Effectiveness of training brain literacy in teachers

• Main Author: Goh, Serene Siang Lu
• Other Authors: Chen Shen-Hsing Annabel
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Psychology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/70382
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Inevitably, teachers meet diverse learners in class and hence, some might be against the idea of an inclusive education. Hence, brain literacy training could potentially provide teachers with differentiated instruction to meet the needs of diverse learners. However, there is a controversy surrounding the translation of neuroscience knowledge to educational practices as misinterpretations could ensue. Recent research then focused on testing the prevalence of such misinterpretations, but little was done to investigate the impacts of brain literacy training. Thus, the two sets of analyses presented investigated the effectiveness of brain literacy training and the impacts of case study discussions, beyond didactic instructions. The first set of analyses compared between teachers from the research group who attended a two-day brain literacy workshop and teachers who attended the five-week Professional Development Course. Both programmes surveyed teachers using a 51-item survey that investigated three domains of (1) knowledge of brain-behaviour relationships, (2) perceived skills to cope with diverse learners and (3) opinions on inclusive education. The study also examined if years of teaching experience, and experience with special education needs children had any impact on these domains. The second set of analyses investigated the impacts of the case study discussions on the aforementioned three domains. Results revealed that although teachers reported gains from training, it did not differ for teachers with different years of teaching experience and experience with SEN children. Additionally, case study discussions value added to teachers’ knowledge and skills most. Limitations, implications and future directions for this paper are discussed.