Nature of Student Learning Research and experience have consistently shown that the teaching of basic facts, laws

and theories alone, no matter how successful, does not meet the pedagogical and societal demands for science and mathematics education in a sustainable manner, nor do classrooms structured around a behavioral learning theory in which teaching was telling and learning was memorizing. Our understanding of the nature of learning and of science and mathematics is shifting and resulting in more effective science and mathematics education programs.1
Studies in cognitive psychology and brain science have identified several principles with significant implications for the teaching of science and mathematics:2 Learning engages the entire physiology, and some aspects of how the brain is wired are affected by experience; Learning is influenced and organized by emotions and mind-sets based on expectancy, personal biases and prejudices, degree of self-esteem, and the need for social interaction; Memory is organized both spatially (allowing for instant memory of experiences that build upon one another) and through a set of systems for rote learning; Humans possess a need to make sense of the environment, and understand and remember best when facts and skills are embedded in natural, spatial memory, or ordinary experiences. Further, the search for meaning takes place by patterning or attempts to meaningfully organize and categorize information;

The brain downshifts under perceived threats and learns optimally when appropriately challenged; Concepts are learned best when they arise in a variety of contexts, are represented in a variety of ways, and when students have a chance to use the concepts on authentic tasks; Learning to do well involves practice in doing. Students cannot learn to think critically, analyze information, communicate scientific ideas, make logical arguments, work as part of a team, and acquire other desirable skills unless they are permitted and encouraged to do those things over and over in many contexts; and, Effective learning requires feedback. Students must be able to feel free to express ideas and to receive analysis and comment from their peers. Such feedback helps students reflect on their ideas and performance, and see relationships among items of knowledge and test their validity.

Nature of Scientific Knowledge

Our understanding of the nature of scientific knowledge is shifting. The notion of science as a collection of facts and processes is now replaced by one in which science provides conceptual and technological tools that allow people to describe and explain how the world works with power and precision, and to achieve a richer understanding and appreciation of the world they experience. Thus the science classroom is transformed into an inquiry-based culture - a community of explorers - where

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curiosity, creativity, and questioning are valued, where resources and opportunities are made readily available, and where students can "work" like scientists engaged in the process of collective sense-making.

Instructional Implications
These new understandings are leading to enhanced instructional programs in sciences that have the following characteristics: Hands-on: Students are actually allowed to perform science (directly and vicariously) as they construct meaning and acquire understanding. It takes these subjects out of the realm of the magical or extraordinary. Minds-on: Activities focus on core concepts, allowing students to develop higher-order thinking processes and skills, and encouraging them to question and seek answers that enhance their knowledge and thereby acquire an understanding of the physical universe in which they live. Reality-on: Students are presented with problem-solving activities that incorporate authentic, real-life questions and issues in a format that encourages drawing on multi-disciplinary knowledge, collaborative effort, dialogue with informed expert sources, and generalization to broader ideas and application. The objective is to promote students insight into the real scientific, technological, business and every-day world, and the skills needed to live and work effectively.

Foundations of Mathematics Education

The enhancement of mathematics education has followed a path similar to that of science. For decades, behaviorism was (and in many places still is) the predominant foundation for mathematics teaching: building "bonds" between a mathematical stimulus and a response (the correct answer). Thus drill and practice on math facts and computation, thought to "strengthen" the bonds between questions and responses, became the chief mode of instruction. With the advancements in cognitive science, outlined above, the view of math changed from "numbers and computations" to "math as problem solving," leading to the following major shifts in math education:

Drill and Practice View Research Base Goals of Math Instruction Goals of Learning Behaviorism Mastery of isolated facts and skills

Problem Solving View Cognitive Sciences Understanding of mathematical concepts to apply to new problem situations

Applying computation skills and Problem solving; understanding memorizing math facts to get the the conceptual nature of the probright answer lem, knowing when to employ skills and facts as tools to solve the problem Passive; vessel receiving knowledge Active; connecting prior knowledge from external sources to new formal knowledge

Views of Learner

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Implications for Math Teaching/Learning

Important findings from cognitive research have had the following implications for math teaching: Principle Thinking is a continual process and is fundamental to learning mathematics. The development of mathematical thinking does not linearly follow the acquisition of basic skills. Implications Instruction should provide opportunities for thinking and reasoning throughout the math curriculum; basic skills instruction should not be separated from thinking skills instruction; if students practice skills before they understand the underlying concepts, they will have difficulty learning the conceptual knowledge later and lack the power to use mathematics. Students must be provided opportunities to construct mathematical knowledge through thinking and reasoning, and to think and reason with their mathematical knowledge, as they attempt to make sense of their experiences through real world problem solving. Instruction should help students understand mathematical concepts rather than just give them isolated facts and procedures. Students should solve problems in order to construct formal mathematics knowledge (e.g. representing physical events with algebraic symbolism). Students should be encouraged to solve mathematical problems collaboratively, listen to and challenge each other, and value different problem solving approaches.

Thinking and knowledge are not separate components of mathematical competency but rather are highly related. The quality of mathematical thinking and reasoning is dependent on what one knows, and the development of what one knows is dependent on mathematical thinking. Students actively construct knowledge through doing and problem solving rather than by passively assimilating information from the teacher and textbook.

Problems are solved in various ways and knowledge is often constructed by groups of people.

Instructional Implications

Just as in science, these understandings are leading to enhanced instructional mathematics programs that have the following characteristics: Hands-on, involving students in really doing mathematics - experimenting first-hand with physical and simulated objects and mathematical constructs before learning abstract mathematical concepts. Minds-on, focusing on the core concepts and critical thinking processes and skills needed for students to create and recreate mathematical concepts and relationships in their own minds. Reality-on, allowing students to explore, discover, discuss, and meaningfully construct mathematical concepts and relationships in contexts that involve real-world problems and projects that are relevant and interesting to the learner.

Benefits
A hands-on, minds-on and reality-on approach makes science and math education: Engaging in the sense that students are involved in the learning process and not viewed simply as receptacles for knowledge;
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Authentic, since what they are learning has meaning to them as individuals, as members of society, and as workers in the market place; and, Sustainable in the sense that the students are quipped with modern tools for life-long learning.

Some parts of this article have benefited from materials posted on NCRELs web site: http://www.ncrel.org Mindshifts: A Brain-based Process for Restructuring Schools and Renewing Education, by Geoffrey Caine, Renate Nummela Caine, and Sam Crowell, Tucson: Zephyr Press, 1994.

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