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Terrific message for everyone about the possibilities that are present with practice

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How to practice effectively...for just about anything - Annie Bosler and Don Greene

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What is Neuroplasticity and Why is it Important?

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What is Neuroplasticity and Why is it Important?

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Great overview for students

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The human brain is one of the most incredible and intricate parts of the human body. In fact, it's capable of creating more ideas than there are atoms of the universe.

Did you know that the brain changes constantly through a process called neuroplasticity?

But, what is neuroplasticity?

Through neuroplasticity, the brain is consistently rewiring itself and modifying its connections. It can reorganize itself both in structure and how it functions.

Without neuroplasticity, we wouldn't be able to do many of the things that make us human. This includes learning, developing, and forming memories.

So if the brain is malleable, can we rewire it?

Can we "rewrite" patterns in our brain to improve well-being?

Here's everything you need to know about how neuroplasticity works. Plus, we'll show you how you can improve your brain's plasticity.

What is neuroplasticity?

Let's start with a plasticity definition.

Neuroplasticity is also known as neural plasticity or brain plasticity. It's the brain's ability to reorganize and restructure itself on a cellular level.

This reorganization allows our brains to adapt to changes. These changes could come from:

New experiences

Environmental changes

Brain damage

Environmental pressure

Physiological changes

New experiences

How does neuroplasticity work?

The human brain consists of vast networks of neurons. These are the single individual working units of its structure.

Even the simplest of tasks require millions of interconnected neurons. These neurons function as connectivity networks to accomplish the action at hand.

The neural network is a unique and specific pattern of neural connections. They fire in equally specific sequences to allow you to accomplish different tasks.

From raising your hand to playing "Chopsticks" on the piano, they are always working. The ability of the brain to adapt is based on the alteration of existing neural networks. And the generation of new ones.

Psychologists have found that there are two primary types of neuroplasticity:

Functional neuroplasticity.This refers to the permanent structural changes in neural synapses. It's brought on by development and learning.

Structural neuroplasticity.This refers to the strength of the connections between neurons and changes to this strength.

Synapses between neurons alter through a process called synaptic pruning. This occurs mostly between early childhood and your mid-20s.

In this phase of nervous system development, synapses are removed.

5 benefits of brain plasticity

Neuroplasticity is beneficial to our cognition in every way.

It shapes our views of the world and how the brain works. It also impacts our:

Memories

Learning abilities

Subconscious beliefs

These are the five significant benefits of improving your brain plasticity.

1. Helps you learn new things

Every time you learn a new skill, you have your neurons to thank for it.

Activity-dependent neural plasticity is a form of functional and structural plasticity. It comes about due to the use of cognitive function and our personal experiences.

Essentially, it's the biological mechanism for learning and creating new memories.

2. Helps with depression

Neuroplasticity deficits are a possible contributor to conditions like anxietyand depression.

Studies show that the brains of people with depression indicate problems with plasticity. Plus, many antidepressants are believed to work because they promote neuroplasticity.

Experts suggest that certain lifestyle changes could cause neuroplasticity enhancement. In turn, this could potentially improve the symptoms of depression. These changes include:

3. Helps you engage in activities more thoughtfully

Mental exercises help create new connections between neurons and generate new brain cells. This develops plasticity.

It builds a functional reserve to guard against future brain cell loss. It also enables you to engage in activities more thoughtfully and consciously.

All mentally stimulating activities can help boost your brainpower and improve focus. This includes everything from Sudoku puzzles and reading to mindful breathing and math problems.

You can engage in activities that require manual dexterity. This includes activities like:

4. Aids recovery from strokes and other traumatic brain injuries

After suffering a traumatic brain injury, neuroplasticity can help you regain brain function.

A neuroscience study found that task-specific activities promoted stroke patients' recovery. It encouraged increased neurogenesis and neural plasticity.

5. Increases brain volume and memory

Improving your neuronal plasticity also boosts neurogenesis. This is the formation of new cells in your brain. This can boost your brain's volume considerably.

A high rate of neural plasticity strengthens the connections between these new neurons. This can further enhance your memory and learning abilities.

Key characteristics of brain plasticity

It was once thought that as we age, our brains' neural networks become fixed and rigid. But recent research shows that our brains never stop adjusting and changing.

Younger people are generally more sensitive to changes in their plasticity. But even seniors can learn new things and boost the plasticity of their brains as well.

If you play an instrument often, you're likely to become better at playing that instrument. This is due to your constant use of those neural networks.

Likewise, if you were to stop playing your instrument for a while, and you take it up again in a few months, you might find your playing rusty.

Although neuroplasticity is a promising scientific field, it does have its limitations. Brain plasticity cannot fix everything. Unfortunately, it cannot fix brain damage in severe cases.

For example, most of the evidence of neuroplasticity is around the cerebral cortex. When this area is damaged, other areas of the brain can often compensate for the loss.

However, the cortex cannot replicate the functions of more complex brain regions like the hippocampus.

Neuroplasticity is an ongoing process. It's hindered or promoted by factors like:

Practices such as neuroplasticity training can promote ongoing brain plasticity. They increase your brain's formation of strong synapses between neurons.

Neuroplasticity and psychology

People who undergo therapy need to learn vital new coping skills to handle life's challenges. As they do, they build new neural connections that promote lasting emotional regulation and resilience.

As you learn new habits, your synapses will replace the neural pathways that prompted unhealthy behaviors.

Once these synapses are removed, your counseling will rewire your brain. New coping mechanisms that you need to practice to turn into a habit will emerge.

Conditions such as depression and chronic stress have been associated with suppressed neurogenesis. Psychiatry experts believe that promoting this process could reduce their symptoms. It could even prevent the conditions in some cases.

Certain psychiatric medications can also improve neuroplasticity.

The reasons behind the efficacy of antidepressants were long thought to be a mystery. But today, neuroscientists know that they are at least in part based on brain plasticity.

SSRI and SNRI antidepressants often boost neuroplasticity. They may even reverse some of the negative effects inflicted on the brain during a depressive episode.

Often, boosting neuroplasticity can form part of a mental health treatment regime. Brains in the first stages of dementia use neuroplasticity to compensate for rapid cognitive declines.

Does neuroplasticity change with age?

As kids, our brains are more capable of change. Children are constantly learning and experiencing new things. This creates extraordinary changes in their brain's structure.

At birth, a baby's brain has 100 billion neurons. As the neurons mature, more synapses are made. When we're born, there are 2,500 synapses per neuron. But by age two or three, it's about 15,000 per neuron.

That's more than double the number of synapses of the average adult brain.

This explosion of synapse formation is called synaptogenesis. It plays a crucial part in early brain development.

Neuroplasticity continues to happen throughout our lifetime. But different types of plasticity are more prevalent during certain periods.

There are four main types of neuroplasticity observed in children:

Adaptive plasticity.This happens when children practice a skill or learn new information. It enhances skill development and recovery from brain injury.

Impaired plasticity.This type of neuroplasticity happens due to an acquired or genetic disorder. It's associated with cognitive impairment.

Excessive plasticity.Also known as maladaptive plasticity, this process involves the reorganization of maladaptive pathways. This can cause disorders or disabilities. The best example of maladaptive plasticity isfocal dystonia. It is a rare neurological disorder that involves involuntary spasms in small muscles in the body.

Injury vulnerability plasticity.This type of neuroplasticity involves the formation of harmful pathways in the brain. This makes the brain more vulnerable to injury.

As we age, the brain starts to remove synapses that it no longer needs. Old connections are deleted through synaptic pruning. This happens when we are about 2 to 3 years old, after the number of synapses reaches a peak level.

Our brain's plasticity is at its highest during the first 20 years of life. What's more, we are constantly losing neurons as we age.

But the adult brain can still create new neuronal connections. Neuroplasticity is not only prevalent in children.

With the right lifestyle, adults can increase their brain's plasticity.

How to rewire your brain with neuroplasticity training

Neuroplasticity training includes lifestyle choices that promote the regeneration of nerve cells. With regular practice, it helps to improve:

Let's look at five ways you can promote neuroplasticity.

1. Utilize brain games

Brain training exercises create targeted mental stimulation and activation. This reorganizes the connections between neurons and improves brain plasticity.

A study found that younger adults who enjoyed brain training games had better executive function. They also had improved memory, self-control, and brain-processing speed than their peers.

Nowadays, you can easily use apps like CogniFit and BrainHQ for mental stimulation.

2. Rest when you need to

A good night's rest helps to create lasting memories. It also generates synapses to store skills and information that you learned in the day.

3. Exercise regularly

Research shows that daily exercise is essential for focus, concentration, and mood. It's recommended that you get in 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each week.

Exercise boosts the density and size of cortical neurons. This can benefit:

Attention

Perception

Memory

There's even some evidence that it can delay Alzheimer's disease.

Physical activity also helps to decrease inflammation and improve your quality of sleep. Both of which are factors that can impact your cognitive function.

4. Adopt a healthy diet

Nutrition plays a role in so many areas of our lives, and it's important for brain health too. You can promote neuroplasticity by eating a healthful, anti-inflammatory diet. This should include plenty of essential antioxidants and brain-fuelling omega-3 fats.

Improving the health of your gut microbiome can also promote neuroplasticity.

Eat unprocessed foods with prebiotic fibers to feed the good bacteria in your gut. Consider adding fermented foods such as kimchi to your daily menu.

5. Connect with others

Positive social experiences prime our neural connections to make meaningful connections with others.

The more we make an effort to connect with and care for others, the stronger these impulses will become. And the more naturally we'll find ourselves gravitating toward our peers.

History and research of neuroplasticity

Let's take a look at both early and modern theories surrounding the concept of neuroplasticity.

Early theories

The idea that the brain is not fixed was first proposed by William James in 1890. Later in the early 1900s, the father of neuroscience, Santiago Ramón y Cajal, used the term 'neuronal plasticity.' This referred to non-pathological changes in the structure of adult human brains.

In 1923, Karl Lashley performed experiments on rhesus monkeys. He noted changes in their neural pathways, which he believed was evidence of plasticity.

Then in 1945, Justo Gonzalo theorized that the central cortical mass was a 'maneuvering mass.' It could reorganize its functions with its neuroplastic properties.

Modern theories

One of the key founders of the modern field of neuroplasticity was Dr. Michael Merzenich. In the early 1970s, Merzenich conducted experiments to prove that the brain was fixed. He tried to prove that the brain was not capable of structural or functional change.

Interestingly, he proved his own theories incorrect. He discovered that the brain and its neurons are plastic. Lost skills stored in damaged tissue could be relearned in other parts of the brain.

Merzenich also found that the human brain has a 'cortical map' of the physical parts of the body. If one map was deprived of its information inputs, it could become active again in the future if other maps close to it were stimulated.

Merzenich suggested that neuroplasticity could happen beyond developmental periods and into adulthood.

In a study with Clinton Woosley, Merzenich tried to observe what happened in the brain when one peripheral nerve was severed and then regenerated. The pair micro-mapped the hand maps of monkeys' brains before and after severing the nerves and reattaching them.

They found that the brain maps could normalize their structure, even in response to abnormal inputs. This proved that the brain had to be plastic in order to reach this degree in compensation.

Merzenich was awarded the 2016 Kavli Prize in Neuroscience for his work in discovering adult brain plasticity.

Healing the brain with neuroplasticity after trauma

People with varying degrees of brain trauma can recover full functionality thanks to neuroplasticity. Based on research published in Translational Research in Traumatic Brain Injury, the brain goes through three main phases of neuroplasticity after experiencing trauma:

Phase 1

Directly after the injury, neurons start to die. Cortical inhibitory pathways are decreased. This initial phase lasts 24-48 hours.

It may stimulate secondary pathways that had rarely been used before the trauma.

Phase 2

The second phase takes place a few days after the trauma. The activity of these cortical pathways changes from inhibitory to excitatory.

New synapses are created. Neurons and other brain cells replace the damaged cells to facilitate healing.

Phase 3

The final phase takes place after a few weeks. The new synapses continue to be generated to remodel the brain.

During this phase, therapy and rehabilitation can help the brain learn new neural pathways. This allows for the brain to reduce the effects of the trauma.

There are several medical treatments in development that encourage neuroplasticity after brain injury. There are also therapies involving stem cellsand gene expression being studied for their potential to treat trauma.

Neuroplasticity rehabilitation for stroke recovery

A stroke causes damage by cutting off the flow of blood to certain parts of the brain. This deprives the brain of oxygen and essential nutrients.

Depending on the severity of the stroke, volumes of brain cells may die. Brain volume may be reduced, and dysfunction may occur as a result. The recovery process after a stroke relies on the brain's ability to heal itself.

The brain works around the dead brain cells. It attempts to build other neural pathways to compensate for lost function.

Physical, occupational, and speech therapies are all designed to promote neuroplasticity. They encourage the brain to overcome any mental and physical deficits.

It's important to begin the rehabilitation process as soon as possible after a stroke. This will make use of the brain's natural increase in neural plasticity after the trauma.

Stroke victims can promote recovery by participating in therapies that:

Focus on massed practice. This is the consistent repetition of a movement or skill that promotes fast learning.

Include physical exercises and therapies to improve patient mobility and strength.

Reteach them the skills they will need to go about their daily lives. This includes standing up, basic personal hygiene, simple cooking, andcommunication skills.

Include speech therapies. This will enable patients to practice their language skills while stimulating their brains.

How can neuroplasticity help with anxiety and depression?

Depression and anxiety have both been linked to a decrease in neural plasticity in the brain.

Modern therapies are aimed at encouraging neuroplasticity. This is so that patients can learn valuable coping skills for life's many challenges.

Neuropsychiatry's understanding of neuroplasticity can be summed up as follows:

Our daily behaviors can have remarkable effects on the structures of our brains. Anxiety and depression can, at least to a degree, be "unlearned." Their tendencies can be replaced with more constructive pathways through professional neural training.

COVID-19 PTSD is set to become a significant public health concern in the future. Prolonged exposure to stress and anxiety can lead to PTSD. But therapies focusing on promoting neural plasticity may induce positive plasticity.

This could help combat these conditions before they have a chance to develop into a disorder.

Simple neuroplasticity exercises can all promote neural plasticity. These include:

Regular exercise

Healthy diet

Connecting with your loved ones

They also help reduce the symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Experts recommend activities like learning a new language or skill. You could also perform a manual motor activity like painting or building a model. Or you can try playing brain-training games to promote neuroplasticity training.

The power to change your mind

Neuroplasticity and synaptic plasticity are intrinsic in every facet of our lives. Our brains are constantly performing synaptic pruning and making new neural connections. This is true regardless of what we happen to be doing at any given time. Or even whether we are awake or asleep.

Improving your brain's plasticity will sharpen your memory, concentration, and cognitive skills. Plus, it can help you address depression and anxiety. It may even promote healing in the case of adult brain trauma or injury.

BetterUp Coaches can help you understand the amazing ability of your brain to constantly learn. Coaching can guide you with how to put plasticity to work to your advantage to change behaviors and show up at your best. Use your brain's innate healing abilities to perform better and unlock more of your human potential.

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What is Neuroplasticity and Why is It Important?

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The human brain is constantly building new connections using its neuroplasticity. Read on to learn about what neuroplasticity is and how it benefits you.

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After Watching This, Your Brain Will Not Be the Same

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After Watching This, Your Brain Will Not Be the Same

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Intriguing message in a great format for students

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After watching this, your brain will not be the same | Lara Boyd | TEDxVancouver

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Reminder of how we can share the message with others

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Unlearning Neuromyths — The Learning Scientists

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One of our goals as Learning Scientists is to make sure that research is communicated in an accessible but accurate way. Unfortunately, many times science dissemination results in miscommunication and translation such that the original results and message are skewed.

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Useful insights regarding stress effects on learning

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Learning and memory under stress: implications for the classroom - npj Science of Learning

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npj Science of Learning - Learning and memory under stress: implications for the classroom

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Overview of different types of memory

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Important information on encoding information. How can we build off of this insight when learning?

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UC 199 Part 2: Processes - Building Memory Power

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Part 2: Processes - Building Memory Power Animation; Dr. Michelle Miller

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Keeping an eye on the future of gamified programs that teach critical thinking

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Operation ARA (Acquiring Research Acumen) is a computerized learning game that teaches critical thinking and scientific reasoning. It is a valuable learning tool that utilizes principles from the science of learning and serious computer games. Students learn the skills of scientific reasoning by engaging in interactive dialogs with avatars. They are tutored by avatars with tutoring sessions that vary depending on how well students have responded to questions about the material they are learning. Students also play a jeopardy-like game against a feisty avatar to identify flaws in research and then generate their own questions to determine the quality of different types of research. The research examples are taken from psychology, biology, and chemistry to help students transfer the thinking skills across domains of knowledge. Early results show encouraging learning gains.

Highlights

► We designed a computerized learning game that teaches critical thinking/scientific reasoning using interactive natural language tutorials. ► The game was designed using the principles from the science of learning, such as active responding, an interesting story line, repeated testing, and engagement with real-life examples and from learning games. ► Early testing shows large learning gains for students at three different types of higher education-an open admissions community college, a state university, and a highly selective private college. ► Student response has been highly positive.

Fitness shoes with rounded soles and an orthopedic appearance promise "more shapely legs and a better butt" in addition to weight loss, reduced cellulite, and improved circulation (University of California Wellness Letter, 2012). Sound too good to be true? Not to consumers who spent $1.1 billion dollars on these shoes in 2010. (They have been on the market since 2000.) The United States Trade Commission investigated these unbelievable claims and because Reebok, one of the manufacturers, could not back up its claim that wearing these shoes would "result in more strength and tone in the buttocks muscles than traditional walking shoes," Reebok agreed to settle the case with the Trade Commission and refund $25 million to consumers (ElBoghdady, 2012).

Bogus claims about toning shoes may seem like a frivolous concern, but this example is one of countless similar scams that represents massive public disregard for the value of assessing claims, seeking evidence, and understanding scientific thinking. Millions of dollars are spent annually on products that are "packaged" as scientific, even though the "research" or evidence is highly suspect or absent. For example, millions of dollars are spent on homeopathic remedies that lack scientific evidence for their effectiveness. Scientific inquiry is important in the workplace, especially as jobs become increasingly technical, require specialized skills, and require domain-specific problem-solving, reasoning, and decision making (National Research Council, 2011). Often, the same techniques that are used to sell miraculous products are also used to create or enhance prejudice and hostilities toward other groups and to justify wars and policies that cause harm and sometimes, even death (Lilienfeld, Ammirati, & Landfield, 2009). Ideally, everyone should know how to critically evaluate the products of science and evidence-based claims, even when the topic seems distant from our usual notions of what constitutes science.

We want to educate our students and the general public to be wise consumers of research. We also want them to apply the principles of scientific thinking in their daily interactions and in contexts that bear little resemblance to scientific studies. This is a common goal for critical thinking instruction. To achieve this goal, we conceptualize science as a process, as a way of thinking about and obtaining information that informs the conclusions that we make. For example, if our students were embroiled in an argument over who was more influential to hip-hop, James Brown or Stevie Wonder, we would want them to respond that the argument can be resolved by using what scientists call an operational definition. If someone complains about a colleague who is always late, we hope that they will ask about the sample size (how often was the colleague late?) that supports this conclusion. These are examples in which the principles of scientific thinking are important in daily life.

Of course, we hope that we are also educating future scientists, helping them to "think like a scientist." Scientific thinking is needed for everyone-future scientists and future consumers of science-because we are all exposed to causal claims made by scientists and nonscientists on a daily basis. These claims are made on the Internet, television, news reports, advertisements, and the wide range of social media. Does wine really lower the risk of heart attacks? Are the screening devices at airports really safe? Can I teach my toddler to read? Will copper bracelets cure arthritis? The list of claims is endless. Operation ARA (Acquiring Research Acumen) was designed to teach students how to determine what and whom to believe.

We took up the challenge of creating the best tools for learning by applying what we know about the science of learning and adapting those principles for a generation of "digital natives," a term that describes today's young adults who have never known a world without computers and the internet. They are more likely to get their information from the vast array of nonprint media available to them than from textbooks. According to a report assembled by Frontline (Public Broadcast System, 2010), digital natives aged 13-17 average 1742 text messages a month, 91% use their profiles on social media websites to stay in touch with friends, and they spend an average of 4.5 h a day viewing screen media (internet, television, etc.), excluding games. Not surprisingly, less time is spent learning from books, and more of today's students are finding it difficult to learn from printed text. We can lament the loss of textbook skills and design educational interventions that help students achieve better learning from books, and we can also provide high quality learning experiences based on how students actually learn, including computerized learning games. There are benefits to learning from computerized games, which include improvements in visual attention and faster response times (Dye, Green, & Bavelier, 2009).

We developed a computerized learning game, Operation ARA that incorporates the best findings from the science of learning. Mayer (2008) reminded educators that no matter how advanced the technology is for educational content, if the fundamental principles of learning are not incorporated into the design of the materials, then quality learning is unlikely to occur. Here is a sampling of some of the learning principles we used in developing this program (Halpern & Hakel, 2003).

Meaningful learning of complex material is NOT a spectator sport. Deep learning requires that the learner be actively engaged with the material. Operation ARA requires that learners demonstrate their learning consistently throughout the program. There are three modules in Operation ARA: Basic Training in which students use an interactive e-book to learn basic principles of scientific thinking, such as the need for control groups and the difference between correlational and causal research designs; Proving Ground where students play a jeopardy-like game against an avatar who assumes the role of a competing student; and Active Duty in which students ask questions in order to determine whether a reported study is reliable or flawed. Early in the program, students respond to questions, but by the end of the program they are asking questions. Unlike a standard book, students cannot merely move their eyes across text or wipe a highlighter across a page. They cannot move through the program without demonstrating their learning at each step.

Recent research has shown that repeated testing, particularly when the test requires the generation of information, enhances learning. This practice produces gains in understanding and memory when the tests are aligned with important content (Karpicke and Roediger, 2007, Roediger et al., 2011). According to standard "memory trace" theories of how people remember, the act of remembering strengthens some memory traces and weakens, or perhaps fails to strengthen, others, a fact that should influence how we test students. There are complex mathematical models and functions that describe the course of remembering (or forgetting) over time (Anderson et al., 2004, Oberauer and Lewandowsky, 2011). When students practice retrieval, the strength of the memory trace is increased and the shape of the forgetting curve is altered to reflect the fact that the just-retrieved information is now more likely to be retrieved (i.e., less likely to be forgotten) in the future. In more common language, this principle is sometimes called the "testing effect," which refers to the finding that by responding to a question, the learner is practicing retrieval, thus making later retrieval of the same material more likely to be successful. As students progress through Operation ARA their understanding of the concepts and principles of science are repeatedly tested. In Basic Training, students answer a number of multiple choice questions at the end of each chapter and then participate in trialog discussions with avatars where the understanding of the material from the chapter is clarified and reinforced. Students evaluate 11 cases in the Proving Ground, and for each case they must apply their understanding of scientific concepts to determine whether the research is reliable or flawed. In Active Duty students generate their own questions about abbreviated research descriptions in order to determine whether the research is flawed. In this module, students actively recall the scientific concepts in order to generate questions, with little scaffolding at this point in the game.

Learning and retention occur over time, so it is not surprising that much of the research literature on these topics is concerned with time intervals-the time spent on the initial learning, the time between acquisition (initial learning) and recall, and the length of the time intervals between recall trials. One of the primary "laws" of learning is that spaced practice is generally superior to massed practice. Spaced schedules of studying and testing produce better long-term retention than single or few study sessions or tests (Karpicke & Bauernschmidt, 2011). Students work through Operation ARA over time and repeatedly practice and apply concepts in different contexts.

As students move through the interactive chapters during Basic Training, they receive computer-generated tutoring that varies depending on how well the student responds. The mixed-initiative dialogue used for tutoring is similar to Auto Tutor, which was designed by Art Graesser and numerous colleagues. Students using Auto Tutor have shown considerable learning gains comparable to one-on-one human tutoring (Graesser et al., 2004, VanLehn et al., 2007). The type of tutoring that students receive following each chapter is determined by the number of questions they answer correctly about the chapter they just read. Effective tutors need to both correctly gauge and adapt to the student's current level of understanding. A successful adaptive tutor chooses problems that specifically address the level of the student's prior knowledge and take previous test scores into consideration (Graesser, Conley, & Olney, 2012).

In compliance with these criteria, students are adaptively placed in one of three tutoring conditions based on their current level of knowledge, which is gauged by their scores on the previous multiple choice tests. If the human students demonstrate a low-level understanding of the concept, they receive the vicarious learning trialog in which they observe a virtual teacher tutoring a virtual student, with limited active participation. Vicarious learning conditions have shown significant learning gains specifically for low prior-knowledge students (Driscoll et al., 2003). In order to maintain engagement during vicarious learning, the students are asked to respond to questions about the tutoring situation. For example, the virtual teacher might ask the human student whether the virtual student understands the concept or whether the virtual student's answer was correct. If the learners demonstrate a moderate understanding of the concept, they receive the standard tutoring trialog, and they are tutored by the virtual teacher. For example, the virtual teacher might ask the human student to provide a definition of the concept and scaffold the student using hints, prompts, feedback, and misconception correction. If the learners demonstrate good understanding of the concept, they interact with the teachable agent trialog, and the human student tutors a virtual student. For example, virtual students might tell the human student that they do not really understand the concept and offer an incorrect explanation. The human student would then have to explain to the virtual students what the concept is and why they were incorrect.

Standard learning texts always emphasize the need for feedback or knowledge of results as an essential component for enhancing learning, but more recent reviews have shown that feedback is a complex variable that sometimes hinders learning and sometimes enhances it (Kluger and DeNisi, 1996, Kluger and DeNisi, 1998, van der Kleij et al., 2012). When data from many studies were combined in a meta-analysis, the overall effect size for feedback was a healthy d = .41, but this sizable effect masks the fact that over 1/3 of the studies showed that feedback had negative effects on learning and performance. Feedback is important in that it provides information to the learner about his or her own performance, but the learner still has to derive meaning from it and it may be that the way learners interpret feedback is what determines when it will be beneficial. What does feedback really mean to a learner? Is successful learning indicative of the intelligence or skill of the learner, the difficulty of the learning task, the way learning performance is assessed, or the amount of effort expended? Learning settings need to be designed so that the type of feedback is matched to the intended reason for the learning task. Even a formerly simple concept like feedback needs to be understood in terms of its intended use so that learners do not interpret feedback as punishment, which leads to resistance to the information provided by the feedback.

Most research reviews conclude that feedback should be given at appropriate intervals, probably with increasing length of the intervals as learning progresses (Winstein & Schmidt, 1990). Thus, early in the learning process, more frequent feedback is needed than later in the learning process. In this way, learners can become judges of their own performance and rely less upon external knowledge of results than they would with more constant feedback. We used this principle in the design of Operation ARA. As learners progress through the program, they receive feedback that is increasingly less frequent and less detailed.

Variability during learning has been shown to be important for improving long-term recall and enhancing knowledge transfer. The theme of variability during learning underscores the causal and sometimes contradictory relationship between what happens during learning and long-term retention. By using examples from different science domains-psychology, biology, and chemistry, students need to concentrate on the underlying scientific principles, which actually makes the learning more difficult. Learners need to expend more effort when learning conditions are variable, but the hard work of effortful learning pays large dividends when long-term retention is assessed.

Like practice at retrieval, varied learning conditions pay high dividends for the effort exerted. In the jargon of cognitive psychology, when learning occurs under varied conditions, key ideas have "multiple retrieval cues" and thus are more "available" in memory. For example, educational research suggests that significant learning gains can occur when different types of problems and solutions are mixed in the same lesson, even though the initial learning can take significantly longer (Perry, Samuelson, Malloy, & Schiffer, 2010).

In order to learn well, students need to be motivated and engaged in the process. According to a report from the Bureau for Labor Statistics (2011), time spent playing video games varies greatly with age. On an average weekend day, 15-19-year-old Americans read an average of 6 min and play video games 1 h and 6 min. At the time of this writing, the game Angry Birds has been downloaded tens of millions of times. There are numerous international gaming competitions with entries from most countries in the world. Thus, if we could harness only a small percentage of the energy and enthusiasm spent on computerized games so that game playing resulted in learning, we would have made great strides in creating quality learning environments. Here are some of the properties of the best selling games that we applied to Operation ARA.

Just as Operation ARA utilizes the best of what we know about how people learn, it also borrows from the growing literature on serious games. In Operation ARA learning is embedded in an intriguing story line. The game begins when players join the fictitious Federal Bureau of Science where they learn about an evil extraterrestrial plot. Apparently, the extraterrestrials are publishing poorly designed research in a variety of media outlets with the goal of confusing humans as to what constitutes good science. However, the aliens are disguised as human beings. Therefore, the player is given the task of learning the scientific method so that he can help the FBS identify the extraterrestrials. Along the way, an avatar protagonist learns that his brother is being held captive by Fuaths from the planet Thoth and apparently has broken under the stress. To complicate matters, our protagonist finds that he is falling in love with a Fuath, thus blending traditional action and romance scripts. But, all is not what it seems. We later learn that the extraterrestrials are stealing our natural resources. The plot has surprising twists and ultimately it is up to the learner to save the world by identifying the aliens among us. There are double-agents, humor, romance, political intrigue, and more all taking place within a "green" theme. Additional descriptions about Operation ARA (formerly known as Operation ARIES!) are available in Butler, Forsythe, Halpern, Graesser and Millis (2010) and Millis et al. (2011).

As students progress through the program, they receive incentives for responding correctly, which include earning points in a competition against a feisty and somewhat irritating student avatar. Later in the game, the learner has to decide if particular research is reliable or flawed, and if they are correct, human researchers are set free and alien researchers are sent to jail. Errors can be disastrous because they would allow dangerous aliens to be free and innocent humans would go to jail. Ultimately, good decisions will save the world, which we believe to be a motivating outcome.

There are yet other psychological principles that are built into the game to optimize motivation and engagement. These include giving the student control through choices, presenting problems that are at the optimal zone of challenge (not too easy and not too difficult), high amounts of interactivity between the game and the student, feedback on their contributions, and engaging media. All of the design decisions in developing ARA were motivated by scientific principles to enhance cognition or motivation.

Of course, we hope that readers are looking for evidence that students actually learn the skills of scientific thinking by playing Operation ARA. Although we have been working on this learning game for several years, data collection is still in its early stage, with initial results looking positive. This paper presents some early findings. Results from several other preliminary studies of the effectiveness of Operation ARA are available from the first author upon request. As the number of students with different sorts of backgrounds who use Operation ARA increases, we expect to have many more studies completed over the next several years.

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Operation ARA: A computerized learning game that teaches critical thinking and scientific reasoning

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Operation ARA (Acquiring Research Acumen) is a computerized learning game that teaches critical thinking and scientific reasoning. It is a valuable le...

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Learning from PowerPoint: Is it Time for Teachers to Move On?

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Learning from PowerPoint: Is it Time for Teachers to Move On?

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Terrific consideration for multimodality instructors as they transition content between modalities

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How well do students learn when a lesson is mainly in PowerPoint? Henrik Berger Jørgensen, CC BY-NC-ND

For a brief period in the history of teaching, using PowerPoint automatically qualified you as a tech-savvy professor - an innovator who wouldn't settle for the usual combination of staticky black-and-white overhead films and hand-scrawled chalkboard notes.

Now, it's hard to believe that PowerPoint was once considered innovative by anyone. Popular criticism includes everything from tongue-in-cheek comments about death by PowerPoint to serious claims that it fundamentally degrades how we think and communicate.

But much of today's college instruction isn't in face-to-face classrooms, a setting in which PowerPoint was traditionally used. It's in the burgeoning field of online learning.

So if more learning is moving online, does that mean that teaching with PowerPoint is becoming a thing of the past?

Surprisingly, the answer is no.

Passive learning through PowerPoint?

Even though there's little research that directly addresses whether PowerPoint affects learning in college students, critics have questioned its value in educational settings.

Some ask whether PowerPoint might indirectly undermine the quality of teaching by reinforcing a passive learning approach.

We know that lecturing is less effective than alternative methods. It therefore makes sense for teachers in face-to-face classrooms to question how much of their class time ought to be spent on slideshows.

But the fact is "slideshows" remain a popular method for presenting content in today's online courses.

Technically, these are often not PowerPoints, but decks generated using other types of specialized programs.

And they may differ from standard in-class PowerPoint presentations in important ways.

For example, taking advantage of the increased flexibility of the online environment, they give students more control over how quickly to go through the material and when to backtrack. They can also have more interactive features, such as quizzes, that ask students to apply material while they are learning it.

Even so, the basic - and flawed - idea is the same: put the material in front of students, and learning will happen.

What's wrong with slideshows in online courses

As a psychologist specializing in teaching techniques and course design, when I talk to faculty about teaching effectively with technology, I sometimes tell them to follow the ABS principle: anything but slideshows.

I'm only half-kidding with that blanket statement.

After all, we learn with the same brains in online environments as we do face-to-face; the principles of learning don't change just because the medium changes. And today's learning theorists agree: active involvement trumps passive viewing.

Students need to grapple with challenging problems, practice skills, discuss and defend viewpoints. But for this kind of active learning to happen, instructors need to ensure they do not rely too heavily on slides.

There are alternatives: simulations, problem-based learning, even educational games are all proven methods for drawing students in. They also transplant well into online learning.

Using slideshows the right way

So do slideshows have any place in a well-designed online course? Possibly.

They can be used strategically for things they are best at: giving students an overview of new material, or providing a refresher on concepts students will need for an upcoming activity.

Slides are also great for for integrating visual illustrations. This is important because visuals - diagrams, figures, photos and the like - have a powerful impact on learning.

Visual information is almost always more memorable than sound, text or other modalities.

This isn't because of the now-debunked idea that some people are "visual learners," but more likely stems from how the brain codes images. There are separate systems for representing verbal and visual information in the brain. When we save information in both places, it is easier to recall.

Teachers don't have to stick with static images, either. Even basic animations can illuminate conceptual relationships - such as cause and effect, or the unfolding of a process over time - in ways that text can't.

Furthermore, as University of California, Santa Barbara researcher Richard Mayer has discovered, visuals and the spoken word pair up in powerful ways, so that audio plus visuals produce better learning than either alone.

Research also tells teachers some things not to do with visuals. Instructors should avoid purely decorative graphics, as these can actually hamper learning.

They should also eschew reading text verbatim, instead using a conversational, natural speaking style for voiceovers and verbal explanations.

What this means in the larger context of online learning

In sum, slideshows can be a useful part of online instruction, when used for the right things and designed in the right way. But they shouldn't be the main, or the only, method of instruction - any more than lectures should dominate face-to-face classes.

But it's not just instructors who need to hear this message.

Publishing and educational technology companies, who provide many of the tools that educators rely on, can do more to develop products that push beyond familiar formulas and draw on the latest learning science.

We need tools that make it easy to create assignments that ask students to apply what they have learned, in scenarios that are as realistic and challenging as possible.

These learning tools also need to be adaptive, adjusting the material and pace to the individual learner. This kind of educational technology does exist, but far more can be done to expand the available options.

Teaching in the age of technology comes with its own set of opportunities as well as challenges. And online education presents educators and tech developers with a rare opportunity to fundamentally rethink what we do.

Will we use it to explore new avenues for learning, or will we fall back on the the same old techniques that don't work well in face-to-face classrooms?

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Learning from PowerPoint: is it time for teachers to move on?

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Slideshows, when designed right, can be a useful part of online instruction. But they shouldn't be the main, or the only, method of instruction.

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Excellent resource for how to think about how one thinks

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In simple terms, metacognition is thinking about one's thinking. In an educational context, it is students' awareness and understanding of their own strengths and weaknesses as learners and their ability to adapt accordingly to be more successful learners. Metacognition involves active control over the cognitive processes engaged in learning. Novices tend to think more like experts when they recognize their strengths and weaknesses as learners. Self-monitoring and self-regulation, important metacognitive processes, lead to better goal-setting, planning, implementation of plans, monitoring of progress toward goals and, generally, better adaptation of learning strategies. Metacognitive practices increase students' ability to determine how to expand their knowledge and transfer that knowledge to new contexts. Recent studies show that these practices can be taught and learned. Students should understand that their ability to be self-regulated learners can improve with practice. Metacongnition is applicable to a single class session, a homework assignment, an exam, or an entire course.

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L2L Strategy - Metacognition | Arizona Site

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In simple terms, metacognition is thinking about one's thinking. In an educational context, it is students' awareness and understanding of their own strengths and weaknesses as learners and their ability to adapt accordingly to be more successful learners. Metacognition involves active control over the cognitive processes engaged in learning.