Tips for teachers from the neurobiology of learning

The term "brain based education" seems to be redundant, a no-brainer, what else could education be based on, the liver? Yet it is one of the the biggest sources of quackery in education, also in South Africa. I list the advice by Prof. Michael Friedlander with some trepidation therefore, lest some quack latch onto something he or she does not fully understand and build a new mythology on it.

Prof. Friedlander offered advice based on the neurobiology of learning for medical educators. I briefly list his ideas of factors important for learning below, summarised from Brain Scientists Offer Medical Educators Tips on the Neurobiology of Learning. Read the article itself for more information.

Repetition, appropriately spaced

Reward and reinforcement

Visualization

Active engagement

Stress (moderate)

Fatigue (the importance of sleep to consolidate learning)

Multitasking (provided tasks are relevant)

Individual learning styles

Here I would differ, there is ample evidence that teaching to individual learning styles is ineffective.

Active involvement: Doing is learning

Revisiting information and concepts using multimedia

Note that brain profiling, whole brain learning, the triune brain, brain blockages, etc., does not appear in the list!