How does learning transform us biologically? What learning processes do we share with bacteria, jellyfish and monkeys? Is technology impacting on our evolution and what might the future hold for the learning brain? These are just some of the questions Paul Howard-Jones explores on a fascinating journey through 3.5 billion years of brain evolution, and discovers what it all means for how we learn today. Along the way, we discover how the E. coli in our stomachs learn to find food why a little nap can help bees find their way home the many ways that action, emotion and social interaction have shaped our ability to learn the central role of learning in our rise to top predator. An accessible writing style and numerous illustrations make Evolution of the Learning Brain an enthralling combination of biology, neuroscience and educational insight. Howard-Jones provides a fresh perspective on the nature of human learning that is exhaustively researched, exploring the implications of our most distant past for twenty-first-century education.

This book brings together contributions from scientists and educators at the forefront of interdisciplinary research efforts involving neuroscience and education. It includes consideration of what we know about brain function that may be relevant to educational areas including reading, mathematics, music and creativity. The increasing interest of educators in neuroscience also brings dangers with it, as evidenced by the proliferation of neuromyths within schools and colleges. For this reason, it also reviews some of the more prominent misconceptions, as well as exploring how educational understanding can be constructed in the future that includes concepts from neuroscience more judiciously. This book will be of interest to educators, policymakers and scientists seeking fresh perspectives on how we learn. This book was published as a special issue in Educational Research, a journal of the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER).

This book brings together contributions from scientists and educators at the forefront of interdisciplinary research efforts involving neuroscience and education. It includes consideration of what we know about brain function that may be relevant to educational areas including reading, mathematics, music and creativity. The increasing interest of educators in neuroscience also brings dangers with it, as evidenced by the proliferation of neuromyths within schools and colleges. For this reason, it also reviews some of the more prominent misconceptions, as well as exploring how educational understanding can be constructed in the future that includes concepts from neuroscience more judiciously.

This book will be of interest to educators, policymakers and scientists seeking fresh perspectives on how we learn.

This book was published as a special issue in Educational Research, a journal of the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER).

Amongst educators, scientists and policy-makers there is a growing belief that the field of education can benefit from an understanding of the brain. However, attempts to bring neuroscience and education together have often been hampered by crucial differences in concepts, language and philosophy. In this book, Paul Howard-Jones explores these differences, drawing on the voices of educators and scientists to argue for a new field of enquiry: neuroeducational research.

Introducing Neuroeducational Research provides a meaningful bridge between two diverse perspectives on learning. It proposes that any such bridge must serve two goals that are critically related to each other: it must enrich both scientific and educational understanding. This challenge gives rise to unique conceptual, methodological and ethical issues that will inevitably characterise this new field, and these are examined and illustrated here through empirical research. Throughout the book, Paul Howard-Jones:

• Explores ?neuromyths? and their impact on educational research
• Highlights the opportunities to combine biological, social and experiential evidence in understanding how we learn
• Argues against a ?brain-based? natural science of education
• Introduces clearly the concept of an interdisciplinary neuroeducational approach
• Builds a methodology for conducting neuroeducational research
• Draws on case studies and empirical findings to illustrate how a neuroeducational approach can provide a fuller picture of how we learn.

Presenting a blueprint for including our knowledge of the brain in education, this book is essential reading for all those concerned with human learning in authentic contexts: educators, scientists and policy-makers alike.

How does learning transform us biologically? What learning processes do we share with bacteria, jellyfish and monkeys? Is technology impacting on our evolution and what might the future hold for the learning brain? These are just some of the questions Paul Howard-Jones explores on a fascinating journey through 3.5 billion years of brain evolution, and discovers what it all means for how we learn today. Along the way, we discover how the E. coli in our stomachs learn to find food why a little nap can help bees find their way home the many ways that action, emotion and social interaction have shaped our ability to learn the central role of learning in our rise to top predator. An accessible writing style and numerous illustrations make Evolution of the Learning Brain an enthralling combination of biology, neuroscience and educational insight. Howard-Jones provides a fresh perspective on the nature of human learning that is exhaustively researched, exploring the implications of our most distant past for twenty-first-century education.

Amongst educators, scientists and policy-makers there is a growing belief that the field of education can benefit from an understanding of the brain. However, attempts to bring neuroscience and education together have often been hampered by crucial differences in concepts, language and philosophy. In this book, Paul Howard-Jones explores these differences, drawing on the voices of educators and scientists to argue for a new field of enquiry: neuroeducational research.

Introducing Neuroeducational Research provides a meaningful bridge between two diverse perspectives on learning. It proposes that any such bridge must serve two goals that are critically related to each other: it must enrich both scientific and educational understanding. This challenge gives rise to unique conceptual, methodological and ethical issues that will inevitably characterise this new field, and these are examined and illustrated here through empirical research. Throughout the book, Paul Howard-Jones:

• Explores ?neuromyths? and their impact on educational research
• Highlights the opportunities to combine biological, social and experiential evidence in understanding how we learn
• Argues against a ?brain-based? natural science of education
• Introduces clearly the concept of an interdisciplinary neuroeducational approach
• Builds a methodology for conducting neuroeducational research
• Draws on case studies and empirical findings to illustrate how a neuroeducational approach can provide a fuller picture of how we learn.

Presenting a blueprint for including our knowledge of the brain in education, this book is essential reading for all those concerned with human learning in authentic contexts: educators, scientists and policy-makers alike.