Reflection

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My part of this presentation covered the state of educational neuroscience research and neuromyths, which required additional reading and analysis of research beyond what was learned in the course. In the course, we learned from Hon Wah Lee and Chi-Hun Juan that the majority of best teaching and learning practices based on educational neuroscience are either oversimplifications or misappropriations of research or flat-out myths that have been perpetuated by popular science publications and media.

 

There is an intriguing and ongoing debate between scholars on the value of the educational neuroscience field as it exists to provide educators and learners with proven applications, and experts such as Jeff Bowers recommend that educators consider vast amount of existing scholarship in other fields such as psychology and cognitive science to help guide teaching and learning. Issues that plague the field will be resolved if and when advancements in technology allow neuroscience research to be applied in non-laboratory settings such as authentic learning or classroom settings, and when more is understood about the brain through imaging, as there are also issues with validity of fMRI findings and interpretations in relation to learning.

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I enjoyed this project, as the group split the presentation into areas of our own interest and brought each piece together in a consistent way to create a cohesive final product. Group projects always take a lot of coordination, and this project was no different. Two of us were in Ontario, Canada and two of us were in China, so we were collaborating in time zones exactly 12 hours apart. To make sure everyone was on the same page, we scheduled fairly frequent Zoom meetings, used Slack to chat and share files and information, and coordinated our use of Genial.ly, which allows multiple people to collaborate on projects but limits access to projects to one user at a time. Genial.ly became a standout tool in MET, as each time I used to it as a presentation or learning experience tool, coursemates would rave about how awesome it was. If you're unfamiliar with it, check it out! There is a lot of diversity in the tool's templates and applications, including digital escape rooms.