Teaching for Brain-Based Learning: A Message From the Guest Editors

Advances in the methodology and tools scientists use to study the human brain continue to reveal new findings about how the brain functions, shedding an increasingly clearer light on how people learn and the many factors that influence the human cognitive process. The research behind brain-based learning has reached a point where cognitive and social neuroscientists are beginning to explain in detail the complex processes involved in learning everything from very simple lists to detailed procedures. The relative impact of advances in neuroscience on learning can be seen in the rapid increase in books, journal articles, and conferences dedicated to the interrelationship of neuroscience and human learning. With this explosion of new information comes a great challenge: how best integrate past models and conceptual frameworks with new findings from very specialized fields in a way that allows for information to be accurately conveyed to individuals who have expertise in a wide variety of disciplines. New information always builds upon the work of others and does not happen in a vacuum. The same is true for the emerging findings with respect to how students learn. Brain-based learning has a relatively long history, with a great deal of the early work still being incorporated today. For example, Bloom (1956) laid out his model of cognitive taxonomy over 50 years ago. This taxonomy provided a way for individuals to understand the levels of thinking seen in the classroom. Bloom’s work is cited extensively and is known by a vast majority of current faculty in the United States. This frequently cited taxonomy continues to be adapted and used to help teach the newest generation of learners (Anderson et al., 2001).