"The only way to be totally free is through education" - Jose Marti

What is going on the the brain of an adolescent? Is there some kind of cognitive explanation for this period of "Storm and Stress"? Many professionals have explored this field of research, the most important being Jean Piaget who defined cognitive development as a process of four distinct stages: the sensorimotor stage, the pre-operational stage, the concrete operations stage, and the formal operations stage.

 

According to Piaget, the formal operations stage is entered around age 11, which generally coincides with the start of adolescence. This is when young adolescents begin to display the use of hypothetico-deductive reasoning and the idea of multiple alternative cases, which can result in youthful idealism.

 

The cognitive changes that an adolescent goes though can result in egocentrism which can be displayed in a number of ways:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this portion of the course, we examined and discussed the brain rules, as developed by John Medina, and how they might affect adolescent learning processes. The brain rules are considered "things we  know for sure" about the human brain and include:

 

• Survival

• Exercise

• Sleep

• Stress

• Wiring

• Attention

 

Of all of the brain rules, I like the "Exploration" rule the best. The rule states that "We are powerful and natural explorers". I think this brain rule is exceptional because it defends my goal to be a great teacher. Everyone wants to learn something, somehow; I hope as a teacher I will be able to provide students with the skills they need to continue exploring.

 

For this topic we were asked:

"What is one way you will design your classroom or lessons to be more 'brain rule' friendly?"

 

In order to encourage exploration in my future classroom I will provide as many opportunities as posible for self-discovery. To me, this means providing students with the scaffolding they need to be the owners of their own knowledge and to take that knowledge in the direction that they most desire. I might acheive this by giving students open-ended options on projects tied together with a general focus question that will allow them to explore a subject in a methodology that they see as most effective.

 

I think that exploration learning is especially important in the science classroom. Great science is only possible through the natural need to explore and understand. To be an effective scientist, one has to be able to develop a hypothesis and then design an experiment to test that hypothesis. I think it is important to practice the scientific method with students in terms of questions that they actually want answers to. In this way, students are more likely to follow through with an experimental investigation and analysis when they have an interest in the conclusion.

 

Additional Resources:

 

Gizmos - Online simulations that power inquiry and understanding

 

Exploring Space Through Math

 

The Guided Discovery Approach for Learning

 

Journal of Inquiry-Based Learning in Mathematics

 

Edutech Wiki - Discovery Learning