Premium
The Impact of a Modified Initial Teacher Education on Challenging Trainees' Understanding of Neuromyths
Author(s) -
McMahon Kendra,
Yeh Chloe ShuHua,
Etchells Peter J.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
mind, brain, and education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.624
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1751-228X
pISSN - 1751-2271
DOI - 10.1111/mbe.12219
Subject(s) - psychology , bridging (networking) , mathematics education , pedagogy , computer science , computer network
Initial teacher education (ITE) offers an underutilized opportunity for bridging the gap between neuroscience research and educational practice. This article reports on innovations embedded within an ITE program to support trainee teachers to recognize and challenge the persistence of neuromyths. Education researchers, neuroscientists, and psychologists collaboratively applied design‐based research to create, improve, and reflect on original neuroeducational teaching/learning resources for university‐based primary (elementary) ITE trainees. Encouragingly, pre and postsurveys showed reductions in trainees ' beliefs in neuromyths and a shift to responses showing uncertainty that suggested their beliefs became unsettled. The most persistent neuromyths were those regarding fish oils, left brain/right brain, and learning styles/visual, auditory, or kinaesthetic (VAK). Trainees retained their initial interest in knowledge about the brain and education, gained confidence, and became more critical about applying the learning sciences in educational contexts.