History
For 2,000 years there have been primitive models of how the brain works. Up until the mid 1900’s the brain was compared to a city’s switchboard. Brain theory in the 1970’s spoke of the right and left-brain. Later the concept of the triune brain ( a term coined by Paul McClean that refers to the evolution of the human three part brain) was introduced. In this theory McClean hypothesized that survival learning is in the lower brain, emotions were in the mid-brain, and higher order thinking took place in the upper brain. Currently, we embrace a whole systems, complex brain model. During the last two decades neuroscientists have be doing research that has implications for improved teaching practices. Neuroscience is based on information obtained through autopsies,experiments, and different types of scans -- MRIs, EEGs, PET and CAT scans, as well as the most recent brain research lab studies in neuroscience. Neuroscientists construct clinical studies that use double blind, large, diverse, multi-age, multicultural groups of people to gather reliable information. This information has helped determine how human learning actually occurs. In essence these scientists have been peering into the “black box” in order to determine how the brain processes and retains information. Thus, technology in medicine has paved the way for many new learning innovations.
Specifically based on conclusions from research in neuroscience, professors from major universities have taken this information and incorporated it into books about learning. In accordance with these suggestions classroom practices can be modified by teachers applying new theories of teaching and learning based on recent findings. Some noted authors in this area are Marian Diamond, U. C., Berkeley; Howard Gardner, Harvard University; Renate and Geoffrey Caine; Thomas Armstrong; Candace Pert, Eric Jensen; etc.