The Answer Sheet: brain research


Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 02/28/2011

'Brain-based' education: Run from it
By Valerie Strauss
A veteran educator explains why teachers should run from any curriculum that says it is "brain-based."

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:00 AM ET, 02/28/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Guest Bloggers, Larry Cuban, Learning, Research | Tags:  brain research, brain-based education, daniel willingham, education and brain, larry cuban

Posted at 08:00 AM ET, 11/20/2010

The Matthew Effect, Plinko, and the achievement gap
By Valerie Strauss
The argument for integration of low-income students into more affluent schools is that it offers an opportunity to level the playing field and provide high expectations to students who are not traditionally held to the same schooling standards as the white upper and middle class. However, as a Black male who attended Montgomery County Public Schools for high school, I am not convinced that a culture of high expectations extends beyond honors, AP, and IB classrooms.

By Valerie Strauss  |  08:00 AM ET, 11/20/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Achievement gap, Achievement gap | Tags:  achievement gap, brain development, brain research, closing achievement gap, guest bloggers, plinko, the Matthew Effect, the matthew effect

Posted at 12:09 PM ET, 11/15/2010

Willingham: How 'mind-wandering' affects students
By Valerie Strauss
Cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham writes about "mind-wandering" --or zoning out of what you are doing -- and how it affects students at school.

By Valerie Strauss  |  12:09 PM ET, 11/15/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Guest Bloggers, Guest Bloggers | Tags:  brain research, cognitive science, daniel willingham, mind-wandering

Posted at 11:00 AM ET, 09/20/2010

Willingham: Left/right brain theory is bunk
By Valerie Strauss
Cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham explains why the left brain/right brain theory is pure mythology.

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:00 AM ET, 09/20/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Daniel Willingham, Daniel Willingham, Daniel Willingham | Tags:  brain research, daniel willingham, left brain/right brain, mike gazzaniga

Posted at 11:23 AM ET, 09/04/2010

How 'Twilight,' other dark fiction affect teen brains
By Valerie Strauss
Scientists, authors and education experts are meeting this weekend at Cambridge University to investigate how fiction with dark themes, such as the "Twilight" saga and the "Harry Potter" series, affects and alters the teenage brain. Here's a Q&A with the conference organizer, who talks about what parents can/should do about it.

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:23 AM ET, 09/04/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Literature, Literature, Literature | Tags:  altering teen mind, brain research, cambridge university conference, dark themes in young adult literature, edward cullen, effects on teen brains, emergent adult, emergent adult conference, harry potter and twilight, his dark materials, how teen brains are affected by reading, neuroscience and teenage brain, teenage brain, themes in YA lit, twilight, twilight and teen mind, twilight saga, young adult literature

Posted at 12:15 PM ET, 03/30/2010

Researchers take new look at teenage brain
By Valerie Strauss
It has become commonplace these days to hear that teens are victims of their own immature brains and raging hormones. But University of Virginia researchers Joseph P. Allen and Claudia Worrell Allen say that while the prefrontal cortex isn’t fully developed in teens, it’s far from missing, and we still have little evidence that this affects teens’ real-life behavior.

By Valerie Strauss  |  12:15 PM ET, 03/30/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  Research, Research | Tags:  brain research, guest bloggers, teenage brain