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Author Archives: knlistman
The mystery behind the motivation to learn
No matter how much we describe the function of the brain to illuminate how people learn, the biggest mystery is what causes people to want to learn. Typically when someone dives into why certain people excel at learning they come … Continue reading
Posted in Education trends
Tagged brain based instruction, extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation
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Feeling and knowing
Almost all articles on brain based learning will emphasize the importance of emotions in learning. Emotions are supposed to direct our attention and aid our memory. Learning accompanied by emotional impact lasts far longer than a lecture that goes in … Continue reading
Neat little boxes
Not all research on how the brain functions comes to the same conclusions. In fact one of the major problems with applying brain-based theories in actual instruction is that the findings are frequently contradictory. The cellular structure of the brain … Continue reading
Posted in Education trends, Group psychology
Tagged brain based instruction, prejudice
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Learning from inside out
The instructor in my high school English class was rather dry. She would drone on about difference between past and subjunctive verbs, and participles and gerunds. However, she was a well-read and well-traveled person. On the side wall she had … Continue reading
Learning in the eye of the beholder
During a post graduate course in learning design, one of the students attempted to present instruction on the solar system without the use of any visuals. After the professor gave a curt lecture on importance of multi-sensory instruction, she asked … Continue reading
Posted in Education trends
Tagged brain base learning, dale's cone of leanring, dual encoding
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Tinkering with the mind of man
The idea of the left brain being logical while the right is creative has been disproved in studies which show that during creative activity people are more likely use both half of their brains. According to Dr. Jeff Anderson, director … Continue reading
Posted in Education trends, Manipulation, Mental health, Optimism and Pessimism
Tagged Brain based learning
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Less optimistic and happier?
In order to research the difference optimism, it must be defined in a measurable manner. One of the ways that some researchers measure it is by explanatory style. For them optimism is based on how much credit you take for … Continue reading
Does pessimism shorten or lengthen your life?
Frequently I have read anecdotal accounts of people who were sure that they were going to beat a life threatening disease (usually cancer) against the odds and managed to do so. Often they would give credit to their optimistic attitude that … Continue reading
How well do you know yourself?
High self awareness may not be a pleasant characteristic to have. There are other names given to this trait, such as private self-consciousness. Stephen Franzoi of the University of California at Davis has studied the effects of private self-consciousness and found … Continue reading
Posted in Mental health, Optimism and Pessimism
Tagged intrapersonal intelligence, persistence, Self-esteem
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The problem with positive pep talks
After centuries of philosophers, and in more recent times psychologists, coming up their own set of personality factors a symposium in the 1980s settled on what are called the “big five” which are commonly found in most summaries of personality traits. Four of the … Continue reading
Posted in Mental health, Optimism and Pessimism, Psychology
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