Pedagogy+-+What's+yours?

=****The Definition of The Brain & Learning****= Brain-based learning involves using approaches to schooling that rely on recent brain research to support and develop improved teaching strategies. Researchers theorize that the human brain is constantly searching for meaning and seeking patterns and connections. Authentic learning situations increase the brain's ability to make connections and retain new information.

Teaching strategies that enhance brain-based learning include manipulatives, active learning, field trips, guest speakers, and real-life projects that allow students to use many learning styles and multiple intelligences. An interdisciplinary curriculum or integrated learning also reinforces brain-based learning, because the brain can better make connections when material is presented in an integrated way, rather than as isolated bits of information.

A relaxed, nonthreatening environment that removes students' fear of failure is considered best for brain-based learning. Research also documents brain plasticity, which is the notion that the brain grows and adapts in response to external stimuli.

=**The Definition of Constructivism**= Constructivism is an approach to teaching based on research about how people learn. Many researchers say that each individual constructs knowledge rather than receiving it from others.

Although people disagree about how to achieve constructive learning, constructive teaching is based on the belief that students learn best when they gain knowledge through exploration and active learning. Hands-on materials are used instead of textbooks, and students are encouraged to think and explain their reasoning instead of memorizing and reciting facts. Education is centered on themes and concepts and the connections between them, rather than isolated information.

=**The Definition of Problem-Based Learning**= Problem-based learning (PBL) is focused, experiential learning (minds-on, hands-on) organized around the investigation and resolution of messy, real-world problems.… PBL curriculum provides authentic experiences that foster active learning, support knowledge construction, and naturally integrate school learning and real life;

Students are engaged problem solvers, identifying the root problem and the conditions needed for a good solution, pursuing meaning and understanding, and becoming self-directed learners. Teachers are problem-solving colleagues who model interest and enthusiasm for learning and are also cognitive coaches who nurture an environment that supports open inquiry. thanks to [|ASCD] for above definitions