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ISBN: 9781608442980
60 pages
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Chapter 1

Introduction: Why Use Brain-friendly Learning?

In the past twenty years, more has been discovered about how the brain works than in previous recorded history. We now know that different people learn best in different ways. Using the ways that work best for you is called brain-friendly learning. You should use this approach because it works much better than the traditional approach of everyone being expected to learn in exactly the same way. It helps you to increase your learning as an investment in your future.

Look at Figure #1 on the page to the left. It lists three examples from types of organizations that have helped their students or employees use brain-friendly learning techniques. The first item in Figure #1 refers to elementary schools like one in Greensboro, N.C., where test scores doubled after use of brain-friendly teaching and learning techniques. The second item refers to adult learners with whom brain-friendly learning is often called “accelerated learning” because companies like Bell Atlantic, Chevron, Commonwealth Edison, and others have halved learning time using the learning techniques. They have often achieved much higher results at the same time. Brain-friendly learning works with all ages. The third item refers to high school results which we shall look at in more detail. Study Figure #2.

In Minuteman Regional High School, some students entering grade nine did not have reading skill levels strong enough to profit fully from technical majors that they elected. We enrolled those students in a computer-based reading lab that let each student learn in his or her best way for one year. Some needed programs with a strong auditory or hearing focus. Some others needed lots of visual help to accelerate their reading skills. The lab software gave them learning options and constantly measured their progress. As shown in Figure #2, in the first year of lab operation students averaged a 2.28 year gain in reading skill, over double the learning growth rate in traditional school progress. With each school year, the teachers introduced more and more brain-friendly or accelerated techniques. By the fifth school year of lab operation, students in the one-year classes were averaging over four years of reading skill growth in one school year! This same sort of accelerated progress was being achieved by students in some other classes in the school; we shall consider another Minuteman example in a moment.

For now, be aware of this reality. Learning traditional school subjects - - mathematics, science, English, etc. – is important. However for your own sake, never neglect this very important subject - - LEARNING HOW TO LEARN. Some schools do not do enough in this area. This booklet can help you to help yourself in developing the brain-friendly learning techniques that are so powerful.

In a second Minuteman example, teacher Sebastian Paquette taught a class called English for the Entrepreneur. It used projects like the preparation of a business plan and a business lease to teach English skills. Mr. Paquette introduced more and more brain-friendly learning techniques to students every year. He taught the students about different ways of learning. He had them practice the different learning techniques. He presented material in different ways, not depending too heavily on lectures and reading. He gave students some learning choices and accepted the fact that some needed more time or help on certain tasks than others needed. While doing this, he used the same objective standards to evaluate the quality of projects completed from year to year. Theoretically, if brain-friendly learning helped, student scores on projects should improve every year. They did! Figure #3 on the next page shows year to year progress on a business lease project.