Tag Archives: Pete Etchells

Teachers talk neuroscience with “I’m a Scientist – Get me out of here” neuroscientists

I can’t believe it’s been four years since I’ve mentioned the I’m a scientist, Get me out of Here programme in the UK. Here’s a description from its homepage,

 A free online event where school students meet and interact with scientists. It’s an X Factor-style competition between scientists, where the students are the judges.

Students challenge the scientists over fast-paced online text-based live CHATs. They ASK the scientists anything they want, and VOTE for their favourite scientist to win a prize of £500 to communicate their work with the public.

The next event will run from Monday 15th June – Friday 26th June 2015.

Right now the ‘I ’m a scientist, Get me out of Here’ programme is holding a special session on neuroscience for teachers. It runs until Friday, May 22, 2015. Here’s an explanation for this special session from an April 24, 2015 posting by Pete Etchells for the Guardian science blogs (Note: Links have been removed),

Over the past few years, there seems to have been an insidious pandemic of nonsense neuroscientific claims creeping into the education system. In 2013, the Wellcome Trust commissioned a series of surveys of parents and teachers, asking about various types of educational tools or teaching methods, and the extent to which they believe they have a basis in neuroscience. Worryingly, 76% of teachers responded that they used learning styles in their teaching, and a further 19% responded that they either use, or intend to use, left brain/right brain distinctions to help inform learning methods. Both of these approaches have been thoroughly debunked, and have no place in either neuroscience or education.

In October last year [2014], I reported on another study that showed that in the intervening time, things hadn’t really improved – 91% of UK teachers in that survey believed that there were differences in the way that students think and learn, depending on which hemisphere of the brain is ‘dominant’. …

Etchells describes the special Learning Zone in more detail (Note: Links have been removed),

“Teachers are encouraged to improve their teaching, and improve student progress at schools, but they don’t necessarily have the access to knowledge that researchers have” says Shane McCracken, Director of Gallomanor Communications, the team who run the event. “This is our way of letting them access that knowledge without having to subscribe to and read a bunch of academic papers.”

So far, questions have asked about a wide range of topics, including the potential effects of diet on memory, to what extent parental involvement can have an effect on learning and development, exam revision techniques, and the impact of apparent increase in rates of dyslexia among schoolchildren. Over a hundred teachers from schools across the country have been involved to date.

Of course, given the scope of the event, it’s impossible to target a critical mass of schools. But while it may not make a widespread mark on busting brain myths in education, it’s an excellent start, and it’s great to see these sorts of initiatives being funded. “We’re hoping these four weeks demonstrate that teachers want to talk with researchers about the science of learning” says Shane. “If the demand is there then we hope to keep providing similar opportunities in future on the platform. And potentially for researchers in other areas to talk to professionals in different fields.”

You can find the Science of Learning (teacher’s neuroscience learning zone) here. There’s an upcoming live chat on Monday, May 11, 2015 at 8 pm BST. I have looked at the site’s teacher registration form and it looks to me as if anyone from anywhere can register for an account and possibly join in to the live chat provided they have the time.