Ashley Bayles Thought Paper 2

The role of the teacher is to help students learn skills that they will use for the rest of their lives
(and to graduate). Neuroscience and Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE) might be able to help
teachers to better fulll this role, as claimed by Coch and Ansari (2009). The results are still
inconclusive, but I agree with Zamarian, Ischebeck and Delazer (2009) when they say that a
close collaboration of neuroscience and education may lead in the future to improved teaching
and intervention (p.918). A neural understanding can empower teachers if they use it help
students who are struggling or to build on students strengths.

Using nueroscience research, it may be possible for teachers to build on students strengths and
determine the type of learning that will help them to understand the material at all. For example,
a student who is a visual learner, may struggle with mathematics. Through nueroscience we may
nd that use of an abacus may help them to understand the key concepts because abacus
masters showed a greater involvement of brain areas mediating visuo-spatial and visuo-motor
processing, a nding that possibly reects their main strategy use during complex mental
calculation (p.916). The teacher can use this type of knowledge to ensure his or her teaching
techniques are adapted to the multiple learning styles in the classroom.

Additionally, specic training may inuence the brain activation patterns in individuals with
dyslexia and help them to activate neuronal circuits that are used by normal readers (p.910).
Nueroscience research could greatly help a teacher to ensure that all students, no matter what
their situation or learning challenge, are able to participate actively in their classes. If teachers
tell neuroscientists what we think they should research based on our classroom experiences, this
partnership could benet both elds.
Sources: Coch, D. & Ansari, D. (2009). Thinking about mechanisms is crucial to connecting neuroscience and
education. Cortex, 45(4), 546-7.

Zamarian, L., Ischebeck, A., & Delazer, M. (2009). Neuroscience of learning arithmetic: Evidence from brain
imaging studies. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 33, 909-925.