A new one day course for teachers entitled “An Introduction to Educational Neuroscience” will take place on Saturday 17th May at the Institute of Education. The aims of the course are to:

• introduce the disciplines that underlie educational neuroscience: developmental psychology, neuroscience, and evidence-based education.
• introduce some of the current research in educational neuroscience.
• dispel some prevalent ‘neuromyths’.
• consider the future of educational neuroscience.

The course will be delivered by Prof Michael Thomas, Prof Denis Mareschal, Dr Iroise Dumontheil, Prof Andy Tolmie and Dr Chloë Marshall of the Centre for Educational Neuroscience. Further details can be found here:

http://store.ioe.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?compid=1&modid=5&catid=2&prodid=425

Note the new day, Tuesdays at 4-5.30pm.

The autumn term CEN research group meetings will start on Oct 8th, with a paper discussion by Professor Denis Mareschal. The paper is entitled “Family-based training program improves brain function, cognition, and behavior in lower socioeconomic status pre-schoolers” (doi: 10.1073/pnas.1304437110).

This fascinating paper shows how the educational performance of children from disadvantage backgrounds can be enhanced by a focus intervention which also involves parents.

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Professor Denis Mareschal of the CEN is giving a talk at a mediated workshop run by the Learnus focus group on Tuesday October 15th  6.00 – 8.30 pm 2013 at the Institute of Education.

His presentation is entitled “The Science and Art of Reasoning”.

There will be a PhD symposium entitled ‘Educational Neuroscience: A celebration of recent developments, theory and research’ at the forthcoming PsyPAG 2013 conference to be held at Lancaster University, 17-19 July 2013. Click here for further details. The symposium is sponsored by the BPS Psychology of Education Section. Here’s the abstract:

The symposium aims to present current research in educational neuroscience. The primary goal of this emerging field is to combine research in education, or educational psychology, with research from cognitive neuroscience. This is essential for understanding the cognitive mechanisms that underpin educational success, and provides an understanding of the relevant neural networks associated with learning. Furthermore, research has examined how oscillatory brain mechanisms can affect sensory perception, and how perception builds more complex cognitive systems. Educational neuroscience has wide-ranging implications, not only for how we understand the systems that underpin human learning, but by bringing us one step further to being able to predict different profiles of dysfunction. This knowledge is vital for facilitating diagnosis, and developing interventions that promote learning. The symposia will begin by introducing the conceptual framework of educational neuroscience, as described by Fischer, Goswami and Geake (2010), alongside research which has aimed to examine the electrophysiological basis of working memory in dyslexic individuals, and the consequences of an impaired working memory for learning. Therefore, this symposium aims to exhibit relevant research on brain functioning and learning, in typical and atypical populations. This might include, neuroimaging (e.g., fMRI, PET, EEG and MEG), or genetic studies of neurological function. Research that details how social learning processes have a top down influence upon the development of these cognitive mechanisms will also be welcomed. The symposium offers an excellent opportunity to discuss methodologies, theories and research within the field.

On April 17th, Prof. Michael Thomas gave a public lecture as part of Birkbeck’s Science week, on the topic of ‘The latest findings in autism research’.

Read a blog on the lecture here.

CEN’s Chloe Marshall and Michael Thomas gave keynote presentations to the Reading Recovery – Teacher Leader Professional Development Meeting at Institute of Education, on 7 March 2013.

Their talks gave an overview of recent cognitive neuroscience research on reading acquisition and developmental dyslexia. How does our knowledge of the brain basis of reading inform intervention for reading difficulties?

In November 2012, the CEN ran a public workshop on literacy: “How do we get children reading?”, organized by Marshall. It attracted a capacity audience of 90, including teachers, educational psychologists, SENCOs, teaching assistants, speech and language therapists, and researchers.

Speakers included Kate Prentice (Cambridge Centre for Neuroscience in Education), Jared Brady (Head Teacher, St. Mary’s School Battersea), Mairead MacSweeney (CEN), David Bedford (children’s author), and Charles Hulme (UCL).

In collaboration with the Learning Skills Foundation charity, the CEN gave its 4th Public Policy Seminar in Whitehall in October 2012, entitled ‘Are We Wired For Science? Applying Neuroscience to the Mainstream Curriculum’.

The CEN’s Denis Mareschal and Andy Tolmie presented the latest research on how neuroscience can inform our understanding of science education. The seminar attracted a paying audience of 100.

See here for a report of the Seminar published in the Psychologist Magazine.