By: Dr. Robert Sylwester
The powerful National Association for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) has now issued a report that encourages pre-service and graduate teacher education programs to incorporate cognitive neuroscience discoveries about child and adolescent development into their curricula. This link to a Washington Post article on this development will also get you to the NCATE report.
The next obvious step would turn encouragement into curricular/accreditation requirements. That incorporation of Educational Neuroscience discoveries into educational policy and practice will shape 21st century teacher education and K-12 education in ways that are Read the rest of this entry »
By: Alvaro Fernandez
As you may have noticed, we just changed a few things in our site, including preparing a more solid Resources section. Please take a look at the navigation bar at the top.
One of the new pages, that we will update often, is an expanded Books page. Here are the books that we are recommending now.
Fascinating books on neuroplasticity (the ability of the brain to rewire itself through experience):
Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain: How a New Science Reveals Our Extraordinary Potential to Transform Ourselves — by Sharon Begley.
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The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science — by Norman Doidge.
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Great popular science books by Read the rest of this entry »
By: Alvaro Fernandez
Fun article in the Washington Post: Aging Japanese Keep Their Minds Moving
- “part of a broad range of mental acuity products that are all the rage in Japan: books, toys, food and other things, sold with the pledge that they can reenergize aging brains.”
- “Analysts said the current brain-training trend began in 2004 and 2005 when video games such as Sega Toys Co.‘s Brain Trainer and Nintendo Co.‘s Brain Age became smash hits. Since its launch, Brain Age for Nintendo’s DS console has sold 6.7 million copies around the world, including 3.4 million in Japan.”
We were fortunate to interview a Japanese expert on this trend a few months ago. In Brain Training and “Brain-ism” in Japan, we can learn a lot, such as
- “To see the activities inside the brain was fresh for people, but the methodology and logic was not reviewed by any scientific publication. It was published by Read the rest of this entry »