Unit name | Brain, Mind and Education |
---|---|
Unit code | EDUCM5404 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | M/7 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
Unit director | Dr. Howard |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | School of Education |
Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
This unit is aimed chiefly at providing students with an understanding of the complex interrelationship of mind, brain and behaviour. It will include the key areas of biological psychology including those providing insights into developmental disorders and the role of psychopharmacological drugs in their management. It will draw heavily upon the rapidly developing field of cognitive neuroscience.
Through engaging in this unit, students will gain a critical understanding of experimental design as it relates to brain functioning, taking into consideration the research management of neuroimaging and risk assessment procedures. Students will also debate the ethics of conducting research with animals and the replicability and reproducibility of brain imaging studies.
The aims of the unit are to:
Upon successful completion of this unit students will be able to:
This unit will be taught using a blended online approach consisting of a mixture of synchronous and asynchronous activities including seminars, lectures, reading and discussions.
Formative assessment
This will include an opportunity to present an initial draft of their poster and receive feedback from peers and tutors that can be incorporate in assessed work.
Summative assessment
Students will select an appropriate topic for their assignment and explore their chosen topic in terms of neurocognitive function. They will produce a poster (50%) and essay (50%) that reviews the cognitive neuroscience of this topic with appropriate and extensive use of the terminology, principles and concepts associated with this topic in terms of the central nervous system and neurocognition.
The poster assesses students' ability to explain visually their critical understanding of neurocognitive processes underlying their chosen topic (ILO 1-5).
The essay will assess students' ability to analyse relevant texts and synthesise concepts from cognitive neuroscience, psychology and education, to make links/connections and recognise associations/relationships between these concepts, and to draw upon current understanding of mind/brain/behaviour relationships.
Students will be expected to develop balanced arguments that reflect a multidisciplinary awareness and an ability to contextualise concepts, and draw appropriately upon a wide range of evidence that includes empirical behavioural data, physiological measurements (e.g. neuroimaging), observation and evolutionary perspectives. (ILO 1-5)
Howard-Jones, P. (2010) Introducing Neuroeducational Research, Abingdon: Routledge.
Ward, J. (2015) A Student’s Guide to Cognitive Neuroscience (3rd Ed). New York: Psychology Press.
Blakemore, S-J and Frith, U. (2005) The Learning Brain: Lessons for Education, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Gazzaniga, M.S., Ivry, R.B. and Mangun, G.R. (2014) Cognitive Neuroscience: the biology of the mind, 4 th Edition NY: WW Norton and Company. MSc Neuroscience and Education - Supplement to Student Handbook 15/16 9 Pinel, J. (2014) Biopsychology, 8 th edition, New York: Allyn and Bacon.