Ciencia Cognitiva e Educación

Introduction to the Speakers

• Laura Ribas is an early childhood education professor and director in a Madrid school.
• Hector Ruiz Martin researches how the brain learns best.
• The discussion revolves around learning and education, with a focus on cognitive science and its applications in education.

Progress in Cognitive Sciences

• Cognitive science, neuroscience, & cognitive psychology emerged as formal disciplines in the 1960s
• These fields have advanced exponentially, leading to more discoveries in recent decades than in all prior human history
• Despite these advancements, the knowledge has not been effectively transferred to educators and students who would benefit most

Bridging the Gap Between Science and Education

• Hector focuses on building bridges between scientific research and educational practices.
• The goal is to inform decisions made by teachers and students to enhance learning experiences, with the ultimate goal of helping them get the most out of their learning and achieve their goals.

Factors Influencing Student Performance

• Student performance differences are often attributed to ability, effort, or both.
• Ability has innate components and is influenced by environmental opportunities.
• Effort is crucial but can be misdirected toward ineffective learning strategies
• There are actions and circumstances that align with how the brain learns, making effort more productive

The Importance of Effective Learning Strategies

• Considering how the brain learns can lead to more effective and higher quality learning that lasts longer and can be transferred to new situations.
• Teachers can teach students how to learn and select the most productive type of effort when studying
• Analogy: Teaching someone how to swim using the efficient crawl technique improves swimming performance, regardless of initial aptitude.
• Learning effective techniques benefits all learners, improving outcomes at all levels

Addressing Challenges in Education

• Students who struggle may believe their ability is a barrier, leading to a lack of effort.
• Understanding learning techniques can motivate struggling learners and foster a belief in their potential.
• Students who do well in early education may face difficulties in higher education because their base level of understanding is not strong enough to support complex concepts.
• Learning how to learn is the most important factor when students do face these educational challenges.

The Role of Memory in Learning

• Memory is not just rote memorization but the brain's capacity to learn and adapt from experiences
• Memory is how are brain changes and adapts to experiences.
• Memory encompasses facts, data, concepts, ideas, skills, and habits.
• There are multiple memory systems dependent on different brain regions that handle different types of learning
• Semantic memory functions as a network where new information connects with existing knowledge.

How Memory Works

• Memory does not function like a library or computer hard drive, where data is simply stored.
• Meaning is key to how we understand and digest concepts.
• The brain connects new experiences and new information to what we already know
• When retrieving memories, the brain reconstructs them, integrating new and existing elements.

Semantic Connections in Memory

• Semantic memory relies on forming connections and relationships of meaning allowing for concept formation and deeper understanding
• Memory enables understanding, interpretation, and decision-making by connecting new information with existing knowledge
• Learning is inseparable from memory, as memory enables deep and meaningful understanding that influences knowledge and skills.

Deep vs. Shallow Learning

• Deep learning yields knowledge that is lasting, transferable (applicable in different contexts), functional (enables action), and productive (aids further learning).
• Deep learning involves generating many connections in memory with different contexts, data, and situations.
• Conections create stronger recall and better ability to apply knowledge.

Repetition and Learning

• Rote repetition is not necessarily an effective learning strategy on its own
• Thinking about the material is key to creating meaningful connections.
• Repetition matters but thinking about the meaning behind what you are learning is more important.

Effective Repetition Strategies

• Repeated exposure alone is insufficient; thinking about and engaging with the material are crucial.
• To learn something new, relating it to our lives, and creating external examples helps you understand concepts more throughly
• When learning concepts and ideas, giving them meaning and relating them to existing knowledge is critical
• Spaced repetition is more effective than massed repetition

Mnemonic Devices

• Mnemonic devices help in learning facts and information that may lack intrinsic meaning
• These devices are useful for vocabulary acquisition or memorizing lists but are less helpful for understanding concepts and ideas.

Mnemonic Rules

• Mnemonic rules help to connect new information with existing knowledge to aid in memory.
• The brain uses a large amount of resources for visual information.
• Visual strategies can make things easier to remember.

Palace of Memory

• Involves creating a mental journey through a familiar place.
• Key is to choose specific locations along the route.
• Important to visually putting things to remember in those places.
• When trying to remember a list, visually place the items in locations along that familiar mental route. Example: Imagine a fish in the toilet to remember "fish" as vertebrate class in your house "palace".

Acronyms

• Involves using the first letters of a list of words to create a more memorable word.
• Another option is to take parts of the word to make a new word.
• Example: "Prometo Ana Telefonear" (Pro, Met, Ana, Tel) for stages of mitosis: prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase.
• As learning progresses, these rules become less necessary as vocabulary becomes spontaneous.

Understanding Concepts

• Understanding a concept is different from using mnemonics.
• Mnemonic rules are most helpful when information is new.

Studying and Sleep

• Students who leave everything to the last minute often don't sleep or rest well.
• Learning should be spaced out over time instead of massed learning.
• Spacing the learning and sleeping is important for learning consolidation.

Reviewing

• Spacing allows for review, which helps solidify learning.
• Evoking what has been learned by trying to remember it instead of re-reading is important.
• Self-assessment and practicing from memory consolidates learning.
• Evoking something indicates to the brain that it’s important.
• Attempting to recall information, even unsuccessfully, makes future consultations more effective.
• When you have something on the tip of your tongue you are already thinking about related things.
• This increases connections when re-consulting the information.

Concentration and Music

• Concentration is critical when studying.
• It's complex, not a simple yes or no.
• To learn something you need to pay attention and think about it.
• The space for thinking is limited.
• That working memory is where we focus our attention.
• Anything unrelated to learning takes up unproductive space.
• Silence is better for learning because there is less cognitive load.
• If someone is used to studying with music, a sudden change might not be good

Music While Studying

• If music is necessary, it should be relaxing and without vocals.
• Music can help in noisy environments by masking distracting sounds.
• Music can act as a mask for those who are easily distracted by their own thoughts.
• It's important to get used to studying in silence.
• The term "working memory" it isn't a place but a helpful way to consider its function.

Teaching Strategies

• Teaching is helping to learn, not just putting knowledge in students' heads.
• Teachers should promote what students need to do to learn.
• What students think about is what they will learn.
• What matters is that students are thinking and finding meaning in what they are learning.
• Learning in the lab requires students to think instead of simply following instruction
• Recipes aren't important but ingredients are.
• Make sure that students are thinking about and giving meaning to what they are learning.
• Promote the use of what has been learned.
• Include the ingredients of evocation and spacing in recipes.
• A single learning episode is insufficient for learning.
• Balance the breadth and depth of curriculum so that learning isn't lost.

Emotions Impact

• Emotions always accompany learning.
• Can't avoid emotions. They are present with every learning event.
• Intense emotional events strengthen episodic memories.
• An intense emotion can capture our attention.
• Intense emotions don't facilitate reasoning but impede it, which is required when learning.
• Emotions are important because they influence motivation.
• Motivation comes from emotional impulse.

Motivation

• Motivation does not improve memory function.
• The belief in one's ability to learn is more important than interest.
• Beliefs about abilities can be self-limiting.
• The emotional environment is key.
• Students shouldn't fear making mistakes but instead view them as opportunities for continued effort.
• Efforts to learn must be successful.

Overcoming Failure

• Direct encouragement may not work it a student's efforts are unsuccessful.
• Belief in one's own effectiveness affects interest.
• Help students become better learners by teaching good learning strategies.

Early Learning

• The brain functions similarly throughout life but with developmental differences.
• Autobiographical memory is still in development, but learning still occurs.
• Exposure to a rich language environment is very important at these young ages.

Vocabulary Development in Early Childhood

• Studies show that by age three, significant differences exist in children's vocabulary based on their socioeconomic status, particularly their social background.
• The educational level of families is a key factor in these vocabulary differences observed in three-year-olds.
• Prior knowledge enhances learning, meaning vocabulary disparities at age three can impact a child's future learning capabilities.

Enriching Vocabulary Through School Interventions

• School interventions can enrich children's vocabulary by providing linguistic models that extend beyond their everyday experiences.
• To learn new words, children need to encounter them in meaningful contexts.
• Active involvement is important; children should not only hear new words but also speak and use them.

The Power of Stories in Learning

• Stories hold a special place in our minds and memories, making them a powerful tool for learning.
• Throughout human history, stories have served as a means of learning vocabulary, concepts, and ideas.
• Reading stories to young children is strongly supported by research.
• Shared reading, where children actively participate by answering questions and relating drawings to the story, enhances learning.

Shared Reading Techniques

• During shared reading, ask children what they think will happen next in the story to promote engagement.
• Encourage children to connect illustrations with the narrative when reading stories with pictures.
• Help children understand that stories originate from the marks on the paper, connecting written words with the narrative.

Principles of Effective Learning

• Interacting with the material, cognitive engagement, finding meaning, application, recall, and practice are important for effective learning.
• Providing opportunities to encounter and use new knowledge in different situations reinforces learning.

Application to Different Age Groups

• The same learning principles apply to children aged three to twelve, not just those from zero to three.
• Interacting with a learning objective, cognitive involvement and giving meaning to what you learn is important for children to learn effectively.

Laura Ribas e Hector Ruiz Martin discuten a ciencia cognitiva e a súa aplicación na educación. A conversa céntrase en conectar a investigación científica coas prácticas educativas para mellorar as experiencias de aprendizaxe de profesores e estudantes.