2016-05-30 Venia Legendi (CEITER): Minna Huotilainen
1. Learning in 20X0
- evidence-based investigations of
creativity and physiology in
phenomenon-based social learning
Minna Huotilainen
docent of cognitive science
PhD in Engineering (biosignalprocessing)
Helsinki, Finland
2. Contents
• Which are the 21st century skills that we should teach our kids?
• How can we make use of data from cognitive science in schools?
1. Enhanced learning with creativity, especially music
2. Enhanced learning with physically active learners
3. Empowering the learner with learning data
4. Co-creation in learning
5. Phenomenon-based learning
• Future studies and applications for evidence-based teacher education
3. 21st century skills
Creativity,
curiosity,
imagination,
innovation
Research skills
Critical
thinking,
problem
solving
Self-direction,
planning, self-
discipline,
goal-directed
behaviour
Oral and
written
communica-
tion, public
speaking,
listening
Leadership,
teamwork,
collaboration
ICT and media
literacy,
programming
Social justice,
ethnic and
ethical
thinking
Global
awareness,
multicultural
skills
Environmental
thinking,
ecosystem
understandingScientific
reasoning,
science literacy
and methods
Health and well-
being, nutrition,
exercise, safety
4. 21st century skills
Creativity,
curiosity,
imagination,
innovation
Research skills
Critical
thinking,
problem
solving
Self-direction,
planning, self-
discipline
Oral and
written
communica-
tion, public
speaking,
listening
Leadership,
teamwork,
collaboration
ICT and media
literacy,
programming
Social justice,
ethnic and
ethical
thinking
Global
awareness,
multicultural
skills
Environmental
thinking,
ecosystem
understandingScientific
reasoning,
science literacy
and methods
Health and well-
being, nutrition,
exercise, safety
5. How can we make use of data from cognitive
science in schools?
• Cognitive science provides us with plenty of data on learning
1. Enhanced learning with creativity, especially music
2. Enhanced learning with physically active learners
3. Empowering the learner with learning data
4. Co-creation in learning
5. Phenomenon-based learning
• We need to make these findings useful for the practical work at
schools
• For this, we need experimental work at schools, ranging from
kindergarten to university level
6. 1. The amazing power of music learning to
cognitive skills
• What happens in children’s (and
adults’) brains when they learn
music?
• How could and should we find
interventions to make use of this
knowledge?
7. • Several areas are found to be larger, thicker, and more
folded in adult musicians brains (Gaser & Schlaug, 2003).
7
Motor and somatosensoryParietal lobe
Temporal lobe Frontal lobecerebellum
Larger
corpus
callosum
Larger, thicker and more folded cortical areas in adult
musicians’ brains
8. 8
Stronger white matter tracts
8
• Several white matter tracts, including those between the
brain and the muscles (capsula interna) and those
connecting different brain areas together (corpus callosum,
arcuate fasciculus) are stronger in musicians (Bengtsson et al.,
2005).
9. 9
Fast and strong effects in
children’s brains
9
• Already after 15 months of piano
training, the motor,
somatosensory and auditory
areas have grown stronger (Hyde et
al., 2009).
• Training makes the cortex thicker
and brings more connections
between brain areas.
• These are not ”music areas” in
the brain but are used in all
audition, sensation and motor
activity.
liikeaivokuori
aivokurkiainen
kuuloaivokuori
13. NEPSY Neuropsychological test battery
70
80
90
10 y 12 y
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
10 y 12 y
3.5
Speed of answering Amount of mistakes
Music as a
hobby
Other
hobbies
Attentive skills in children with musical hobbies
Saarikivi & Huotilainen
14. Musical intervention affects child’s cognition
• Several intervention studies show that children’s
cognitive capabilities are enhanced by musical
training.
• Effects are found in mathematical and spatial
tasks, reading, writing, detecting phonemes, and
in recognizing speech prosody (Gardiner ym., 1996; Rauscher
ym., 1997; Standley & Hughes, 1997; Gromko & Poorman, 1998; Bilhartz ym.,
2000; Costa-Giomi, 1999; Rauscher & Zupan, 2000; Graziano ym., 1999;
Thompson ym., 2002)
• We need music in many forms to support learning
16. 2. Physical activity enhances learning
• Physical activity, even slight movement, enhances learning and helps
to build stronger memory traces
• How could and should we find interventions to make use of this
knowledge?
17. Sports as a hobby and academic performance
Author Sample Milieu Outcome measure Response
Significant association
Nelson and Gordon-Larsen [20]
US National Longitudinal Study of
Adolescent Health
USA Grades
Risk ratio for higher results 1.20 for
mathematics and 1.21 for English
Field et al. [21]
52 girls and 37 boys in suburban high
school
USA GPA Higher GPA
Dwyer et al. [24]
7961 schoolchildren, aged 7–15 years
in 109 schools
Australia Rating by the school principal
school performance positively
associated with PA in the preceding
week
Pate et al. [25]
Youth Risk Behavior Survey
adolescents
USA Perception of academic performance Inverse relation with level of PA.
Williams [26] England GPA
positive association between school
sports participation and AA
Sigfudsdottir et al. [27] Iceland self-reported school performance
r = -0.11 with absenteeism and r =
0.09 with grades
Negative or null outcomes on AA
Tremblay et al. [28] 6,923 grade 6 children New Brunswick (Canada) GPA and self-esteem Inverse relation PA and AA
Daley and Ryan [29] 232 boys and girls (13–16 years old) England self-reported PA and GPA
No relationship except for the duration
of PA time vs. marks for English (r = -
0.29 to -0.30)
Dollman et al. [30]
Primary school children grades 3, 5
and 7 in 117 schools
Australia Reading and maths scores No relation
Yu et al. [31]
333 Chinese pre-adolescents (aged 8–
12)
Hong Kong, China
Examination results and conduct
grades
No relation with AA but relation with
self-esteem
7.6.2016 17
+
+
+
+
0/+
0
-
0
Trudeau & Shephard 2008 review
18. Sport interventions and cognition
Author Sample Milieu Intervention Outcome measure Response
Fourestier [7]
Children in final year of
primary school
13 years
Vanves (Paris)
Various sports and other
activities, 13 h/wk
increase for one year
Overall academic
performance
Enhanced in experimental
group
Shephard et al. [8]
546 children in
grades 1 through 6
Trois Rivières, Québec
5 h of specialist physical
education per week for 6
years
Teacher ratings, Standard
Provincial examination,
WISC tests
Enhanced teacher
ratings, Maths but not
English improved in
Provincial exams, 3–4%
gain on WISC
Sallis et al. [9]
655 children
grades 5 and 6
California
27–42 min additional
physical education per
week for two years
Metropolitan achievement
tests
Non-significant trend to
gains in English,
arithmetic and behaviour
Dwyer et al. [11]
500 10-year-old
students
South Australia
75 min/day of endurance
training
Scores for reading and
arithmetic
Non-significant trend to
gains in English and
arithmetic at 2-year follow
up
Ahamed et al. [13]
287 9–11 year old
primary students
British Columbia
Added 47 min/wk of
varied activities for 16
months
Canadian Achievement
Test (CAT-3)
Slight trend to improved
scores
Coe et al. [14] 214 grade 6 students Western Michigan, U.S.A.
Nominal 55 min/day
(actual 19 min/day)
physical education for one
semester
Classroom assessments
and nationally
standardized
achievement scores
No change in academic
performance except in
sub-group who exercised
vigorously
Raviv et al. [15]
358 kindergarten and
grade 1 students
Israel
One-year movement
education program
Reading skills and
arithmetic skills
Both improved relative to
controls
7.6.2016 18 Minna Huotilainen
+
+
+
(+)
+
+
(+)
(+)
Trudeau & Shephard 2008 review
19. Polar & Faros Virpi Kalakoski
Measure movement with accelometers
Empower the child
Inform the child
24. Active learner
• Actively solving relevant problems in his/her everyday
surroundings
• Actively asking questions and searching for information
• Physical activity is targeted for learning via data from animal
studies: we need confirmation data from human studies
• Change of the use of school premises
25. 3. Empowering the learner with learning data
Very easy but
quickly adapting
Motivating
assessments
Positive feedback
on learning
Ekapeli
27. 4. Co-creation of knowledge
• In the midst of co-creation, students
are focusing on content while also
learning 21st century skills
• ICT tools for co-creation of knowledge
for schools
• Tools equipped with performance
measure, assessment tools and
temporally accurate learning data
• Children of different ages
• Learning by observing others
28. 5. Phenomenon-based learning
• When learning starts from a
phenomenon that is of interest to
the learners, learning is
accelerated
• Typically, learners are heavily
engaged and learning continues
also after school
29. Contributions to evidence-based teacher
education
• Basic scientific knowledge on why arts, creativity, physical activity,
problem-based learning, and knowledge creation helps learning
• Experimental culture of applications of these knowledge
• Inclusion in scientific experiments during studies
30. Conclusions
Basic work on socio-
cognitive grounds of
learning
Physiological
foundations of good
learning states
Innovations
on learning
enhancement
tools
Contribution to
teacher
education
