Lauren Vega O’Neil and Eric Pakulak, researchers at the University of Oregon’s Brain Development Lab, discuss ways to foster successful neuroscientist-educator collaboration.

Meeri Kim: Your lab has been conducting collaborative projects with educators. Can you tell me about your latest project?
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Lauren Vega O’Neil: In a previous study, we developed an 8-week, family-based training program called Parents and Children Making Connections – Highlighting Attention (PCMC-A), which focused on improving the selective attention skills of preschool children from lower socioeconomic status backgrounds.

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New research sheds light on the effects that childhood experiences—both good and bad—have on the developing brain. But are schools keeping up?

​“The 20th-century education system was never designed with the knowledge of the developing brain,” says Pamela Cantor, MD, who is part of a cross-disciplinary team of experts studying the science of learning and development. “So when we think about the fact that learning is a brain function and we have an education system that didn’t have access to this critical knowledge, the question becomes: Do we have the will to create an education system that’s informed by it?”

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"Neuroscience should be required for all students [of education] . . . to familiarize them with the orienting concepts [of] the field, the culture of scientific inquiry, and the special demands of what qualifies as scientifically based education research." - Eisenhart & DeHaan, 2005
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Do you recall some of your college professors who knew their subject matter but had zero teaching skills? Staying awake in their one-way-directed lecture classes required Herculean strength (or lots of coffee). They were never trained to develop the skillset of engagement strategies.

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Can the findings of neuroscience help learning and development professionals design more effective learning experiences? 2.5 years ago, I couldn’t have answered that question for you. But after quitting my job as a Canadian director of learning, in pursuit of certificates in neuroscience from Harvard and Duke, the louder question became, how can’t this help!?
Probably the best way to look at how neuroscience can help us to rethink and redesign our training, is by debunking some myths and looking at some fundamental truths. Now, we won’t cover everything (let’s face it, the brain is as vast and expansive as the universe) but I do hope to shed a little light and share a couple of tips to get you started. So, let’s dive in.

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​Lately there’s been a push to acquaint educators with “the science of learning.” But only some aspects of that science actually help teachers do their jobs. Others just waste their time.
You might think that before aspiring teachers take up their posts, they’re taught what scientists have discovered about how children learn. In fact, many teachers are unaware of that research, and--for complex reasons—some are actually hostile to scientific recommendations.

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