ABSTRACT
Understanding the brain to improve learning is what educational neuroscience is all about. Learning presents a bit of a contradiction. On the one hand, the brain can’t help but learn – it’s what it does. On any given day, whether inside or outside the context of education, the brain is constantly learning, interpreting sensory input against existing knowledge, and recording experiences. On the other hand, deliberate focused learning is hard. No fewer than eight different brain systems are involved and need to work together. These include different memory systems – a speedy one for short-term ‘snapshots’, a slower one for concepts, an emotional system which maintains associations and helps spur or deter, a control system to activate appropriate specific content, a dopamine-based system which responds to the presence or absence of rewards, a slow-to-perfect system for learning motor procedures such as doing joined-up writing, a social system that learns through watching other people, and a language system which allows learning to happen through verbal instruction. Each has a preferred diet of experience that will optimise its learning. How well information is retained varies depending on the environment, the timeframe of taking information in, mood and the method by which the information is taught. How well it is retrieved is similarly affected by a huge array of factors. No wonder people all vary greatly in the memories they form and in how quickly and how well they form and retrieve them. The good news is that knowledge about how to exploit the systems involved to optimise learning is increasing.
