Connecting Neuroscience with Education: Critical Considerations

This book provides tools for thinking about how professional and pre-professional educators and policymakers might use research findings to improve learning and teaching in the classroom. It discusses prerequisites such as adopting an empirical perspective, building a knowledge base for evidence-informed models, strengthening scientific literacy (for example, understanding research designs, the nature of control groups, and statistical and practical significance), and developing neuroscientific literacy (for example, understanding methodologies and levels of analysis, and whether and how neuroscience evidence can be integrated with other knowledge sources). It advocates for educator models of learning, development, and teaching informed by a deeper understanding of using research evidence in critical, principled ways, supported through teacher training programs and education policies that value the use of scientific evidence. Accessibly summarizing foundational concepts, this book is a resource for student teachers, teacher developers, and policymakers.