Brain-Based Learning: Definition, History, and Principles Brain-based learning uses neuroscience to create an informed curriculum and lesson design. The goal? Speedy and efficient learning. The research that informs this method centers around the brain’s ability to change, remap, and reorganize itself while someone is learning new information, according to Education Reform. This ability is influenced by things like exercise, diet, and stress level. A person’s emotional state also impacts their learning ability. When information is presented in effective ways, the brain is able to function better, its resilience is increased, and its overall working intelligence is improved. Research has also shown that the brain physically changes while learning. Thus, the more new skills are practiced, the easier learning becomes. Using this research as a springboard, teachers implement brain-based learning principles in the classroom. They specifically focus on reducing stress, effectively delivering material, increasing students’ movement, and building in opportunities to practice. While the principles remain the same no matter the age of a student, people do begin to learn differently as they mature. So, the delivery methods of these principles adapt accordingly. History of Brain-Based Learning Neurological research gained momentum in the 1990s. Up until this point little was known about neural pathways, and the left and right brain theory, introduced in the 1960s, was decades old. From the 1990s up to the present day, scientists have discovered more about the brain than in all other centuries combined, according to the Global Digital Citizen Foundation. In 1994, Geoffrey Caine and Renate Nummela Caine’s research concluded that students had increased retention and understanding of topics when in a brain-based teaching environment. Since then, brain-based learning has become a more common practice in schools. Principles The core principles of brain-based learning follow. Each principle lays out a formula for better retention and learning among students. Health and Exercise The more active and engaged students are physically, the better their learning outcomes. This requires more than a midday recess or a walk between classes. Allowing students to take walking breaks during lessons and throughout the day, for example, revitalizes students, increases their attention span, and better prepares them to retain information. Positive Emotions The happier students are, the more they are willing to learn and think effectively. Affirmations from the teacher are one way to raise student self-esteem. In the past two decades, neuroscience research has proven the traditional classroom isn’t as stimulating for student learning as it could be. Enter brain-based learning, an innovative approach to education based on scientific research. It involves a teaching method that limits lectures and encourages exercise breaks, team learning, and peer teaching.

2. DEFINITION
 Brain-based learning is a comprehensive approach to instruction
based on how current research in neuroscience suggests our brain
learns naturally.
 This theory is based on what we currently know about the actual
structure and function of the human brain at varying stages of
development.
 Brain-based education is the "engagement of strategies based on
principles derived from an understanding of the brain."

3. Geoffrey Caine and Renate Nummela Caine
Caine and Caine (1997)
Consider curriculum and instruction from a brain-based approach.
They begin with "brain-mind learning principles" derived from brain
research findings and apply these principles in the classroom.

4. 12 Principles of Brain Based Learning
Learning involves the
physiology of the body
The brain/mind is social
The search for meaning is innate
The search for meaning occurs
through patterning
Emotions are critical to pattering
The brain/mind processes parts
and wholes simultaneously
Learning involves both focused
attention and peripheral perception
Learning is both conscious and unconscious
There are at least two approaches to
memory. A spatial memory system and a
system for rote learning
Learning is developmental
Complex learning is enhanced by challenge
and inhibited by threat
Each brain is uniquely organized

5. Implications for best teaching practices and optimal learning
- There are interactive teaching elements that emerge from these principles
Orchestrated immersion
Learning environments are created that immerse students
in a learning experience.

6. Implications for best teaching practices and optimal learning
- There are interactive teaching elements that emerge from these principles
Relaxed alertness
An effort is made to eliminate fear while maintaining a
highly challenging environment.

7. Implications for best teaching practices and optimal learning
- There are interactive teaching elements that emerge from these principles
Active processing
The learner consolidates and internalizes information by
actively processing it.