Doyle - New Science of Learning: How to Learn in Harmony with Your Brain

THE NEW SCIENCE OF LEARNING

Terry Doyle and Todd Zakrajsek

How to Learn in Harmony With Your Brain

Foreword by Jeannie H. Loeb

COPYRIGHT 2013 BY STYLUS PUBLISHING, LLC.

Published by Stylus Publishing, LLC.
22883 Quicksilver Drive
Sterling, Virginia 20166-2102

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, recording, and information storage and retrieval, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The CIP data for this book has been applied for.

13-digit ISBN: 978-1-62036-008-8 (cloth)
13-digit ISBN: 978-1-62036-009-5 (paper)
13-digit ISBN: 978-1-62036-010-1 (library networkable e-edition)
13-digit ISBN: 978-1-62036-011-8 (consumer e-edition)

Printed in the United States of America.

All first editions printed on acid-free paper that meets the American National Standards Institute Z39-48 Standard.

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First Edition, 2013

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For my parents, Bill and Winnie, my favorite teachers.

Terry Doyle

For my students, who were also some of my best teachers.

Todd Zakrajsek

Jeannie H. Loeb

I want to begin by thanking my amazing wife, Professor Julie Doyle, for the hundreds of hours of discussion she had with me about students learning and what could be done to enhance or improve it. I also want to thank my son, Brendan, who was a sounding board for many of the ideas expressed in this book. I need to thank Michael Graham Richard for allowing us to use his work in our chapter on mindset and the people at Posit Science for allowing us to use one of their pictures to help illustrate the memory-forming process in the brain. I also want to thank Dr. Jeannie Loeb for her contributions to the science of this book and for her willingness to write the foreword. In addition, I need to thank John von Knorring at Stylus for his editing and many ideas about how to make this book better. Finally, I want to thank my students at Ferris State University who read draft chapters and offered great feedback on how to tailor the book to meet the needs of college students.

Terry Doyle

I must give almost total credit for everything I write to my wife, Debra; my three children, Emma, Mary, and Kathryn; and my grandson, Matthew. They have listened to endless stories, shared their learning experiences, and been the inspiration for essentially all I know about how people learn. I dont have the words to adequately thank my colleague and good friend Jeannie Loeb for both writing the foreword for this book and allowing me to talk through so many issues and ideas when I needed a sounding board. I would like to also acknowledge John von Knorring for making this project what it is and for his keen eye in editing the many exceptional books published by Stylus, which have shaped much of what we all know about student learning and faculty development. I would like to thank my students for their eagerness to learn, my faculty friends for their willingness to share, and my colleagues for providing a safe place to play. Finally, thanks to all of you who are expanding your minds by pursuing higher education. It is a wicked challenge at times, but necessary if we are going to find our way.

Todd Zakrajsek

This book is a must-read for students who want time both to have a life and to improve the way they learn. Too frequently, students are left on their own to navigate through a variety of study and learning strategies, which are often not based on brain research. As coauthor Todd Zakrajsek, or Dr. Z, as he is known to his students, often says, Higher education is odd in that we dont typically teach teachers how to teach, students how to learn, or administrators how to lead. As a result, more than a few students end up with methods that are ineffective or even an impediment to learning.

Neuroscientists know so much about how the brain learns best. Unfortunately, they do not usually present their discoveries to those involved with teaching, and neither instructors nor students have the time to sift through the voluminous amount of scientific research currently available. Fortunately, Terry Doyle and Todd Zakrajsek have done the sifting for you, as Terry says, in an effort to help students stop swimming upstream in their learning. The New Science of Learning: How to Learn in Harmony With Your Brain highlights and summarizes some of the most recent and impactful insights regarding learning and memory. In particular, it helps students to better understand the learner-centered approach to teaching and learning, a movement that is slowly becoming the norm in higher education. It not only is packed with practical applications of current brain research but also describes why applying these skills and strategies works in light of the brains design. You dont want to miss being a part of this revolutionary approach to learning!

It is particularly fitting that our latest understanding of how the brain learns is shared with you by Terry and Todd, as each have been intimately involved with higher education for decades. In his 41 years as an educator, Terry has received awards for his outstanding teaching at Ferris State Universitywhere he is currently professor of readingthree times; he has published two other books on teaching and students learning, one of which was recognized in The Chronicle of Higher Educations Selected New Books on Higher Education; he has been senior and chief instructor for faculty development for 12 of the 16 years he has been helping faculty members to become more effective instructors; and he has given numerous presentations and workshops on teaching and learning strategies that are consistent with scientific research. In fact, it was after one of these presentations that Terry approached Todd about writing this book.

Todd, in turn, is a heavyweight in the arena of teaching and learning, particularly faculty development. He has written numerous publications and is the founding, inaugural, and executive director of faculty development centers at several institutions, including the University of North CarolinaChapel Hill, where he is currently associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine, associate director of Fellowship Programs, and teaching consultant in the Academy of Educators. He too has given countless presentations and workshops on teaching and learning (usually as a plenary or keynote speaker) and is likely one of the few who can claim to have given workshops in 42 states, as well as at a growing number of international venues.

I have had the great fortune of attending some of Terrys and Todds presentations at university and college teaching conferences, and I can tell you that they not only have much teaching wisdom to share but are also quite humorous and charismatic presenters. For those of you who may not have the opportunity to see them present in person, The New Science of Learning: How to Learn in Harmony With Your Brain is a great way of gleaning some of their most recent and critical tips on becoming a more efficient and effective learner. Following their advice, in turn, will allow one to have more time to have a life.