This course explores some of the new research in the neurosciences, and in particular what this new research says about the working of the child and adolescent brain. Significantly for educators, the course will examine how neuroscience research informs our understanding of learning as well as obstacles to learning.

The course is unusual for Boston University in that it meets in conjunction with the "Learning and the Brain" conference. During this course, students are required to attend conference sessions, as well as meet together as a seminar during the conference where the material learned in the conference lectures and workshops will be discussed. Students will be expected to have read the assigned readings prior to or during the conference and to prepare a final paper in which they will have an opportunity to critically appraise some aspect of neuroscience research and its relation to education. Given the compressed nature of the course, the instructor will remain in contact with students as they write their final paper. The course requires students to enroll in the "Learning & the Brain" conference as well as pay tuition fees to Boston University.

The instructor of this course will be Professor Thomas J. Cottle, PhD from Boston University's School of Education.

These two graduate credits are issued through the Department of Special Education, School of Education, Boston University. The cost of these academic credits (tuition and administration costs) is an additional $1,450 above the conference registration fee. Please call 781-449-4010 x 101 to register and for additional information about this course.

A minimum attendance of 10 is required for this course.

 

Schedule (NOTE: Schedule is preliminary. Please check here in November for final schedule)

Friday, November 15 - Day 1

Pre-Conference Workshops: (Optional)
8:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.

BU Seminar Class Meeting
12:45 p.m. -1:30 p.m.
Reviewing the Structure of the Brain. This session will be spent looking at some of the major anatomical and physiological functions of the brain. The session is intended to review some of the fundamental issues that will be considered throughout the conference. Reading: Jackson Beatty, The Human Brain. Sage Publications, Chapters 1, 2, 9, 11, and 12.

Opening Conference Keynotes
1:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

BU Seminar Class Meeting
6:30 p.m.- 8:30 p.m.
Introduction to the Workings of the Mind. In this session, the focus of the discussion will be on the way the brain learns, and more generally, the nature of human intelligence. Reading: Steven Pinker, How the Mind Works, chapters 1, 2, and 4.

Saturday, November 16 - Day 2

BU Seminar Class Meeting
7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.
The Brain of the Special Needs Child. This class time is devoted to an examination of the workings of the brain of children with special needs and psychological disorders. The topics will include learning disorders, depression and mood disorders, autism and social skills, and problems of sensory integration. Reading: David Sousa, "How the Special Needs Brain Learns," Corwin Press; and Michael Posner and Marcus E. Raichle, "Images of Mind," Scientific American Library, chapter 8 and 9; John Ratey and Catherine Honson, "Shadow Syndromes," chapters 5, 6 and 7.

Conference Sessions and Keynotes
8:30 a.m.- 5:30 p.m.

BU Seminar Class Meeting
12:45 - 1:45 p.m.
State of Mind. The final class session is devoted to more general concerns on the well being of children in context of their families, schools and broader culture. Topics include the nature of social bonding, the action of the will, the role of the arts, the mechanics of thought, and the nature of memory. Reading: Rita Carter, "Mapping the Mind," University of California Press, chapters 7 and 8; Pinker, "How the Mind Works," chapters 7 and 8.

Sunday, November 17 - Day 3

BU Seminar Class Meeting
7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.
Final wrap up of the class.

Conference Sessions and Keynotes
8:30 a.m.- 5:00 p.m.

Seminar Course Information

Instructor: Thomas Cottle, Ph.D., Professor, BU Dept. of Education

Students in this course may meet individually with the instructor during open lunch periods during the conference for additional help.

Graduate Course & Conference Recommended Reading
(Several readings from the following list will be selected and required for those in the L&B/Boston University Graduate Credit program)

J. Carper, Your Miracle Brain
C. Conners, Feeding the Brain
F. Crick, The Astonishing Hypothesis
D. Goleman, Emotional Intelligence: Why it can Matter more than IQ
S. Greenfield, The Human Brain: A guided Tour
L. Hart, Human Brain and Human Learning
J. LeDoux, The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life
R. Ornstein and R. Thompson, The Amazing Brain
J. Ratey, A Users Guide to the Brain
D. Siegel, The Developing Mind: Toward a Neurobiology of Interpersonal Experience
R. Sternberg, Successful Intelligence
R. Sylwester, Student Brains, School Issues