How the Brain Learns Best - Essay Example

"How the Brain Learns Best" is a worthy example of a paper on neurology.
The past four decades have witnessed concerted efforts to unravel how the human brain learns best (Ricketts-Duncan, 2009). Instructors and neuroscientists have dedicated a lot of resources towards building on the existing bank of knowledge of basic and clinical neurosciences for use in the classroom. Through the education process, people literally attempt to alter the normal functioning of the brain (Sousa, 2009; Willis, 2008). In the real sense, education is neuroscience put to practice. However, that does not imply every instructor must become an expert in the neuroscience of one’s cognition (Duke, 2012). Better teachers should however have a deeper understanding of the brain’s sensing, processing, storage, and retrieval of information.

Neural System Exhaustion

Attention is an important factor in learning. According to Sousa (2006), it is impacted by specific sections of the brain. Regardless, neural systems get exhausted within a short period of time. Within a maximum of five minutes of vigorous activity, body neurons tire and become less reactive (Duke, 2012). Neurons can recuperate within a few minutes of rest, but in the event that they are roused in a sustained manner, they are somewhat ineffective. In light of this, neurons react to systematic and repetitive stimulation to achieve learning in an individual (Sousa, 2006).

When a learner listens as the teacher says Sultan Kosen’s height measuring 8 feet 3 inches makes him the world’s tallest man, she uses a single neural system to grasp it. When she is exposed to a theory linked to that fact, for instance, that the average height of people in the 21st century is only 6 feet, the slight difference evokes the functionally and use of a second interrelated neural set. Yet, if when the learner listens to a more elaborate story such as Kosen known for consuming three meals in a day opted to forego his supper for two weeks and donated the food as humanitarian assistance for three starving families in Turkey. Buoyed by his huge body physique, thousands of other donors and well-wishers followed suit in the campaign which resulted in a closer relationship between poor populations and the upper-class segments of the society. Such a story will enable the learner’s other connected neural systems to become active and achieve learning. These closely-connected neural systems are all vital in acquiring new knowledge. Ricketts-Duncan (2009) noted that students will acquire new knowledge if they create a memory in the neural systems of the brain. Sousa (2009) has pointed out this implies that facts cannot be learned without being connected to theories, contexts, and anecdotes.  

Conclusion

Attention plays a pivotal role in learning. When a learner is in a familiar and proper environment of learning, the individual’s brain will pursue novelty. Therefore, if this learner listens to only logical information, they will get bored within a few minutes. The brain can only tolerate pure factual information for a short period of time before it requires other stimuli to remain responsive. Stimuli that often follow a fatigued brain can be internal daydreaming episodes or external distractions. The teacher should therefore facilitate learning by providing the brain with the novelty to prevent it from grasping other trivial issues. Continuous churning out of facts in isolation to anecdotes will generate the same boring effect that will hinder the learning of new things and or enjoyment of learning.