Brain-STEM:
Transdisciplinary Science-centric Learning
Kenneth Wesson
Educational Consultant: Neuroscience
San Jose, CA
kenawesson@aol.com
Brain-STEM:
Transdisciplinary Science-centric Learning
1. How does the brain work and how does the
young brain process language, science,
and mathematics best in a model learning
environment?
2. How can we modify classroom instruction to
achieve the goals set out in Common Core,
the Next Generation Science Standards,
and STEM.
Brain-STEM: Astonishing!
“Let me keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work, which is mostly
standing still and learning to be
astonished.”
-- “The Messenger” by Mary Oliver
The Human Brain
1. Always engaged
in “sense making”
2. Actively seeks
connections that
build on our prior
experiences
The Knowledge Explosion
“The sum total of humankind’s knowledge doubled
between 1750 and 1900. It doubled again between 1900
and 1950, again from 1950 to 1960, again from 1960 to
1965. It’s been estimated that the sum total of
humankind’s knowledge has doubled at least every five
years since then.
It’s been further projected that by the year 2020,
knowledge or information will double every
73 days.”
Dr. James Appleberry - President, American Association of State Colleges and Universities
Expanding Memory Techniques
Memorization is what we resort to
when what we are learning
makes no sense.
-- Anonymous
The “Shelf-life” of Facts
... Jupiter's Moons
Jupiter has 67 moons?
(50 + 17, awaiting official confirmation = 67)
giving it the largest retinue of moons with
"reasonably secure" orbits of any planet in
the Solar System.
Saturn? 62 (53 + 9 awaiting official confirmation)
“How does
the human brain learn best?”
Why is Hands-on Learning Effective?
Developmental Neurobiology
Motor cortex
Sensory Cortex
What Does The Current Research Say
About the Learning of Science and…?
A Framework for K-12
Science Education
 Children are born
investigators
 Understanding builds over time
 Science and Engineering require
both knowledge and practice
What we are learning from
Cognitive Science is
Astonishing!
Expanding the Traditional Model of
Thinking and Learning
Does the name “Pavlov” ring a bell?
Stimulus  Response
S R
Teaching  Learning
Thinking and learning are neurobiological processes that take place inside
the brain, just as digestion is another biological event that takes place in
the pancreas and the stomach.
Factors Influencing Stimulus  Response
In addition to desires, tendencies, appetites, instincts, inclinations…
Genetics
+Pre-natal care
+Early development (0-3)
+Parenting
+Physical history
+Neuro-physiology
+Prior learning (situated L’)
+Prior experiences
+Need state
+Strengths
+Formal Education
+Epigenetics and early nutrition
+Age
+Emotions/emotional state
+Gender
+Perception/expectations
+Memory
+Diet
+Self-esteem
+Disability
+Neural circuitry/plasticity*
+Stress factors
Learning/Behavior
* Neural plasticity: The flexible nature of the brain to modify structures, alter its
functioning and re-route neural circuitry as a response to new stimuli and
ongoing learning experiences.
Hemispheres → Lobes → Primary Areas
→ Networks → Brain Cells
Primarily Two Types of Cells in the Brain
Neurons
The brain cells we care about
most when discussing
human learning
1. Sensory processing (learning)
2. Storage (memory)
3. Retrieval (application)
The same neurons for a lifetime
Glia cells (glue)
• Support – blood supply,
nutrients, oxygen, energy,
remove waste
• More? Active in slower
processing of information –
consolidating memory?
• The “Mind”
Astonishing Potential for
Learning and Processing
Neurons and synapses.
The number of neurons (the information processing cells)
inside your brain is approximately equivalent to
all of the trees found in the Amazon rain forest
(100,000,000,000). The # of plausible permutations
and combinations of brain activity > the # of
elementary particles in the universe.
They operate by making connections with one another.
The number of connections (synapses) inside your
brain is comparable to all of the leaves on all of the
trees in the Amazon rain forest (approx. 62 trillion
connections among the 100 billion brain cells.)
Making Connections
ball
Baseball
Moon
round
yellow
basketball
Tennis
School
bus
School
bus
coconut
Brown
banana
Taxi
Apple
fruits
persimmon
Municipal bus
Train
Orange
pear
pineapple
Making Connections
ball
Egg yolk
Baseball
round
yellow
basketball
coconut
Tennis
Brown
School
bus
banana
Taxi
Apple
fruits
persimmon
Train
Orange
pear
pineapple
Making Connections
ball
Baseball
Moon
round
yellow
basketball
coconut
Brown
Tennis
School
bus
banana
Taxi
Apple
fruits
persimmon
Municipal bus
Train
Orange
pear
pineapple
The most important element in the formation of “context’ is you.
Learners use what they already know to
construct new understandings.
How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience and School
Bransford, J.D., Brown, A.L.& Cooking, R.R. (Eds) 1999, National Academy
Press.
Maintaining and Strengthening Memory
Bridge
Build
Extend
10%
80%
10%
Past content
New information
Preview
Memory Test
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Knitting
Thread
Knife
Syringe
Silver
Pin
Sewing
Sharp
Point
Thimble
Haystack
Shiny
Injection
Embroidery
Memory Test
Embroidery
Knitting
Needle
Participants’ Question
Thinking back on our “tennis ball”
brain pathways model, what are
the typical causes of “failures to
connect” during learning?
“Failure To Connect”
Thinking back on our “tennis ball” network model, what
are the typical causes of these “failures to connect”?
Lack of adequate brain “wiring” (poorly “wired” brains)
1. Lack
of adequate
brain “wiring”
1.
No emotional
connections
a. Poorly “wired” brain (a delayed development
2. Little
or no
issue,
noprior
priorexperience
experience, no relevance, no
emotional
connections)
3. Delayed
development
b. An injury to the brain
4. An injury to the brain
c. Teaching a developmentally inappropriate concept
5. Teaching
a developmentally-inappropriate
concept to
to young
children (a lack of brain “Readiness”)
young children (a lack of brain “Readiness”)
6. Cannot find meaning (“sense-making” or “meaningmaking”)
Hole in the Concept
ball
Baseball
Moon
round
yellow
basketball
Tennis
School
bus
School
bus
coconut
Brown
banana
Taxi
Apple
fruits
persimmon
Municipal bus
Train
Orange
pear
pineapple
Brain-STEM:
Transdisciplinary Science-centric Learning
2. How can we plan daily classroom
experiences to meet the goals of
STEM?
What is STEM?
STEM Education integrates all 4 contents of
Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics. It supports application by
combining these “silos” into a new transdisciplinary subject in meaningful realistic
ways.
STEM Education seeks to ↑ access to learning
preparing students for post-secondary
study, the 21st century workforce, and
becoming informed citizens.
Scientists, Mathematicians and Engineers
• Do scientists, mathematicians and engineers
communicate with one another?
• Do scientists, mathematicians and engineers
write summaries of their work?
• Do they write reports?
• Do they write research papers?
• Do they give oral presentations of their
research at symposiums? Interviews?
Scientists, Mathematicians and Engineers
“Reading and writing comprise
over half of the work of
scientists and engineers.”
(NRC 2011)
S.T2.R.E.A.M.
Science
Reading/Language Arts
(Standards)
Reading, writing, discourse,
argumentation, vocabulary development,
comprehension, journals, note-booking,
lab reports, summaries, oral
presentations, recording interpreting and
critiquing data and information
Technology
Visual Literacy
Engineering
Mathematics
Art
Drawing/diagramming, visual spatial
thinking, imagery, inferential
thinking, 2/3-dimensional modeling,
symbolic models, interpreting visual
evidence, visual representations illustrations, charts, etc.
Convergent/Integrative STEM T’ & L’
Published Online: October 23, 2012
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/10/24/09wesson.h32.html
COMMENTARY
From STEM to ST2REAM:
Reassembling Our Disaggregated
Curriculum
By Kenneth Wesson
Countless millennia before the acronym STEM—for
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—
entered our modern lexicon, early man was already
engaged in STEM endeavors. Our ancestors spent
significant portions of their days experimenting,
tinkering, and thinking their way through myriad
problems and challenges. During those prehistoric
periods, the dreamers, the designers, and the builders
identified the urgent problems, and subsequently
crafted tools, crude instruments, and strategies to
resolve them, working collaboratively for both survival
and human progress.
Columbus' historic trans-Atlantic journey in 1492 was
S.T2.R.E.A.M.
• The “drivers” are → new sets of instructional behaviors
where all learning overlaps (converges, intersects,
etc.) in ways that “makes sense” to the learners
• “Common Core” = The Common Core Standards for
English Language Arts and Literacy in
History/Social Studies, Science and Technical
Subjects (“The Standards”)
• Every teacher must become a literacy teacher when
implementing the CCSS (using informational text;
integrating knowledge and ideas; presenting
evidence-based arguments; domain-specific
vocabulary…).
BBR + NGSS = STEM
Students and Teachers Enjoying every Minute
of the school day,
because it is finally connected and
learning suddenly makes sense!
…not merely “academic
problems” for the purpose
of intellectual development,
but global challenges to the
very survival of our planet
and our species. They will
require new approaches,
novel ideas, new solutions,
and the complex merging of
multiple disciplines.
STEM
The most recent 10-year employment
projections by the U.S. Labor Department show
that of the 20 fastest growing occupations
projected for 2014, 15 of them require
significant mathematics or science preparation
to successfully compete for the job.
In 2012, nearly 70% of American HS graduates
failed to meet college-readiness benchmarks
in science.
40
The President’s Council of Advisors
on Science and Technology (PCAST)
"Since the beginning of the 20th century, the
average per capita income in the United
States has grown more than sevenfold,
and science and technology account for
more than half of this growth."
Play and Science Running Together
3. Compose an “I will” statement
based on today’s experience.
“We don’t learn from experience, we
learn by reflecting on it.”
John Dewey
“Reflect and Connect”
• What was the most valuable piece of information that
you learned this morning?
• How did our conversation change some of your
thinking?
• Write down one “I will” statement (what will you look at
differently and what will you plan to do differently?)
Wesson - CCSS + NGSS = ST2REAM - 2013
Each year, new findings in cognitive psychology
and neuroscience will be infused into teacher
preparation, curriculum, instruction, student
assessment, and the classroom environment.
The works of Howard Gardner (“Multiple
Intelligences”), Daniel Goleman (“Emotional
Intelligence”), Kenneth Wesson (“Brainconsiderate Learning”), and others have
already been influential in reshaping the
independent school classroom, while programs
like Mel Levine’s Schools Attuned are assisting
educators in using neurodevelopmental content
in their classrooms to create success at
learning and to provide hope and satisfaction
for all students.
Forecasting Independent Education to 2025
-- NAIS
• Magic
• Teachers = Neuro-plasticians
Neuro-plasticians are shaping
the brains of the new STEM
generation.
Brain-STEM:
Transdisciplinary Science-centric Learning
Contact Information:
Kenneth Wesson
(408) 323-1498 (office)
(408) 826-9595 (cell)
San Jose, CA
kenawesson@aol.com
sciencemaster.com