feedback
Evaluations should measure for understanding, not success or failure. It should also be a learning mechanism that provides real-time feedback so that learners know immediately when mistakes have been made.
This plays a role in long and short term memory formation, and the potentiating of neural networks.
Memory-based evaluations, that are equivalent to rote learning, are the antitheses of a properly-planned learning space. Examinations that present results after a few weeks, or even a few days, are probably even more destructive.
Intervention into learning disorders
Teachers should recognise early signs of learning disorders, that could easily be mistaken as inattentiveness, laziness or plain misbehaviour.
Learning disorders are most easily addressed at a young age, and early intervention can be applied so that the vital phase of learners' lives are not spent in misery and constant punishment cycles due to unrecognised problems.
Education evolution
Human beings are habitual by nature, and education systems as they are, are our worst habit.
Knowledge, technology and our brains have evolved drastically, so why are we using education models from a thousand years ago? Malaysia has always been poised for greatness, but our education has been holding - and almost pulling - us back.
There is no longer an excuse for us to say that Malaysia's racial politics is a sensitive issue, and that the education system is closely tied to it. We have a Prime Minister who is supplying the political will, and we have to grab the opportunity.
Dr Theva is a senior lecturer at the School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Through this fortnightly column and through the revolutionary ENGAGE Programme - Education for Sustainable Global Futures - USM has started, he and his colleagues hope to help transform the landscapes of Malaysian schooling and higher education systems. He can be contacted through theva@usm.my.
