Benefiting at work from Brain Based Insights

 

A few days ago, I received a delightful email and request from Lennard van Vloten - a gifted young leader, currently studying International Business in Rotterdam.

With a design for improved benefits for college students, Lennard hopes to create and present a plan for new learning approaches -- beyond mere lectures. He has filmed lectures in mind, that will help to improve student motivation and performance. There is an increasing body of research to support both Lennard’s claim about the learning limitations lectures bring – and his suggested solution for additional learning approaches were favorably received by Rotterdam leaders.

Interestingly, a PhD student and medical professional in Ireland designed similar changes using MITA approaches and these will be published in the UK in August's hard copy edition of ScienceDirect, and sooner in their Online counterpart. The PhD study asking similar questions to Lennard’s, tested MITA as an alternative to lectures – and rigorous statistical tests found a 5% achievement increase across the board when MITA smart skills are used in place of traditional lectures.

For instance we now know that lectures tend to work against the human brain as seen in lectures work against the human brain.  That’s likely why Lennard and other university learners he surveyed tell us they retain far too little.  Three parts of the human brain need regular workouts if one is to learn or create.  Without question, Lennard has research about the human brain to back his retention concerns.

If not Lennard and his peers, who then do lectures benefit? I mean ... benefit enough to hold their attention,  in spite of the fact students retain less than 5% of what they hear in lectures?

Sadly – the lecturer is the only real beneficiary – since teachers retains about 90% of what they teach in a lecture. Compare that high retention rate, for example,  to their students’  learning rates and you have an 85% margin of wasted potential for every learner who hears lectures alone.

Unlike the brain dead committee Lennard hopes to design filmed lectures as a thoughtful way to engage more  brainpower of participants. I use the word participants deliberately – since Lennard’s films will encourage more participation. Armed with knowledge that it is far better to teach a dog than listen to a lecture, Lennard plans to offer an alternative, or audio visuals - such as films, which engage more of the learner’s brain in the process of retaining new information. 

I would be happy to support the exciting project in any way that I can. In June I am in Ireland certifying faculty to use similar MITA learning and assessment approaches -- that draw from more brainpower.

Thanks Lennard, for  your courage and your own keen intelligence to create a design that will create new neuron pathways for effective learning. Thanks Rotterdam for your willingness to promote learner leadership – because you have already fostered the brain based method, in so doing.

I will follow the effects and will post its results here at www.brainbasedbusiness.com so  you can see even more leadership and learning in action.   

MITA methods would add a few components to the curriculum design Lennnard has in mind:

1. Question to ensure that the content is hooked to students’ brains and to real life. For example each lecture would begin or end with a two-footed question to inspire and motivate learners to use lecture insights.

2. Target improvements in the main lecture topic in a way students can see a place where they might create or solve problems.

3. Expect quality by showing learning clear details for which they will be responsible to apply and for describing the expected outcomes in a brief, clearly stated rubric.

4. Move multiple intelligence resources … such as spatial or visual knowing … into action as learning tools so that students can use a few of their multiple intelligences to understand and apply the main lecture ideas.

7. Reflect on … where to from here … for the core ideas presented in the lecture – so that learners are motivated to apply and use the best ideas in real life or problem solving situations they face.

MITA’s brain based approach may add to Rotterdam and Lennard’s wonderful project design for quality learning with higher results, and then – just as in the Ireland PhD project, Lennard’s project will bring what it seems that Rotterdam is looking for in the first place – Learning, Leadership and Innovation at the peaks!

That invitation for Lennard’s presentation alone -- makes this campus a distinctive … and one students will flock to for the tactics they learn and the takeaways they acquire. All the best Lennard and Rotterdam community! You inspire us all!