Brain Research: An Educator's Journey

The past forties years have seen exciting breakthroughs in brain research from the biological sciences, and in modern perceptual-experiential psychology in the social sciences. Both fields have enormous implications and paradigm shifts for education because they address the basic concepts upon which teaching and learning are based. Caine, et al., (1994) highlights the implications of brain research, which challenges the belief that teaching can be separated into the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains. Such artificial categorizations may be useful in the design of research projects; however may actually distort our current understanding of learning. Caine, et al., (1994) continues this thought by stating that such physiological model of memory also calls in to question the notion that learning must take place via past methods of rote memorization. Thus, by understanding properties of our spatial memory system, educators may be able to better understand that teaching to behavioral objectives ignores other functions of the brain and other important aspects of memory and, more importantly, learning.

Through the centuries, examiners of the brain heave scrutinized every cerebral feature. Major parts of the brain are divided into lobes: frontal, temporal, occipital, and parietal lobes, the motor cortex, and the cerebellum. The inside of the brain is divided into the brain stem, limbic system, and cerebrum. Another main function of the brain is the brain's nerve cells, called neurons. Each lobe in each hemisphere of the brain tends to specialize for certain functions (Sousa, 2001). At the front of the brain are the frontal lobes, which deal with planning and thinking. Above the ears rest the temporal lobes, which deal with sound, speech, and some parts of long-term memory. At the back is the occipital lobe, which is used almost exclusively for visual processing. Near the top is the parietal lobe, which deals mainly with orientation, calculation, and certain types of recognition (Sousa, 2001). These parts of the brain work in conjunction with one another because the brain calls selected areas into play depending on what the individual is doing at the moment.

For simplicity and educational purposes, defining the structure of the brain and the make up of many different cells, a basic explanation is further given. Glial cells feed other brain cells, which are nurturing cells

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