Educational Neuroscience

Frances E. Jensen, MD

What?

Jensen is researching the teenage brain. It has been poorly understood if the teenage brain is substantively different from the adult brain. Not enough research has been done about the developing teenage brain with respect to high school education, how they are treated in the legal system and how they might be esepcially vulnerable to substance abuse and addiction. Jensen is doing research to find out if we should be treating teenagers differently because of the way their brain is working at their current stage of life.

So What?

If research shows that teenagers should be learning a different way, then the way we teach teenagers will change in order for their learning to be at maximized. Jensen's research shows that the teenage brain has a different level of ability to learn, but there may be some vulnerabilities that we do not know about yet. Teenagers have a heightened ability to learn and retrain information, but still make poor behavioral judgement. This is because the last place to connect is the frontal lobe, which controls insight, judgement, and blocks you from taking part in too much risk taking behavior. Jensen has also researched the difference of brain development for girls and boys. Girls' brains seem to reach maturity 1-2+ years before boys. Girls myelinate two or three years earlier than boys, which maybe suggest that we consider gender-based learning. Girls might be ready to learn certain things earlier than boys because they mature sooner. Ideally, teaching to an individual's development would be the best strategy, but this will never happen. This research shows that everyone is at a different level and a teacher can not expect that every student learn the same. These are all things to consider when I am teaching and communicating with my students.

Now What?

Hopefully by the time I am teaching, Jensen's research will be complete and I will be able to apply it to my teaching strategies. I want my students to learn everything that they can and be able to retain the information later. It is important to teach students in a way that is effective for them. Since teens frontal lobes are not fully connected, I must realize that they do not think the same way that I do and they might not understand what I am talking about or the consequences that they face. Her research also says that teenagers are more vulnerable to addiction, which is why it is important for me to stress that they stay away from that stuff. It is also important that I stress to not just be smart inside the classroom, but to also be smart outside of the classroom. At this age, students are driving and they can make one mistake and it could be fatal.