Sunday, November 15, 2009

What is "The Art of Changing the Brain?"

Professor James E. Zull a Professor of Biology and Director of the University Center for Innovation in Teaching and Education at Case Western Reserve University has given me some incisive comments on the Art of Changing the Brain
at http://www.newhorizons.org/neuro/zull.htm on What is The Art of Changing the Brain?"
We have learned that when successul teachers produce change in students it is essentially an art. He tells us about the art of challenging the whole brain and lets us know the four basic functions of the brain from which he proposes four pillars of human learning that is gathering, analyzing, creating, and acting. And as a Professor of Biology shows how information enters the brain through existing networks of neurons. Professor Zull suggests different kinds of "Arts". What I find interesting is when he spoke on "The art is the skill of finding the parts of existing networks that are "right" and helping the student attach new things to them which generate more complete understanding. This approach suggests that much of what we consider "wrong" is just incomplete. We can add to it if we have the "Art". I like the idea of attaching new things to existing networks but considering things that are wrong as just being incomplete might be going a bit too far. However, I do believe that Practice and meaning are the most important parts of art but it is utimately the student who is in control.

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