A guide to the science behind the art of teaching. Not every teaching method touted as "brain-friendly" is supported by research findings—and misconceptions about the brain have the capacity to harm rather than help. In her new book, Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa untangles scientific fact from pedagogical fiction, debunking dozens of widely held beliefs about the brain that have made their way into the education literature. In ten central chapters on topics ranging from brain structure to classroom environments, the text traces the origins of common neuromyths—from categorizing individuals as "right-brained" or "left-brained" to prevailing beliefs about multitasking or the effects of video games—and corrects the record with the most current state of knowledge. Rather than offering pat strategies, Tokuhama-Espinosa challenges teachers curious about the brain to become learning scientists, and supplies the tools needed to evaluate research and put it to use in the classroom.

Establishing the parameters and goals of the new field of mind, brain, and education science. A groundbreaking work, Mind, Brain, and Education Science explains the new transdisciplinary academic field that has grown out of the intersection of neuroscience, education, and psychology. The trend in “brain-based teaching” has been growing for the past twenty years and has exploded in the past five to become the most authoritative pedagogy for best learning results. Aimed at teachers, teacher trainers and policy makers, and anyone interested in the future of education in America and beyond, Mind, Brain, and Education Science responds to the clamor for help in identifying what information could and should apply in classrooms with confidence, and what information is simply commercial hype. Combining an exhaustive review of the literature, as well as interviews with over twenty thought leaders in the field from six different countries, this book describes the birth and future of this new and groundbreaking discipline. Mind, Brain, and Education Science looks at the foundations, standards, and history of the field, outlining the ways that new information should be judged. Well-established information is elegantly separated from “neuromyths” to help teachers split the wheat from the chaff in classroom planning, instruction and teaching methodology.

During the 1960s, Margaret Mead's argument that gender identity is a product of learning in particular cultural contexts was incorporated into the sex/gender system in feminist theory. In this system, sex refers to physiological differences in the body and gender refers to learned sex-specific bodies to be viewed as separate and distinct from gender-neutral minds. In S/He Brain, Nadeau demonstrates that the sex/gender systemis not some arcane bit of academic jargon that has no impact on our daily lives. It is the greatest source of division and conflict in the politics of our sexual lives for a now obvious reason: the brains of men and women are not the same, and the differences have behavioral consequences. Further, he argues that an improved understanding of the relatinship between sex and gender could enlarge the bases for meaningful dialogue between men and women and lead to new standards for sexual equality that is more realistic and humane than the current standard. The individual most responsible for legitimating the modern distinction between sex and gender was the anthropologist Margaret Mead. According to the Mead doctrine, gender identity is almost entirely a product of learning in different cultural contexts, and sex, or biological reality, is not a determinant of this identity. The assumption that gender identity is learned in sexless, or gender-neutral, minds separate and distinct from sex-specific bodies legitimated the sex/gender system that has been foundational to feminist theory since the mid 1970s. In this system, sex refers to physiological differences in the domain of the body and gender to learned behavior in the domain of mind. Since this two-domain distinction obviated the connection between biological reality and gender identity, it allowed gender identity to be viewed as scripted or socially constructed by cultural narratives (stories, myths, legends, and the like) invented by men to control and oppress women. In ^IS/He Brain^R, Nadeau demonstrates that the sex/gender system is not in accord with biological reality for now obvious reasons—the brains of men and women are not the same, and the differences have behavioral consequences. Yet the intent of the book is to serve the cause of full sexual equality and not to escalate the gender war. Nadeau attempts to accomplish this by demonstrating that an improved understanding of the relationship between sex and gender can not only enlarge the bases for meaningful communication between men and women. It could also serve as the basis for a new and improved standard of sexual equality that eliminates the grossly unfair treatment of women sanctioned by the current standard.

How do we learn? And how can we learn better? In this groundbreaking look at the science of learning, Sanjay Sarma, head of Open Learning at MIT, shows how we can harness this knowledge to discover our true potential. Drawing from his own experience as an educator as well as the work of researchers and innovators at MIT and beyond, in Grasp, Sarma explores the history of modern education, tracing the way in which traditional classroom methods—lecture, homework, test, repeat—became the norm and showing why things needs to change. The book takes readers across multiple frontiers, from fundamental neuroscience to cognitive psychology and beyond, as it considers the future of learning. It introduces scientists who study forgetting, exposing it not as a simple failure of memory but as a critical weapon in our learning arsenal. It examines the role curiosity plays in promoting a state of “readiness to learn” in the brain (and its troublesome twin, “unreadiness to learn”). And it reveals how such ideas are being put into practice in the real world, such as at unorthodox new programs like Ad Astra, located on the SpaceX campus. Along the way, Grasp debunks long-held views such as the noxious idea of “learning styles,” equipping readers with practical tools for absorbing and retaining information across a lifetime of learning.

Barbie or Lego? Reading maps or reading emotions? Do you have a female brain or a male brain? Or is that the wrong question? On a daily basis we face deeply ingrained beliefs that our sex determines our skills and preferences, from toys and colours to career choice and salaries. But what does this mean for our thoughts, decisions and behaviour? Using the latest cutting-edge neuroscience, Gina Rippon unpacks the stereotypes that bombard us from our earliest moments and shows how these messages mould our ideas of ourselves and even shape our brains. Rigorous, timely and liberating, The Gendered Brainhas huge repercussions for women and men, for parents and children, and for how we identify ourselves. 'Highly accessible... Revolutionary to a glorious degree' Observer

This practical resource draws on the best of neuroscience to inform decision-making about digital learning. We live in unprecedented times that have pushed schools to make many decisions that have been postponed for years. For the first time since the inception of public education, teachers have been invited to redesign the learning landscape by integrating an intelligent selection of digital educational resources and changing pedagogical approaches based on information from the learning sciences. This handbook will help teachers make the most of this opportunity by showing them how to use digital tools to differentiate learning, employ alternative options to standardized testing, personalize learning, prioritize social-emotional skills, and inspire students to think more critically. The author identifies some gems in quality teaching that are amplified in online contexts, including 40 evidence-informed pedagogies from the learning sciences. This book will help all educators move online teaching and learning to new levels of confidence and success. Book Features: Provides quick references to key planning tools like decision-trees, graphics, app recommendations, and step-by-step directions to help teachers create their own online learning courses.Guides teachers through a 12-step model for instructional design that meets both national and international standards.Shows educators how to use an all-new Digital Resource Taxonomy to select resources, and how to research and keep them up to date.Explains why good instructional design and educational technology are complementary with best practices in learning sciences like Mind, Brain, and Education Science.Shares ways teachers can leverage technology to create more time for the personalized aspects of learning. Shows educators how to design online courses with tools that let all students begin at their own starting points and how to differentiate homework.Offers evidence-informed pedagogies to make online intimate and authentic for students.

From the author of Neuromyths, a revolutionary look at teaching and learning via the logical pathways of the brain. A review of the research on brain networks reveals, surprisingly, that there are just five basic pillars through which all learning takes place: Symbols, Patterns, Order, Categories, and Relationships. Dr. Tokuhama-Espinosa proposes that redesigning school curriculum around these five pillars—whether to augment or replace traditional subject categories—could enable students to develop the transdisciplinary problem-solving skills that are often touted as the ultimate goal of education. Heralding a potential paradigm shift in education, Five Pillars of the Mind explores how aligning instruction with the brain's natural design might just be the key to improving students' learning outcomes.