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Researchers have made considerable progress in understanding the cognitive and social factors important in the learning process, but very few have been successfully translated into teaching practices in the college classroom (Halpern & Hakel, 2002). Why don't educators rely on this evidence about the brain and learning to inform their teaching practices?

First, there is a surprising lack of communication between the research in cognitive psychology and neuroscience to the closely related disciplines of college-level pedagogy and instructional sciences (Matlin, 2002). Many of the professors care deeply about their students' learning and want to be effective teachers, but lack of formal training in topics like learning, memory, or transfer of learning has compromised their effectiveness. Many instructors from various disciplines subscribe to, and elicit information from, academic journals devoted to teaching in their own subject area. These journals, however, may base many of their assessments on the extent to which students thought particular techniques were fun, enjoyable, or interesting instead of measuring how well certain techniques may enhance deeper learning long-term retention (eg. Teaching of Psychology'; Matlin, 2002). Because of the lack of communication between the disciplines, making connections between the two is time-consuming. Additionally, consumers of research know that direct causal connections cannot automatically be made between neuroscientific findings and classroom learning. Because many critical research questions important to directing educational policy and reform remain unanswered, many educators and researchers are beginning to realize the importance of promoting increasingly interdisciplinary approaches but we have a long way to go (Halpern & Hakel, 2003).

Professors, instructors, and educators at the college level currently have a substantial body of psychological and neuroscientific research available to them to direct and inform how they may design and implement their learning programs, from the classroom to beyond (Halpern & Hakel, 2003). Although a vast body of brain and behavior exists, it is often ignored or unacknowledged for multiple reasons. Some people continue to believe that not enough is known about the brain. They argue that although the "basics" have been determined, that solid evidence providing support for basing all of our educational pedagogy and practice on a collection of integrated cells making up our brains

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