STUDIOBLENDED

NEUROSCIENCE (and other EVIDENCE-BASED DESIGN)

—
<sup>‘Evidence based is a continuum, not a category.’

Dylan Wiliam</sup>

Are you curious for more? Would you like to get in touch? Feel free to contact our lead directly for any questions or inquiries you may have. tikvah@studioblended.com

Image: hand drawing of the human brain. Art in Context.

Neuroscience

As a course/training coordinator you likely have an authentic need to understand why a certain design technique works for effective teaching design, to be reassured you are doing ‘the right thing’. It is actually quite common for teachers to search for ‘evidence-based’ practice beyond the hypes and trends or personalities and traditions.

Purely evidence-based design does not exist. The field of curriculum design is rich, and covers a broad spectrum of disciplines that allows for many angles and debates. Teaching is an art which builds on the experience and practice of generations of teachers, world-class philosophers, and pedagogues before you.

The question is: what are the robust essentials of evidence-based design? Our Studio is fascinated with brain-based angles of design, such as those arising  from neuroscience. Discovering these angles can speak to your imagination, ignite your curiosity and intrinsic motivation, and boost your confidence. We synthesise all this for you, and equip you with the skills to allow deep learning to happen, and build memories that last.

How are we different from other educational advisors? There is a deep, rich tradition of educational and neuroscientific knowledge and understanding, and debating on learning and teaching, in the Netherlands, but it is all in Dutch. We bring this rich field together for you in one place, in English - and equally drawing from international research. 

We are also dedicated to reaching conclusions: what does all this mean for you in your actual course/training design? For instance: how to combine a blended design with insights from neuroscience? Or: how to use subject pedagogy together with evidence-based design?

Join related studies / Our Audio Podcast

’The actual practice of curriculum design’
Prefer to read? Looking for resources? Transcript
Listen on: Acast Spotify Apple
Release Sept 23 ‘22, episode 1 StudiOpedia

In this podcast episode we delve into the actual practice of curriculum design:

1) The start of every sound teacher training: unlearn to go by intuition and emotion. Ensure a robust fundament with technique and pedagogy.
2) What curriculum is, and what learning design is.
3) Become aware of this fascinating organ, the brain – how does it learn best, how does it remember, how are lasting memories and deep understanding created – by design?
4) Get into a new routine, and skill yourself to design well.

Related publications

Have a look at this webpage - MemoryLab - by a Dutch neuroscientist - Hedderik van Rijn - where you not only find an explanation about many of the concepts we use in our approach, but also a visualisation thereof. Includes: testing, retrival, spacing, interleaving, and the forgetting curve.

Or browse through this presentation on the challenges of evidence-informed education by Dirk van Damme, Senior Research Fellow Center for Curriculum Design Boston.

At our Studio you will find publications such as:

Mc Tighe, Jay & Judy Willis 2019. Upgrade your teaching: understanding by design meets neuroscience. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) : Alexandria (USA)

Mc Tighe, Jay & Grant Wiggins 2004. Understanding by Design: Professional Development Workbook. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) : Alexandria (USA)

Kirschner, Paul A. & Carl Hendrick 2020. How Learning Happens: Seminal Works in Educational Psychology and What They Mean in Practice. Routledge : London and New York.

Weinstein, Yana, Sumeracki Megan & Oliver Caviglioli 2019. Understanding how we learn: a visual guide. Routledge: London and Newyork.

Hattie, John & Gregory C. R. Yates 2014. Visible learning and the science of how we learn. Routledge: New York.

Peeters, Wessel, Lucassen, Michiel, Geurts, Reinier & Ilona Wevers 2021. Curriculumontwerp in een notendop. Uitgeverij OMJS: Helmond [Onderwijs maak je samen. Vernieuwenderwijs]

More design angles we use

Technical resilience
Human resilience
Modular
Evidence-based design
Financial health and resilience by (re)design
Innovative and deep pedagogy
Multi- Inter- and transdisciplinary
Blended
Bichronous
Designed to be green (and technological simplicity)
Nature and aspirations
Flexibilisation and personalisation
Simplicity and decluttering



Curios? Feel free to contact our senior advisor and teacher trainer directly:
tikvah@studioblended.com +31 6 42 47 29 69

We are here especially for you as unique professional, to come alongside you and partner with you, as you work on a (architecture / urban / development / policy / land / water / climate) curriculum, so that you can offer effective and resilient education in its simplest form.