Brain-Based Learning: The Neurological Findings About the Human Brain that Every Teacher Should Know to be Effective

The purpose of this paper is to present the main neurological findings about the human brain that provide the basis for brain-based learning, and that represent a narrow field of cognitive science as a whole. The findings that are described were made primarily by neuroscientists who studied the structure and functions of the nervous system with the purpose of correcting abnormalities. Only recently have neuroscientists begun studying the brain-based learning processes of normal students in detail (Fenker, et al., 2008; Jonides, et al., 2008; Kellman, & Massey, 2010; and Swanbrow, 2011). The neurological findings about the human brain were used by researchers such as Hart (1975, 1983), Caine & Caine (1990, 1991), Cain et al. (2009), Jensen (2008), and Medina (2008) to develop brain-based learning strategies that promote learning in accordance with the way the brain is naturally designed to learn.