ABSTRACT
A scientific approach to learning has similarities with medical research. The medical model is not perfect – it clearly has weaknesses such as the unsatisfactory relationship between the drug industries and medical practice – and similar problems may arise in the tensions between public and private providers of learning experiences. Nevertheless, scientific processes applied to medicine have revolutionized people’s lives and will revolutionize people’s learning. Technology will play a fundamental role in this process. This is
already true of neuroscience and related sciences, as sophisticated technological solutions are needed to scan brains (e.g. MRI), experiment on cells, examine biochemical effects on nervous systems and explore the physical basis of learning in the brain. The tools of this kind of experimental science are those of medical research in the main, and the core discoveries in neurobiology would be impossible without them.
