Understanding the Adolescent Brain. Presented by Garfield Gini-Newman OISE/University of Toronto

Transcription

1 Understanding the Adolescent Brain Presented by Garfield Gini-Newman OISE/University of Toronto

2 Wikipedia generation is lazy and unprepared for university s rigours, survey of faculty says Toronto Star, April 6, 2009 The evidence is strong that they [Net Geners] are the smartest generation ever. [They have] been given the opportunity to fulfill their inherent human intellectual potential as no other generation. Don Tapscott, Grown Up Digital, 2009

3 Some recommended reading

4 Does a child's belief about intelligence have anything to do with academic success? 100 seventh graders, all doing poorly in math, randomly assigned to workshops One workshop gave lessons on how to study well. The other taught about the nature of intelligence and the brain.

5 Students in the latter group "learned that the brain actually forms new connections every time you learn something new, and that over time, this makes you smarter. By the end of the semester, the group who had been taught that the brain can grow smarter, had significantly better math grades than the other group.

6 Nurturing a Growth Mindset Fixed Mindset See intelligence as fixed - something you are born with Success/failure is what is expected School is about demonstrating your worth Avoid challenges which may not immediately yield success Growth Mindset see setbacks as a challenge that motivate success is about stretching oneself intelligence comes from hard work School is an opportunity to expand intelligence

7 Marching to a Different Circadian Rhythm! Teens begin to secrete melatonin, chemical neurotransmitter which makes us feel drowsy, 1 to 3 hours later and it lingers on later in the morning Teens sleep needs far exceed adults they need at least 9 hours Teens are the most sleepdeprived segment of North American society

8 Implications of Sleep Deprivation for the Adolescent Learning Do less well in school Experience a greater feeling of sadness and hopelessness Greater mood swings (less able to control emotions) Less able to process emotions and are therefore prone to raw emotional outbursts Causes an elevated level of the stress hormone, cortisol Impairs ability to process glucose which contributes to obesity and type-2 diabetes both on the rise among North American teens

9 Five Pillars of Brain Development Blossoming and Pruning Use it or lose it The Window of Opportunity The Window of Sensitivity Myelination

10 Blossoming and Pruning brain develops and fits and starts during a growth spurt the number of connections in a particular area of the brain explodes creating more branches than will survive - this is called blossoming

11 Neurons that fire together, wire together! Learning is a matter of making connections.

12 The Process of Long Term Potentiation When information (stimuli) is received, a trail along a series of neurons is blazed making it easier for subsequent messages to fire along the same path. The more the path is re-fired the more permanent the message or new learning becomes. Each time an activity is repeated the bonds between neurons strengthen and expand, leading to an entire network developing which remembers the skill or information.

13 Considering how the brain learns......how and why is the behaviour of an adolescent similar to that of a 2 year old?

14 At both stages, the brain is responding to......a massive build up of connections and pruning away excess connections allowing for a more refined and efficient brain.

15 Pruning Following the explosion of dendrite growth in the brain, experience and the use-it-or-lose-it process take over experiences will cause some neurons to fire - those that do fire will strengthen branches that do not fire will weaken - this is called pruning

16 Brain Sculpting Imagine you have set out to capture the essence of who you are in a marble sculpture. Reflect back to what life was like at age 11 or 12. Walk yourself through the defining experiences of your adolescence. While doing so, imagine yourself chipping away the excess marble to allow for the emergence of your adult self.

17 Shaping the mature brain The brain sculpts itself through its experience with the world. Teenagers need to realize that the brain is the only organ in the body that is sculpted through experience. What they are doing with their brain now is going to determine what their brain is going to become as an adult.

18 Remember that......if teens are doing music and sports and academics, that s how brains will be hardwired. If they are doing video games and MTV and lying on the couch, that will be how they are hardwired. Jay Giedd

19 Myelination

20 The Myelination Process Understanding Myelination: A Myelin is a fatty, waxy substance that wraps itself around the axon A Myelin insulates the axon so that the electrical impulse travels more efficiently A The neurons you need to survive will myelinate first A Before a neuron is myelinated it is called immature A Myelination results in the creation of a more efficient brain

21 Four Basic Emotions Researchers generally agree there are four basic emotions and that all other emotions are created from combinations of these four. Fear Anger Sadness Joy

22 Emotions, the Amygdala and the Teenage Brain Any information received by the brain travels first to the amygdala The amygdala holds emotional memory - it tells you how you feel about things In the teenage brain, the amygdala is developing faster than the frontal lobes So, teenagers tend to be reactive not reflective

23 What happens when the brain gets hijacked by negative emotions? The body is readied for the fight or flight response. The body is primed with adrenaline preparing it for the fastest physical reaction. The hypothalamus activates the amygdala, which in turn produces anger, rage, or threatening behaviour.

24 Emotion drives attention and attention drives learning In her book Brain Matters, Pat Wolfe noted: The brain is biologically programmed to attend first to information that has a strong emotional content. It is also programmed to remember this information longer.

25 Reading Facial Expressions

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27 Critical thinking is... Concerned with judging or assessing what is reasonable or sensible in a situation, Focuses on quality of reasoning, Depends on the possession of relevant knowledge Occurs when we attempt to solve a problematic situation Takes effort but is more interesting than merely memorizing information

28 When is someone thinking critically? A person is thinking critically only if s/he is attempting to assess or judge the merits of possible options in light of relevant factors or criteria. Critical thinking is criterial thinking thinking in the face of criteria.

29 A Definition of Critical Thinking Critical thinking is the working through a problematic situation in order to decide what to believe or how to act. It requires that we make a reasoned judgment.

30 Encourage open discussion of issues Children as thoughtful learners Invite children to solve problems or offer thoughtful assessments Intellectual Tools Background Knowledge Criteria for Judgment Critical Thinking Vocabulary Thinking Strategies Habits of Mind

31 Is Canadian diversity the result of or inspite of government intentions? Create a Want Ad profiling the ideal immigrant sought by the Canadian government as reflected in the 1904 cartoon All Together Now.

32 Is Canadian diversity the result of or inspite of government intentions? Create a Want Ad profiling the ideal immigrant sought by the Canadian government as reflected in the 1904 cartoon All Together Now.

33 Can you help out Lou Costello? A. Uncover the conceptual error in Lou s mathematical thinking B. Design a learning activity that would help Lou in understanding this conceptual error by providing an alternative solution to the math problem being discussed.