{"id":4042,"date":"2018-04-30T14:22:21","date_gmt":"2018-04-30T13:22:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/ltdev\/?p=4042"},"modified":"2018-04-30T14:22:21","modified_gmt":"2018-04-30T13:22:21","slug":"using-neuroscience-research-to-influence-teaching-could-spaced-learning-work-in-higher-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/ltdev\/2018\/04\/30\/using-neuroscience-research-to-influence-teaching-could-spaced-learning-work-in-higher-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Using neuroscience research to influence teaching: Could \u2018spaced learning\u2019 work in higher education?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dr Paul Hubbard, Teaching Fellow, School of Medical Education<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Paul<\/p>\n

Neuroeducation is an emerging educational discipline where a neuroscientific understanding of how the brain learns is used to drive forward current teaching methods or to develop new and innovative methods of teaching and learning.\u00a0 Whilst neuroeducation does not claim to be a complete solution, it is hoped that an increasing knowledge of the biology behind the process of forming memories in the brain will make teaching methods more efficient.<\/p>\n

As this is an interesting topic area for me I decided to submit an abstract to the 2018 learning and teaching conference with the aim to raise the idea of \u2018neuroeducation\u2019 and to start a discussion as to whether techniques based on the science of learning could be used in higher education to advance teaching.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In the discussion I raised the problem that there are a number of \u2018neuromyths\u2019 prevalent in education and these have \u2018muddied the water\u2019 and tarnished the image of neuroeducation.\u00a0 Examples of neuromyths include the \u2018right brain creative\/left brain logical\u2019 idea as well as the concept of distinct \u2018learning styles\u2019.\u00a0 As a result of these neuromyths there is a lot of scepticism over whether neuroscience research can be transferred to education.\u00a0 Current research in the field therefore aims to utilise real scientific evidence to help debunk neuromyths but also to provide an evidenced-based approach to develop techniques that tap into the brains\u2019 own method of forming memories in order to enhance learning.<\/p>\n

Spacing out learning over a period of time and into \u2018bite-sized\u2019 chunks is not a new idea.\u00a0 It has long been known that repeated learning at intervals, following an initial learning event, aids learning progress.\u00a0 Revisiting a topic shortly after teaching reduces the chances of forgetting information and increases the possibility of the brain forming long-term memories.\u00a0 I therefore decided to focus on spaced learning as a potential educational tool.<\/p>\n

Spaced Learning is a technique that hopes to tap into the process of long-term memory formation by scheduling multiple short periods of teaching interspersed with breaks.\u00a0 In the breaks students complete activities that require little thought and are unrelated to the taught topic. \u00a0The length of time of the teaching periods, and the breaks in teaching, are designed to consolidate learning at key points in the physiological memory formation process. Spaced learning has been tested as a teaching tool by Kelley and Whatson in 2013 and has recently been included in the Open University\u2019s 2017 \u2018Innovating Pedagogy\u2019 report that proposed ten up-and-coming innovations in teaching that have the potential to alter educational practice.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Most studies relating to neuroeducation techniques are trialled in a school environment but very rarely get trialled in higher education.\u00a0 It is therefore unknown whether such techniques can be adapted for use in higher education.\u00a0 I therefore aim to trial a form of spaced learning during the MBBS curriculum to see if there is scope for it to be used as an educational technique in higher education.\u00a0 The original study on spaced learning by Kelly and Whatson used a 90 minute teaching session that included three 20 minute teaching slots separated by two 10 minute breaks.\u00a0 To work with the traditional 50 minute lecture based timetable I aim to run two 20 minute teaching sessions with a 10 minute break in between, followed by a second session later in the day.\u00a0 There is evidence of a second wave of gene activation relating to learning around 6 hours after the initial learning event so I hope to use the second session to consolidate learning from the first session.\u00a0 I will gain feedback will be gained from students on their experience of this style of teaching with the view that the technique could be modified and developed in the future.<\/p>\n

For further reading, please see:<\/p>\n

Kelley, P., & Whatson, T. (2013). Making long-term memories in minutes: a spaced learning pattern from memory research in education.\u00a0Frontiers in Human Neuroscience<\/em>,\u00a07<\/em>, 589. http:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fnhum.2013.00589<\/a><\/p>\n

The Open University (2017) Innovating Pedagogy 2017 [online] available from http:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/innovating\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Dr Paul Hubbard presented at this year’s learning and teaching conference. You can view the recap recording here <\/a>and the slides are available at\u00a0\u00a0https:\/\/www.ncl.ac.uk\/ltds\/professional\/conference\/\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

If you need any further information please get in touch:<\/p>\n

ltds@ncl.ac.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dr Paul Hubbard, Teaching Fellow, School of Medical Education Neuroeducation is an emerging educational discipline where a neuroscientific understanding of how the brain learns is used to drive forward current teaching methods or to develop new and innovative methods of teaching and learning.\u00a0 Whilst neuroeducation does not claim to be a complete solution, it … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Using neuroscience research to influence teaching: Could \u2018spaced learning\u2019 work in higher education?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3007,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[265,547],"tags":[543,364,544],"class_list":["post-4042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-research-informed-teaching","tag-neuroeducation","tag-research","tag-spaced-learning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/ltdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/ltdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/ltdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/ltdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3007"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/ltdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4042"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/ltdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4057,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/ltdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4042\/revisions\/4057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/ltdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/ltdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/ltdev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}