John Medina is a developmental molecular biologist and the director of the Brain Center for Applied Learning Research at Seattle Pacific University.  In his book, John describes twelve “Brain Rules” and how they might be used to help schools and workplaces become better spaces for learning.  “Might” is the operative word here.  Dr. Medina stresses that the research on practical applications of brain research is far from conclusive.  Instead of providing unfounded “best practices,” he discusses ideas, supported by research, that are worth considering and studying.  Here is a preview of three of the twelve Brain Rules.

 

Brain Rule #1: Exercise – Exercise boosts brain power.  Humans are a species on the move. Only recently did it become the norm to sit for hours on end.  Physical activity is critical during the school day for brain performance.  Medina states, “Cutting off physical exercise -the very activity most likely to promote cognitive performance- to do better on a test score is like trying to gain weight by starving yourself (p. 25).”

 

Brain Rule #4: Attention – People don’t pay attention to boring things. The brain can not multitask. Emotional arousal and interest focuses attention. The brain is best at processing meaning – the big idea- over detail.  Teacher directed instruction (ie: lectures) should be limited to 10 minutes and focus on one important concept.  It should begin with an emotional hook, followed by the core concept.  The remaining minutes should provide the supporting details.  If you must talk for longer, organize your core concepts into 10 minute chunks and use a hook between 10 minute chunks to regain your audience’s attention.

 

Brain Rule # 7: Sleep – Sleep well, think well. While we sleep, our brain is not at rest. We know that sleep is important for learning, even if we don’t know why.  This leads to my favorite “idea.” Medina explains that we should promote napping!

 

The remaining Brain Rules – survival, wiring, short-term memory, long-term memory, stress, sensory integration, vision, gender, and exploration – are equally important and introduce interesting ideas for thinking about the way we educate children.

 

Medina starts and ends the book in a similar fashion.  At the end of the introduction, he writes, “If you wanted to create an education environment that was directly opposed to what the brain was good at doing, you probably would design something like a classroom (p. 5).”  Near the end of the final chapter, he writes:

 

If you could step back in time to one of the first real Western-style universities, say, the University of Bologna, and visit its biology labs, you would laugh out loud.  I would join you. By today’s standards, biological science in the 11th century was a joke…

 

But if you went down the hall and peered inside Bologna’s standard lecture room, you wouldn’t feel as if you were in a museum. You would feel at home. There is a lectern for the teacher to hold forth, surrounded by chairs where students absorb whatever is being held forth (p 278).

 

After a story about his son exploring a 20 foot section of sidewalk, Medina closes with his greatest Brain Rule, “…I wish classrooms and businesses were designed with the brain in mind. If we started over, curiosity would be the most vital part of both demolition crew and reconstruction crew (p. 279).” 

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Brain Rules is an enjoyable and important book. It comes with a DVD of supporting multimedia.  The website, www.brainrules.net also provides additional resources.